The Indigenous Gathering Place Society of Calgary (IGPSC) is hoping their work on a new site doesn’t get folded into the buzz around the renaming of the former Fort Calgary.

The group has been working on a home for an Indigenous Gathering Place for several years, including having a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Calgary to create an Indigenous Gathering Place.

With the announcement of the Fort Calgary rebranding to the Confluence Historic Site and Parkland on May 2, it’s left the IGPS seeking clarity on the status of their project.

In a media release sent out May 7, the IGPSC called for continued support for an Indigenous Gathering Place at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers.

“Squeezing our traditions into spaces not designed for or by us perpetuates the legacy of colonialism,” reads the subhead on the release.

“While we recognize the importance of acknowledging colonial pasts and the need to create more spaces for Indigenous People, the IGP must remain the priority project at this sacred space, Moh’kinsstis.”

Sheryl-Ann Carscadden with the IGPSC said that they’ve been at this project since 2018 without any concrete results.

“The Fort was able to mobilize and get their indigenization project put in place within 15 months and the city invested money into that and resources,” she said.

“The concern is around what the city is actually doing around the commitments that they made to the public, and the commitments that they made to us around building an Indigenous Gathering Place or rather, the Indigenous Gathering Place that we’ve taken on the work for.”

Carscadden said their group has been a part of the site selection, once seven, then whittled down to five before settling on the meeting of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Indigenous Elders were helped guide the decision to choose that spot.

Conversations with IGPSC

Jennifer Thompson, president of the Confluence Historic Site said they’ve had many conversations with the IGPSC about their IGP work. When asked during the rebranding event how their change tied into ongoing work for an Indigenous Gathering Place, Thompson said Elders had been advocating for a place for Indigenous People to gather.

She said that they will be renovating a space in the existing barracks with the Aboriginal Friendship Centre, having signed an MOU for that earlier this year.

“That space, in addition to the Residential School Memorial that the City of Calgary will be developing, just down at the confluence, those two sites will really respond to that community advocacy and we’re so excited to be a part of that journey.”

Carscadden said they wanted to be collaborative with the Fort but believes the gathering space should be at the confluence of the two rivers. It shouldn’t be built into a replica part of the Fort.

“Whereas it’s a room in the fort, which as you can imagine, used to house the RCMP. The RCMP took the children from their parents and put them into residential schools. We work with a group of 60 Elders that are saying, ‘we don’t feel safe there. We don’t feel comfortable,’” she said.

“This is not a replacement for what we are doing, which is for Indigenous by Indigenous on the original land Moh’kinsstis, which is the gathering place for time immemorial.”

What Carscadden would like to see is for the City of Calgary to clarify what’s happening with their project.

The IGP commitment remains, City of Calgary said

The City of Calgary said they will honour the commitment they made in 2021 to work with the IGPSC on an Indigenous Gathering Place.

“The City and the Indigenous Gathering Place Society continue to work together to jointly identify and establish what is required to prepare land at or around the confluence for the potential development of an Indigenous Gathering Place,” read a statement from the City of Calgary.

They said they recognize that the IGP is one of the four major areas of work in their Truth and Reconciliation Journey. A joint working group has been formed to investigate the heritage, geotechnical and environments impacts on the area.

In the 2022 City of Calgary budget, $3 million was approved to advance work on the IGP. The City said that ongoing exploratory work is one area that’s getting funding through that money.  They said that the Fort Calgary rebranding did not get any funding through that stream of cash.

“As one of The City’s major partners, Fort Calgary, as presented to Council last week, has rebranded to The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland,” the City of Calgary said.

“This rebranding, and associated changes, are separate from the current work occurring between The City and the Indigenous Gathering Place Society.”

Mayor Jyoti Gondek was expected to meet with Indigenous Elders on Friday.