Local Métis organization to host Indigenous awareness event

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local organization dedicated to the Métis community will host an upcoming event focused on cultural awareness of Indigenous peoples.

Hosted by the Peace Region Métis Community Association (PRMCA), an Indigenous awareness session will take place on Tuesday, May 5th in Fort St. John.

The PRMCA was founded in 2023, and organizes several Métis events throughout the year, including the Métis Family Jamboree.

According to Jocelyn Eisert, the PRMCA’s volunteer director, the session is designed to educate not only the Indigenous, but newcomers to Canada as well.

“We designed a program for people moving to Canada to just be aware of the foundations of how the country came to light 155 years ago,” Eisert told Energeticcity.ca. “From that, it evolved to sit around and have a chat [discussing] some cultural awareness too.”

The event will be hosted by Bizzybody Enterprises, and will be done in partnership with the BC Métis Federation (BCMF).

Topics included during the event will include colonialization and the banning of Indigenous practices, as well as residential schools and the impacts they have on families lasting generations.

“We talk about the treaties, the colonization, the way that British Columbia created their own pathways for indigeneity,” said Eisert. “Then we will go through the decades, and we talk about cultural differences.

“We talk about the impacts of generations in residential school… We go through a scenario where Indian agents come and take children out of a house, and it has a really big impact. It doesn’t matter what culture you come from, but to have an understanding of the choices that were not even a choice, that kids were taken out of homes. We go through some of the reasons now why our Indigenous cultures are in the shape they are in.”

Eisert, who is also the founder of Bizzybody, said the PRMCA has hosted a pair of prior events, with the most recent taking place in February.

She says while the information and learning sessions are geared towards new Canadians, some of whom are unaware of the history, it can have just as much of an impact on Indigenous residents.

“The first time I did this, I did it at the Site C dam for BC Hydro,” recalls Eisert. “There were two Indigenous people that were in that session, and they came to me after and gifted me medicine, they told me that this really hit a mark in their heart.

“[I was told] I hit all of the notes in a great way and I was respectful in the conversation. That really made me understand and appreciate my role in Indigenous awareness.”

The Indigenous awareness session takes place on Tuesday, May 5th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Bizzybody Enterprises at 10256 101st Avenue in Fort St. John.

Tickets are $100 and can be purchased by contacting the PRMCA by phone at 604-404-4046 or email at PeaceRegionMetisCA@gmail.com. However, the event is free for registered BCMF and PRMCA members.

More details about the PRMCA can be found on the group’s Facebook page.