Staff
The multi-use facility at Couchiching First Nation was a busy place yesterday as band members of all ages came out to mark “Treaty Day.”
“It’s a [date] that we’ve celebrated for years in the community,” noted band rec director Beulah Perreault.
“To celebrate the rights that were given to us when we signed the treaty back in 1873,” echoed band councillor Christine Jourdain.
“And again, it’s one of our biggest events that brings our community, plus the band members that aren’t on the First Nation, together to celebrate as a whole group as one in unity.
“This is just something that the First Nation’s staff loves to do,” she added.
“They want to celebrate, and bring our community together to celebrate a right that was given to us when the treaty was signed.”
For kids’ activities, Perreault said they had a sensory playland, a fish pond, Freezies, helium balloons, face-painting, and relay races.
For the adults, there was Bingo, a cribbage tournament, a poker tournament, and a penny table.
“We had a breakfast this morning [Thursday] from eight o’clock until 10, and then we have lunch provided,” Perreault noted.
“And we have our treaty payments to all the band members.
“They just get a five-dollar bill,” she added. “It’s the right they were given.”
A few hundred people turned out to the event, which ran until 5 p.m.
