Mtis Week provides a chance to 'reclaim the pride'

Mtis dancer Elizabeth Potskin dances a traditional jig in front of a crowd in Calgary to celebrate Mtis Week.

The Red River Jig is a traditional Mtisdance, a styleborrowedfrom European settlers but nowowned and celebratedby Mtis people. It's onepart of a rich Mtis culture being celebrated in Calgarythis week.

Events and ceremonies this week arehonouringMtis culture and traditions, whilehelping restore a connection and sense of pride for many.

"I know that personally for my family MtisWeek is a very big deal now because it gives us a chance to celebrate the parts of our culture that were lost," said DomaseEllis, a Mtis singer and songwriter performing at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary.

"My family was not necessarily a proud Mtisfamily and this gives us a chance to reclaim the pride.

"For certain,kids in care and people not connected to that part of their past, I think it's a really important thing."

Ellis saysMtisWeek helps raise awareness and educate Canadians of all backgrounds aboutMtispeople and history but she says italso encourages moreMtispeople to make change.

"There's the fight to be recognized as legitimate Aboriginal people, issues with our own government within the Mtis Nation that we have to address and it gets more people to self-identify as Mtis," she said.

With more registeredMtispeople,more voices will be heard in elections and the political arena, she added.

For others, the week is about continuingrecognition ofMtisasa very distinct culture with its own traditions, beliefs and unique history.

"The whole issue with status and non-status is becoming lessand less of a focus. Mtis people are proud of who they are and they want to represent that and celebrate that,"Ken Turner said.

"Indigenous history period has not been a focus. The Red River Rebellion and Louis Riel is mostly what's taught, but to go beyond that, to know more, I'm not sure that's something that's going to be taught in schools."

A focus onhealing and creating a deeperunderstanding of inter-generational traumais another big part of MtisWeek.

"There's a lot of Mtis families still healing, trying our best to get back to who we once were," Mtis performer Elizabeth Potskin said.

"When you went to residential school you weren't taught love, you were taught how to hate, how to hide, how to push away, how to be afraid, so that is what a lot of families still face," she said.

"Also there is still a lot of racism, not just from non-indigenous people. We should not be shaming each other for who we are. We all bleed red and that's all that matters."

The Mtisflag is flying over Calgary City Hall all week.

On Friday, many will commemorate the anniversary of the death of Louis Riel, the Mtis leader who led two rebellions against the Canadian government in the late 1800s. Riel was convicted of treason andhung in 1885.

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