Sacred Indigenous site opens in Edmonton's river valley
CBC
Hundreds of years ago, it was a place where Indigenous people collected ochre and precious medicines growing in the river valley.
This week, 10 young students walked those same lands at Whitemud Park — one of the first groups to visit Edmonton's newly opened urban Indigenous cultural site, kihcihkaw askî.
In Cree, kihcihkaw askî means "this place here is sacred land." The $6.5 million project is a collaboration between Indigenous elders, communities, and the City of Edmonton.
"We don't have a church, mosque or a cathedral that we can easily go to," said project manager Lewis Cardinal, on a recent tour with CBC News.
"This becomes that for us. Now we don't have to leave the city to do the basic healing ceremonies that are necessary for our well-being."
Nestled in a forest teeming with coyotes, deer and other wildlife and operated by the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre, kihcihkaw askî is a vision more than 16 years in the making.
Elders and community leaders recognized the importance of such a site to strengthen belonging and connection at a time when more and more Indigenous people were moving to urban centres.
Over three days, elders determined through consensus that the 4.5-hectare site, just south of Fox Drive, was the right location.
Rising up from the site is a grassy amphitheatre to gather and tell stories, not far off from a massive metal firepit to heat stones for sweat lodges.
Eight doors, facing various directions, can accommodate the different spiritual traditions of more than 60 First Nations that call Treaty 6 territory home.
"Each nation that comes to this nation brings with it gifts and talents," Lewis recently told an audience at city hall.
"When we sit in council, when we sit together.as relatives and share, we learn and we create possibilities and a sphere of creativity that can change the future."
Among them, Emery Reiner, 9, said it's important to learn about other cultures.
"Because then you have a better understanding of other people," Reiner said. "So you can have empathy for others."
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