Heritage Village

In the East

Sweetgrass sculpture is used in this art installation to recognize plants and the importance of ceremony. It is used in prayer, smudging, and purifying. It is usually braided, dried and burned; it is also sometimes used at the beginning of a prayer or ceremony to attract positive energies.

This direction is represented by the colour yellow and the season of Spring. It is the direction of new beginnings. The woman spirit also comes from the east, where the sun rises, where our warmth and vision start. The spirit of woman brings warmth into the home.

• Chief Sweetgrass (Weekaskookwasayin) signed Treaty 6 on September 9, 1876, with the Fort Pitt Indians but was killed about six months later. He was succeeded by his son, Apseenes (Young Sweet Grass).
• Sweet Grass First Nation is in Treaty 6 territory in Saskatchewan.

In the South

The Crow sculpture is used in this art installation to recognize the winged creatures.

This direction is represented by the colour red, and the season of Summertime. In this part of our journey, we become young people, and we have good physical energy at this time of our journey.

• Chief Crowfoot - Known more commonly as Crowfoot, Isapo-Muxika, was a Siksika chief and diplomat who negotiated with the federal government on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. He was a key link between Indigenous peoples on the western Plains and colonial forces by way of the North-West Mounted Police, and was key negotiator and supporter of Treaty 7.
• Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park – A Canadian National Heritage Site.

In the West

The bear sculpture is used in this art installation to represent the four legged. The direction is represented by the color of blue and the season of Autumn. It is the time of adulthood, of responsibility, and the parenting stage of your life’s journey. 

• Chief Big Bear- Mistahimaskwa (Big Bear), Plains Cree chief (born near Fort Carlton, SK; died 17 January 1888 on the Little Pine Reserve, SK). Mistahimaskwa is best known for his refusal to sign Treaty 6 in 1876 and for his band’s involvement in violent conflicts associated with the 1885 North-West Rebellion. 
• Bear Hills (Maskwacis) is in Treaty 6 territory in Saskatchewan.

In the North

The fish sculpture is used in the art installation to represent the water creatures. The direction is represented by the colour white and the season of Winter. 

We start our ceremonies in the east, and then we finish in the northern direction, which is our life journey. We finish our journeys as older people in that direction, the mental part of our journey.

• Whitefish is a northern fish and part of the Indigenous peoples’ diet. Native Women’s Association of Canada published Traditional Foods & Recipes on the Wild Side
• Whitefish Lake First Nation #459 (Atikameg) is located in Treaty 8 territory 141 kilometres north of Lesser Slave Lake. This Cree Nation has a land base of 8,300 hectares and approximately 2,900 members.  The Nation is a part of the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council, and Treaty 8 First Nations. Their current Chief is Chief Alberta Thunder. 

The fire, or hearth, is at the centre because this is where we gather to share the warmth and where we’re fed.  It provides life for us all physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  Here is where share in our food, stories, songs, dance, and humour.

The one constant thing throughout all of the life’s gatherings, is the love for family and working together. Teaching and learning of life skills will sustain the family dynamics and the respect for life. Life is not measured by financial wealth, but by life’s wealth that has sustained us from time immemorial.