Southwest Welcome Centre hosts special concert at Market Square

Wilbur Sargunaraj and Randi Lynn Nanemahoo-Candline on stage during the Reconcili-Action concert, Sept. 27.

The Southwest Newcomer Welcome Centre hosted the Reconcili-Action concert at Market Square in Swift Current on Sept. 27 as a contribution toward promoting reconciliation in the community in the run-up to the first observation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada on Sept. 30. 

The concert featured cultural intelligence facilitator and musician Wilbur Sargunaraj and Randi Lynn Nanemahoo-Candline, a Cree jingle dancer and educator from Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta. 

Sargunaraj spoke about four key requirements to move towards reconciliation — awareness of the past, acknowledgement that a wrong has taken place, amends for the wrongs of the past, and action to change behaviour.  

Nanemahoo-Candline spoke about her experiences as an intergenerational residential school survivor. Her mother attended a residential school and it had an impact on family life. She said it is not easy to share these experiences, but it is an important part of healing and reconciliation.

Wilbur Sargunaraj and Randi Lynn Nanemahoo-Candline on stage during the Reconcili-Action concert, Sept. 27.