Sept. 11 victims remembered at treaty commemoration

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The aftershocks of the terrorist attacks against the United States were felt as far away as Fort Qu'Appelle.

More than 1,800 Elders, veterans and other participants at the Treaty 4 commemorations in Fort Qu'Appelle held a solemn candlelight vigil Friday, Sept. 14 at the powwow arbor, three days after terrorist hijacked airliners over the eastern U.S. and smashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing more than 5,000 people.

As well, flags at the commemoration were flown at half-mast that day at the request of Elders and veterans.

"It was a tragedy, a loss of innocent lives," said Mike Pinay, the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council's co-ordinator of Elders' services.

"What happens in the United States affects people not only there but throughout the world, including us as First Nations people."

The First Nations community - especially young people - can't understand the reasons for the attack, nor the reasons for killing so many innocent people, said Pinay.

"Taking someone's life, even though some of those things are happening within our communities, is a big no-no," he said. "We try to teach that to our children . . . but our young people are having a hard time with this."

Pinay said many people- whether or not they are First Nations-have mistaken violence for bravery. That, he added, is why many young people act aggressively and violently to others, with no thought of the consequences.

"The word 'warrior' today, it's not used right all the time," he said. "You look around, on television and in the movies, and they seem to use that world in the wrong way, and young people pick up on that wrong meaning.

"A warrior is actually one who keeps peace amongst the camp and the one who provides food," he explained.