The Lakeland Society for Truth and Reconciliation (LSTR) will hold a Blessing of the Grounds at the future site of Bonnyville’s community healing garden on Sunday, June 21. The formal blessing will include a teepee raising, lighting of the sacred fire, and a pipe ceremony for dignitaries and Indigenous leaders.
The full day’s program will also include an Honour Song, prayer, and traditional dance. Attendees will be welcomed to offer tobacco as an honour to the sacred fire.
Everyone is welcome to enjoy a free barbecue lunch at noon.
The garden is intended as an easily accessible area to acknowledge Indigenous history and the generational impacts of residential schools, according to a news release from LSTR. It will feature traditional Indigenous medicines, ceremonial spaces for teepees, and a sacred fire pit.
Large panels and other installations will incorporate symbolic teachings such as the Creation Story, Seven Grandfather Teachings, and 15 Teepee Teachings.
Other components will include culturally significant plants that are native to the area and considered to be of healing value; as well as edible foods such as berries, vegetables, and herbs.
The centrepiece of the garden will be a large turtle sculpture symbolic of Turtle Island, the Indigenous conception of the North American continent. The sculpture will be centred on a large round base painted to represent the traditional medicine wheel.
The concept and design have been under development by LSTR for several years. In 2025 the Town of Bonnyville approved a site along the lakeshore between 53a and 55 Streets.
Gordon Poirier, a spokesperson for LSTR, says fundraising has begun. He says the society is hoping for good news on some grant applications over the winter, which will allow construction to begin next spring.
The Blessing of the Grounds had originally been scheduled for June 1, but it was postponed because of the heavy rain. LSTR president Corita Vachon remarked, “Mother Earth must be cleansing the land in preparation for the blessing!”
She said the June 21 date is fortuitous because it aligns with National Indigenous History Month, National Indigenous Peoples Day, and the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6.