National Abo­rig­i­nal Day on Vic­to­ria Island, Ottawa

National Abo­rig­i­nal Day is a day for all Cana­di­ans to cel­e­brate the cul­tures and con­tri­bu­tions to Canada of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

In Ottawa, most of the cel­e­bra­tions took place on Vic­to­ria Island, in the mid­dle of the Ottawa River. It was a great chance to hear some per­form­ers, browse a vari­ety of crafts and enjoy the atmosphere.

As an “almost Cana­dian” cit­i­zen, I enjoy learn­ing about all aspects of this country’s cul­ture. I must admit that Ottawa isn’t usu­ally the best place to dis­cover Aboriginal’s cul­ture so this was a great oppor­tu­nity. I strongly believe that we, new­com­ers, need to acknowl­edge this won­der­ful cul­ture and its con­tri­bu­tion to Canada. There is a long his­tory of prej­u­dices and stereo­types in Canada and it’s also up to us to make it change. So cel­e­brate Abo­rig­i­nal culture!

I would also like to rec­om­mend a great blog I have been read­ing for a lit­tle while now: Urban Native Girl Stuff’s. The author, Lisa, is Tsilhqot’in and a Chero­kee Dutch/Mexican girl cur­rently liv­ing in Toronto. Her blog aim at “dis­pelling myths and stereo­types about Indige­nous North Amer­i­cans; to sup­port and cel­e­brate the artis­tic endeav­ors by Indige­nous peo­ple”. She is also a pop cul­ture fan — basi­cally, you can not not like her!

Lit­tle Dolls	Lit­tle Boxes
Totem Pole	Ani­mal Skin
Mak­ing The Crafts	Bear Sculp­ture
Vio­lon Player	Aurora Fin­kle and Her Father
Feed­ing The Crowd!	Relax­ing…

Related posts:

1. Pow Wow in Ottawa
2. The Rideau Canal
3. The Great Wall (万里长城)
4. Above Ground
5. Win­ter­lude !