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Flag raising at Tisdale and District Museum in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day (Image Credit: Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)
Reconciliation

Melfort, Tisdale celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Day

Jun 21, 2026 | 10:09 PM

The communities of Melfort and Tisdale celebrated National Indigenous Peoples Day earlier this week. Melfort hosted an event on Thursday, while Tisdale did so on Friday.

In Melfort, the event was held at the Museum, as local school kids attended planned festivities throughout the day.

Then, in the evening, a more relaxed setting was held and open to the public.

“It was a fabulous day, we were just so incredibly pleased with the response to our first National Indigenous Peoples Day event. We had over 500 people in attendance throughout the day, and so that was just so wonderful to see that people were coming out to celebrate Indigenous culture and history. It was a chance to learn, reflect, and come together as a community,” explained Museum Curator and Cultural Coordinator, Brenda Mellon.


Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW

Activities in Melfort included a drumming session with Chaq Stoney and Lloyd Cheekinew, a set up Office of the Treaty Commissioner Treaty 6 Timeline, a community art project set up for community members to work on, and a free wiener roast.


(Image Credit: Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

“I think the relaxed atmosphere of the evening portion of the day allowed people to do what they connected with. We really hoped to connect our community, and we are always striving to improve,” added Reconciliation Melfort member, Lori Constant.


(Image Credit: Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

“We hope people took away a feeling of community, and we hope that they enjoyed the drumming, learned from the treaty timeline, participated in the community art project, and enjoyed the weiner roast. Our hope is also always that folks see something, read something, or do something new that creates conversations, because when we know better, we do better.”

In Tisdale, meanwhile, their event was also located at the Museum, however, it was more detailed and scheduled.

Activities included a flag raising, lunch, fiddle music, artisan market and cultural displays, bannock, double ball, hoop & spear, carry the canoe, Nakawe Bingo, red river jig, traditional and fancy shawl, and a friendship dance.


(Image Credit: Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

“We are incredibly grateful that the museum allows us to be here each year. It’s such a great way to mend those two worlds and walk through those two worlds and experiences together… it’s the shared history that we are all walking along together, and we are not as different as we all think we might be. So by learning a little bit more about this history, or about our treaties, and then those responsibilities to make sure that we are all doing well, I think is probably our biggest goal,” continued Casey Preston, Co-Chair of Tisdale Reconciliation.

“It’s the shared history that we are all walking along together, and we are not as different as we all think we might be, and so learning a little bit more about this history, or about our treaties, and then those responsibilities to making sure that we are all doing well, I think is probably another big goal.”

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8