Tony Belcourt, a Métis elder and founding president of the Métis Nation of Ontario, hosted a celebration of Indigenous art at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum on September 30 in Almonte, Ontario.

This free event welcomed both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members to celebrate Indigenous art and culture while honoring those impacted by the residential school system, the Sixties Scoop, and the modern child welfare system.

The event was inspired during a lunch meeting between Belcourt and Mississippi Mills Mayor Christa Lowry, when she asked if he was planning something for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, a day Mayor Lowry believes is important to the municipality.

“In 2019, the municipality of Mississippi Mills began steps toward learning truth so that there can be reconciliation,” said Lowry.

“The people in this town are incredibly supportive of Indigenous People,” Belcourt added. “We have a great group of people here called Mississippi Mills All My Relations, who have been behind us all the way.”

Belcourt was further motivated to hold the event after discussions with Kooshkopayiw President George Simard, who has been leading arts crawls across Ontario.

"George told me all about the arts crawls he was doing, and I thought, why not have one here?" explained Belcourt.

A raffle was held during the event to raise funds for the Kooshkopayiw Arts Council, which features Métis artists from across Ontario and works to teach the truth about the Métis community in the province.

“There’s some misunderstanding about our historic communities in this province,” Belcourt noted. This was why he made sure to include presentations by Isaac Murdoch, Mitch Case, and Zac Thiffault, who discussed the Métis of the Upper Great Lakes.

The event also featured stories from Sixties Scoop and residential school survivors, along with performances by Inuit throat singers, Jingle Dress dancing by Samantha Fox, and a drum group from Pikwàkanagàn First Nation.

Reconciliation Through Art was sponsored by the Métis Nation of Ontario and the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund.