Aboriginal people soon to be overseers of pilgrimage site

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From the opening prayer on Saturday, July 19 until the closing prayers on Thursday, July 24, thousands of people, primarily Aboriginal from across the country, will take part in the annual pilgrimage to Lac Ste. Anne, located 75 kilometres west of Edmonton.

This year the Stoney, Dene, Blackfoot, Cree and Metis nations will host hour-long prayer vigils for their communities and the people.

Thousands will once again proclaim their Christian faith, meet new friends, walk into and gather water believed to hold special healing powers, and pray for loved ones.

For more than 100 years, Aboriginal people have made the annual visit to Lac Ste. Anne where Christian faiths attend candlelight processions, the way of the Cross, or sing along to gospel hymns.

Murleen Crossen, co-chair of the Lac Ste. Anne board, said they are expecting more than 20,000 people this year. She said a lot of people from different faiths attend the gathering, because they can feel the spirit of the people praying.

She explained that in the Catholic faith, Saint Anne was considered the mother of Mary, which made her the grandmother of Jesus. Aboriginal people look upon her with reverence, because Aboriginal people hold a special place in their hearts for grandparents and they respect their Elders.

An official ceremony on Sunday, July 20 will see the Oblate priests turn the land where the gathering is held each year over to an Aboriginal board of trustees. Crossen said that the ceremony will take place immediately following the 10:30 a.m. mass.

The board, made up of Aboriginal people from across Alberta and the Northwest Territories, will then take care of the everyday functioning of the site and be the overseers of the pilgrimage.

"The point is for the land to not ever be sold... and that it always remain Aboriginal and a pilgrimage site," she said.

After the official signing ceremony, tea and bannock will be served in the big tent on the grounds.

"It's definitely been a long time in the making, in getting everything organized, and there was a lot of legal stuff that had to be done," said Crossen. "Three years ago, the Oblate fathers made a commitment to do this, so they started setting up the interim board and started to get all of this organized. Now that we are through that, we can do the actual signing and this will be it."