The City of Cranbrook will be proclaiming the week of November 16-23 as Métis Week and Nov. 16 as Louis Riel Day.
At the Oct. 20 city council meeting, council approved the proclamation, as well as a flag raising ceremony on Nov. 20. The flag will fly at city hall from Nov. 20 to 28.
This year, Louis Riel Day falls on Sunday, Nov. 16. The day commemorates the death of Métis Activist Louis Riel who lived from Oct. 22, 1844 to Nov. 16, 1885.
Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies.
The Mount Baker Wild Warriors Student Leadership group sent a letter to council asking for the new date of Nov. 20 for the flag raising and for the Métis flag to be flown from for the week.
The flag raising will be Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. outside Cranbrook city hall.
In years past, the agenda for the flag raising has included welcome and remarks from Ktunaxa Nation, Cranbrook’s mayor, Métis Local Cranbrook and Métis Nation B.C.
Nov. 16 is the anniversary of Louis Riel’s execution. In Manitoba, Louis Riel Day is the third Monday in February, which doesn’t have any particular significance to Riel’s life.