Organizers of second Cultural Gathering of Nations seek sponsorship from Dawson Creek council

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — Dawson Creek city council recently had a visit from organizers behind the Cultural Gathering of Nations (CGON).

The event, celebrating the history and culture of Treaty 8 nations from northeast B.C., had its inaugural showcase in 2025, and recently announced the dates for its 2026 gathering.

The CGON will take place from September 17th to September 20th this year at the Dawson Creek’s Ovintiv Events Centre.

Event director for CGON, Daniel Desjarlais, was alongside Jordan’s Principle service coordinator for the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, Miah Simpson-O’Neil; executive director for Treaty 8, Marlene Roy; and West Moberly First Nations (WMFN) councillor Asher Atchiqua in requesting sponsorship from Dawson Creek council during its meeting on February 23rd.

Desjarlais is also the event coordinator for WMFN, which, along with Prophet River First Nation and Halfway River First Nation, organized the inaugural gathering.

Addressing the council, Desjarlais asked for the city for an in-kind sponsorship of the event for $50,000, to cover the costs of the venue.

“We have a quote from the Ovintiv Events Centre for $46,000,” said Desjarlais. “We are asking for a little bit over that, just in case there are any extra costs that come additionally.”

Desjarlais did acknowledge the planning process is still in the “early stages,” but said each nation in Treaty 8 territory will have a representative on the organizing committee.

This means Doig River First Nation, Saulteau First Nations, Blueberry River First Nations and Fort Nelson First Nation will have a seat on the committee, in addition to having one member of each nation as an event coordinator.

Desjarlais added the one poster promoting the event online has seen 75,000 views.

“We are really excited for this year,” said Desjarlais. “I think it’s going to be double the amount of people that we had last year.”

Mayor Darcy Dober, along with councillors Gregg Apolonio, Jerimy Earl and Charlie Parslow, gave last year’s event high recognition in speaking to Desjarlais.

“I was able to attend a bit of the gathering last year,” said Earl. “It was a great inaugural event. The first one is always the hardest, because that is a lot of learning in real time.”

Apolonio said: “[With me] coming from a different background, I saw your tradition and culture [last year]. It’s really enlightening for me.”

Council then instructed the delegation to work with the management at the Ovintiv Events Centre, with Earl stating when sponsorship packages and registration are finalized, the city would share it out to various communications channels.

Council asked the CGON administration, once it has obtained the details regarding how the event was administered and paid for in 2025, to report back with this information for further consideration of the request.