Like many of us in the recreation and parks sector, the Alberta Recreation & Parks Association (ARPA) is on its own reconciliation journey with diverse Indigenous peoples and communities across Alberta. Our goal is that through our actions, as a member based organization, we demonstrate our dedication to moving forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
ARPA introduces the Indigenous Employment Toolkit! Developed by Community Compass in collaboration with Kacey Yellowbird, an experienced Health Specialist and long time partner of ARPA, the Indigenous Employment Toolkit aims to help organizations foster cultural sensitivity and inclusivity for Indigenous employees by addressing their unique practices, beliefs, and experiences. A Pipe Ceremony is planned to further acknowledge the toolkit in March 2025.
In 2023, ARPA officially launches the Walking With Indigenous Communities (WWIC): ARPA’s Action Map as an official document of the organization by way of a traditional Pipe Ceremony led by Blackfoot Elder and Traditional Knowledge Keeper, Dr. Clarence Wolfleg. This action map identifies 10 key actions that will guide our reconciliation work so that we can move forward together in a good way with Indigenous Elders and communities.
Knowing that a commitment to reconciliation is also a commitment to both people and to relationship-building, ARPA announces it’s first-ever staff position dedicated to reconciliation. ARPA commits itself to systemic change that includes safe and welcoming spaces for staff members of diverse cultural backgrounds. In 2022, we officially welcomed Breanna Morin as the Program Officer of Engagement & Reconciliation for ARPA’s Communities ChooseWell initiative.
Under the guidance of Dr. Reg and Rose Crowshoe, esteemed Blackfoot Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers, ARPA hosts the inaugural Treaty 7 Elder Capacity Camp and Cultural Celebration. Held in August in the Kananaskis area, this camp continues Dr. Crowshoe’s work related to the important issue of increasing Elder capacity. The goal is to address the current challenges for Elders surrounding COVID-19 but also the impacts of both intergenerational trauma and the Residential School legacy.
Hearing that Elders and Knowledge Keepers in the Treaty 7 area wanted to come together with other Elders from around the world to connect, share stories, and make sense of COVID and its impacts, ARPA and World Urban Parks (WUP) collaborated again with Dr. Reg and Rose Crowshoe to organize a 2-day virtual International Elders’ Circle. Meant as a safe space defined by Indigenous ways of knowing and knowledge translation, these virtual Circles brought international Knowledge Keepers together in Zoom with the sole purpose of increasing Elder capacity and increasing their well being.
ARPA, through its Communities ChooseWell initiative, works together with Dr. Reg and Rose Crowshoe and community to explore questions of diversity as related to health. Using a Blackfoot Tea Dance Ceremony, Dr. Crowshoe creates a safe and ethical space that allows participants to explore how ideas surrounding diversity, wellness, and the creation of healthy communities can interconnect and grow together.
On Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 at the ARPA Conference in Jasper, Alberta, Siksika Health Services (SHS) and ARPA sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize their important partnership. This historic event marks ARPA’s first ever MOU signing with an Indigenous community in its nearly 70 years of existence. Both parties are proud and honoured to embark on this monumental journey together.
Using proper protocols, ARPA approaches Blackfoot singer and drummer, Spike Eaglespeaker Jr, to create a Blackfoot Honour Song for the organization. He accepts. This song was then transferred to ARPA through ceremony in January of 2018 by Spike Eaglespeaker Sr. ARPA now uses this song to mark important occasions for the organization as well as to celebrate award winners and exemplary members of the community.
Dr. Wilton Littlechild, Commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, launches the new Reconciliation Stream at the annual ARPA Conference and Energize Workshop with a Keynote on “Reconciliation and the Recreation and Parks Sectors”. This year was then followed up with Keynotes from Elder Doreen Spence (on United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) as well as on “The Creation of Ethical Spaces” with Elders Reg and Rose Crowshoe.
ARPA’s Environmental Scan: “The Way We Walk In Life” is commissioned using a grant from the Calgary Foundation. The purpose of this scan is to explore how ARPA can strengthen its relationship with Indigenous communities from across the province. This was completed by consultants Sharon and Adrian Goulet of Mahegun Tails Inc. and sets the path forward for ARPA’s reconciliatory journey.
The Alberta Recreation & Parks Association would like to acknowledge the First Nations, the Métis, the Inuit and all of the people across Alberta who share a history and a deep connection with this land. We dedicate ourselves to moving forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.