OTTAWA—Activists who met Justin Trudeau in their teepee on Parliament Hill Friday were encouraged by his surprise visit, but say more work needs to be done to raise awareness among Canada’s “settler” population about Indigenous peoples.

And tensions flashed anew Friday afternoon when RCMP officers — who on Wednesday initially resisted the efforts to erect the teepee — barred activists from setting up a separate tent to shelter their supplies. Police officers hauled away the poles while others stood on the tent itself to prevent it from being used.

It came just hours after Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, paid an unexpected visit with Indigenous activists who erected the teepee ahead of Saturday’s Canada Day celebrations.

Trudeau, wearing jeans and a denim jacket, and his wife walked through the visitors watching the July 1 preparations and went inside the teepee, where they met with four people.

The activists had little advance notice that the prime minister and his wife, who were on the Hill to take part in rehearsals for the Canada Day show, intended to stop by, although the RCMP did search the teepee before the couple entered.

The conversation inside the teepee lasted about 40 minutes. Ashley Courchene, of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, said later he was pleased that Trudeau and his wife had come to hear from them firsthand.

“There’s not a lot he could promise outright. I think we are glad that he did come and say that what we did was very, very important,” said Courchene.

But he said more work lies ahead. “There’s work that we have to do for ourselves, separate from the Canadian state.

“The Canadian state and its citizens have its part to play in realizing what this relationship is, and it’s something that’s new and that’s something that we all realized when we met here today.”

The Bawating Water Protectors arrived Wednesday night to set up the teepee on Parliament Hill to highlight how Canada’s 150th anniversary is a painful reminder of residential schools, the appropriation of land, and decades of government-sponsored assimilation of Indigenous peoples.

Candace Day Neveau said they want to educate the “settler population” about the treatment of Indigenous peoples and to “build more awareness” among both groups.

“We’re pro-liberating Indigenous people and exerting our inherent right. We have our own sovereignty and we need access to our lands. We need our land. That’s what we are here to reclaim,” she said.

Police officers initially tried to stop the group from bringing the teepee onto the Hill. Nine people were arrested but later released, and the teepee was set up near the perimeter of the Hill.

By Friday, the group had reached an accommodation with police officers who helped move the teepee closer to the main stage.

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As he left, Trudeau smiled at visitors crowded around the teepee, but did not make any comments about the meeting.

A spokesperson said later that the prime minister made the spontaneous visit “in the spirit of respect and reconciliation” and had a “respectful and engaging conversation.”

“We recognize that over the past decades, generations, and, indeed, centuries, Canada has failed Indigenous peoples and more work remains to be done as we continue forward on the path toward reconciliation,” said Andrée-Lyne Hallé.

With files from Alex Ballingall

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