For years, the Elders Story Project (ESP), an event hosted by the Elder Knowledge Circle Society (EKCS) that shares the history of residential schools and celebrates the resilience of Indigenous peoples, has helped Calgary recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Two years ago, on September 30, 2024, in the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Werklund Centre, more than 900 attendees at the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event joined together in a Round Dance — a symbol of unity, healing, community and friendship. Elder Darryl Brass Jr., a Cree, Ojibwe and Tsuut’ina Elder and Knowledge Keeper, said, “We have been sharing our truth for two years now, and when I look out at this audience, I feel like we are finally moving toward reconciliation.”
Last year, along with honouring late loved ones through song and ceremony, the Elders honoured Mr. Dave Werklund with a Blackfoot name for his unprecedented $75 million donation to the Werklund Centre Transformation Project.
In 2026, the EKCS continues down the path from trauma to tradition. This year, the ESP will demonstrate that in spite of the past, Indigenous peoples are still here, still practicing their traditions and sharing their ways of knowing, being and doing.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2026
Taking place again in the Jack Singer Concert Hall on September 30, 2026, the ESP will begin with the Horse Dance Ceremony, a beautiful ceremony featuring sacred regalia that summons spiritual energy and promotes harmony. A naming ceremony follows, where Werklund Centre president and CEO, Alex Sarian, and VP of strategic projects, Tasha Komery, will each be honoured with a Blackfoot name. A naming ceremony is a high honour, welcoming a person into the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) community, and those receiving the name do so with great respect and responsibility.
The audience will also witness a song transfer ceremony, a sacred and formal event in which the authority, responsibilities and ownership of a specific song are passed from one keeper to another. Antoine Goulet, a Cree Knowledge Keeper, singer and drummer, has composed a song for Werklund Centre. Through this ceremony, Werklund Centre accepts the responsibility to learn the song and use it in future contracts, agreements and announcements. The evening will close with a Round Dance, which the audience will, once again, be invited to participate in.
The hope for this year’s event is that people take in these sacred experiences and leave with a sense of curiosity and hope.
Elders Reg and Rose Crowshoe have gifted three guiding principles to the Werklund Centre, which everyone can learn from. The first is the concept of ethical space, where two different systems of knowledge can exist in parallel without one having power over the other; along with the concept of sanctified kindness, where all living beings are treated with compassion and respect; and making relatives, which moves beyond the transactional to building strong, sustainable and authentic relationships with others.
By receiving these principles, Werklund Centre is committed to going on the journey to learn the truth and actively practice reconciliation. Those who attend the event can carry these gifts forward and leave with a renewed vision of a better future for all.
In addition, the Makers Market runs from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., with the powwow showcase at 5 p.m., in the Jack Singer Concert Hall Lobby. The Elders Story Project begins at 7 p.m. in the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
Tickets are free but not required for entry, learn more at werklundcentre.ca/NDTR
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