May 20, 2024
Niigaan Sinclair is a columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press and the author of Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre.
Over one week in mid-May, Winnipeg hosted an international gathering on Indigenous literature, a city-wide trade show for Indigenous youth, a national summit on Indigenous identity, a provincial conference to discuss Indigenous education, and Manito Ahbee – one of the largest indoor powwows in North America.
At the same time, the city also officially renamed several key streets to honour Indigenous histories and languages; the federal government announced a new “Red Dress” alert system, called for by Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan; the Royal Winnipeg Ballet presented the world premiere of Tla’amin First Nation artist Cameron Fraser-Monroe’s T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods.