{"id":755039,"date":"2026-06-23T04:23:46","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T04:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/755039\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T04:23:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T04:23:46","slug":"photos-yellowknife-celebrates-indigenous-peoples-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/755039\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTOS: Yellowknife celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 2 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

For North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance President Marc Whitford, Indigenous Peoples Day is all about bringing the community together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And nothing draws a crowd in Yellowknife quite like a fish fry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re part of a larger family of Indigenous people living here in our city,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NorthNorth Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance President Marc Whitford estimates that they’ll serve upwards of 5000 portions of fish at the annual Indigenous Peoples Day fish fry. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Despite initially cloudy weather at the start of the event in Somba K\u2019e Park, the line of people waiting for a taste stretched the entire length of the park, or nearly 200 metres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whitford estimates that even on a slower year, they\u2019ll serve around 3000 portions of fish. On a busy year, that can go up to 5000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"LucLuc Steele, a volunteer from the Canadian Armed Forces, dishes out fish at the North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance’s Indigenous Peoples Day event. (Jessica Davey-Quantick)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s important to do as a community, that we’re able to give back to everybody in our city,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance has been putting on the fish fry as long as he can remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year marks the 30th anniversary of National Indigenous Peoples Day, since it was first declared a Canada-wide holiday in 1996. <\/p>\n

The Northwest Territories was the first jurisdiction in the country to declare June 21 a statutory holiday, in 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gerri Sharpe has made bannock at almost all of them. This year she was doing it for the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission, setting up in Somba K\u2019e park with a sun shelter, two frying pans, and numerous cans of Crisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GerriGerri Sharpe has made bannock at nearly every Indigenous Peoples Day for 30 years. This year she served up the fried treat on behalf of the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been making this since I’m nine, so it’s just something I know how to do,\u201d she said, adding that she\u2019s had chefs stand beside her and copy her technique, but it doesn\u2019t turn out quite the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt represents Inuit for me,\u201d she said. She agrees that events like Indigenous Peoples Day are a way to bring the whole community together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud of who we are, and we need to share that with everybody,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"WarrenWarren Whitford serves up bannock at the North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance’s annual Indigenous Peoples Day fish fry at Somba K’e Park in Yellowknife. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"Tiger,Tiger, left, had her uncle Chris Bock on hand to carry her favourite crocodile toy while she greeted people at Somba K’e Park during the annual Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"There'sThere’s always time for a fish fry, even when you’re busy fighting wildfires. Wildfire fighters, clockwise from left, Eric Tsetta, Keaton Charlo, Boniface Charlo and Mark Crookedhand. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"DancersDancers from the Edmonton M\u00e9tis Traditional Dancers perform the sword dance over a M\u00e9tis scarf as part of the entertainment at the North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"LilianLilian Gullion, left, excitedly learns to jig, and teaches Sharla Gullion a few steps of her own, in Somba K’e Park. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"Coco,Coco, 2, would have preferred some of the fish supplied by the North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance, but a cold cup of water as the sun came out in Somba K’e Park on Indigenous Peoples Day was an almost-adequate substitute. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"WinterWinter Harmon, six-months, Emily Harmon and River Harmon, 7, arrived at the annual North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations decked out in ribbon skirts, M\u00e9tis sashes and beadwork. Winter’s sling was made by Janet Bishop. . (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"LylahLylah Desjarlais took time out to literally sniff the flowers during the Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"AlanAlan Harman Jr., vice president of the North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance, fishes corn on the cob out of one of several vats being used to prepare side dishes at the annual Indigenous Peoples Day fish fry. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"BrianBrian Peers, an RCMP volunteer, mans the grill at the North Slave M\u00e9tis Alliance fish fry. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)\"TysonTyson Smith, an RCMP volunteer, fries fish for a line of visitors that extended the entire length of Somba K’e Park in Yellowknife. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/ CBC)\"TheThe Edmonton M\u00e9tis Traditional Dancers taught Yellowknifers young and old the Seven Step, a friendship dance, in Somba K’e Park. (Jessica Davey-Quantick\/CBC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-755039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}