In the spirit of honouring Saskatchewan’s Indigenous peoples through an act of truth and reconciliation during National Indigenous People’s Day, the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation (SaskGaming) permanently raised the Treaty 4 and Métis Nation flags atop Casino Moose Jaw on June 21.
“Permanently raising the Treaty 4 and Métis Nation flags above Casino Moose Jaw is another step in our province’s journey toward reconciliation,” said Laura Ross, minister of Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan.
“Our government is committed to meaningful reconciliation and this flag raising helps bring awareness to the history and pivotal contributions of Indigenous peoples in our province.”
Tyler Gervais, a citizen of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan Western Region III also shared a few words at the ceremony.
“When you raise a flag, it’s meant to (represent) honour, respect, and acknowledgement,” he said.
“I was thinking on the drive from Regina what it means to raise a flag,” he continued. This symbolism, he explained, goes beyond simply acknowledging the nation a flag represents. He said it stands for “the symbolism of reconciliation” and said he’s honoured to see his Métis Nation officially represented.
“That relationship really started the day our people met with the non-Indigenous peoples,” he noted, “and that relationship continues today and every day moving forward.”
Edmund Bellegarde, the former Treaty 4 spokesperson for the Treaty 4 First Nations was also in attendance.
Bellegarde shared his experience at the White Bear First Nation in the early ‘90s. In 1992, the White Bear First Nations Gaming Act empowered the Gaming Commission to issue the first casino license in Saskatchewan’s history to White Bear with the doors first opening in January 1993.
“They were shut down by an RCMP raid in the early morning hours of March 22, 1993, in a commando-style assault… (involving) trauma-inducing actions,” he recalled.
It was from this conflict of jurisdictions that Bellegarde said the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and the Government of Saskatchewan sat down to reconcile their differences.
“That was one of the early reconciliation acts that had not only (an) economic impact, but deep, deep social impacts for the First Nations and the Métis Nation peoples.”
When he was first recruited in 1995, Casino Regina was just preparing to open its doors.
“What really… pulled me to… work for the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation was the promise of that reconciliation agreement known as the 1994 Gaming Framework Agreement,” he said. The agreement promised to create 500 jobs at Casino Regina with half of those positions committed to Indigenous workers – a move Bellegarde said “wasn’t heard of” at the time.
SaskGaming currently has the highest rate of Indigenous workforce representation in Saskatchewan's Crown sector.
“The leadership that the province of Saskatchewan and the FSIN took to form the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation, that was true leadership,” he said. “That was an act of reconciliation.”
Bellegarde described corporation’s actions as taking tangible steps to resolve conflicts and disputes, and said it facilitated the spirit of "a good way to work together.”
He said those steps reflect the same spirit of reconciliation that his ancestors saw through visions in ceremony and through guidance. The day’s flag raising, he explained, was also done with a mind to the promise of that relationship.
“It’s not a set of transactions,” he explained. “It’s a relationship of working hard, respecting one another (mutually)…, supporting one another, (and) learning how to live in harmony with each other. That’s what reconciliation is about.”
As the flags were raised, the Lone Creek drumming group proudly showcased their style of drum and song as the symbols of reconciliation rose skyward atop Casino Moose Jaw in a moment of solemn reflection.
