Tent protest resurrected near Calgary courthouse
Posted Mar 12, 2018 7:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A number of tents are going back up across from the Calgary Courts Centre, calling on the government to show support for Indigenous youth.
Garret C. Smith originally set up there to support the Soaring Eagle’s Camp in Manitoba, following a not guilty verdict in the death of Tina Fontaine.
Now, he and a group of others have come up with their own goals for the Calgary community, dubbing the local initiative Mohkinstsis, which means ‘elbow’ in Blackfoot.
Smith told CityNews, during his last camp out there was a very welcoming atmosphere.
“I had a — provincial court judge come in and spend time with me — (an) MLA, and of course many people from the community came by, and — when the camp was closed down last week, I was just inundated with messages about people saying ‘we want it back’, ‘we want it back’, and it just really, it spoke to my heart that this community is ready to come together and ready to bond, and we just need a safe space to be able to engage with that,” he said.
He says they want to help Indigenous people get in touch with their heritage, culture and traditions, and reach out to non-indigenous people to help them experience and understand it.
