Article content

As chiefs from across Alberta prepared to snip a bright red ribbon with large novelty scissors, hung behind them on the wall was a framed black-and-white picture from 1970.

In it, Chief Norman Yellowbird is handing Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau the Red Paper, a set of counter-proposals to a government plan to eliminate Indian status in Canada.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or New collection of Indigenous knowledge now available to First Nations schools Back to video

The Red Paper set the course for First Nations people to take control of their historical and cultural resources and protect their languages, said Piikani Nation Chief Stanley Grier on Friday.

Grier was one of dozens of people gathered in Edmonton Friday to celebrate the official opening of the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre — a new place band-operated schools can turn for reliable information about their ancestors. Supporters say the centre was decades in the making.

“It is with an organization like this that we will continue and fight hard to keep our culture alive, our language,” said Robbie Moosewah, a Saddle Lake band councillor and knowledge centre board member.