Miywasin Days this weekend includes the grand opening for the Saamis Tepee renovations

Saturday’s activities begin at 1 p.m. at the Saamis Tepee with a demonstration powwow hosted by the Miywasin Friendship Centre, featuring the grand reopening of the tepee site following the completion of the Saamis Tepee Dancefloor Resurfacing Project.

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READ: Construction underway on Saamis Tepee dance floor to support Indigenous cultural use (June 29, 2026)

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The initiative replaced the site’s previous red shale surface with new turf through a partnership between the City of Medicine Hat and the Miywasin Friendship Centre, alongside Indigenous Elders, cultural leaders, dancers, and community members who helped shape the design and select the preferred surface.

Syrette said the reopening will include prayers from elders and speakers from several Indigenous communities, including the Nekanett First Nation near Maple Creek, Kainai Nation from Stand Off and others.

The program will also include intertribal dancing, with traditional and fancy dance categories and more than 30 dancers expected to take part.

Syrette said elders and others will speak about the history of the Saamis Tepee and the relationship between Indigenous cultures and the Medicine Hat area.

“It’s very important,” she said of the opportunity to share Indigenous culture with the community.

Syrette also pointed to the City of Medicine Hat’s Truth and Reconciliation Recommendations Committee, which began in 2019 and brought Indigenous community members and city representatives together to discuss reconciliation.

She said that work helped lead to the new turf at the Saamis Tepee.

Medicine Hat is on Treaty 7 territory, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. It sits next to Treaty 4 territory, which includes both Cree and Saulteaux First Nations. It is also the homelands of the Métis Nation District 2 Battle River Territory.

Syrette said recognizing those relationships is an important part of the weekend.

Medicine Hat’s Métis settlement history includes the former Saratoga Park settlement, which Syrette said is another example of long-standing Indigenous representation in the area.

Sunday’s event moves to Police Point Park, where a Métis kitchen party begins at 1 p.m.

The afternoon will feature Métis music, dancing and bannock cooked over a fire.

Fiddler Daniel Gervais is scheduled to perform, and organizers have also planned traditional spoon playing and jigging.

Syrette said both events are free and open to the public, with plenty of family activities.

The weekend marks a rebranding of events the Miywasin Friendship Centre has held during Alberta Culture Days for about 14 years.

Syrette said the centre chose the name Miywasin Days to bring the two events together under a broader celebration of Indigenous cultures in the community.

“Miywasin” is a Cree word meaning “it is good.”

Syrette said the weekend will also provide people with an opportunity to learn about local Indigenous history directly from elders and community members.

“There’ll be lots of sharing, lots of hearing of the history,” she said.

Organizers are asking visitors to bring lawn chairs for Saturday’s event in case seating fills up.

The main parking lot at the Saamis Tepee will be reserved for elders, delegates and dancers. Other visitors will be directed to overflow parking areas, including near the Moose Ball Diamonds.

Syrette said the new turf will also make the tepee site more suitable for dancers.

“Last year we had to shovel and rake all that red shale away, and everywhere was so dusty,” she said.

“It wrecks the moccasins when they’re dancing on it.”

Syrette said the new surface will make a difference for dancers and organizers.

The Miywasin Friendship Centre’s next major event is expected to be a Métis cultural day and bannock tasting at the Esplanade on Nov. 16, which is Louis Riel Day.

More information about Miywasin Days is available through the Miywasin Friendship Centre’s Facebook page.

by Jesse Gill

Miywasin Days this weekend includes the grand opening for the Saamis Tepee renovations

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