New citizens get ‘true Canadian experience’ at Manito Ahbee Festival ceremony [Video]

For two decades, the Manito Ahbee festival has been showcasing Indigenous cultures, inviting all Manitobans to experience one of the largest powwows in North America. 

On Sunday, the festival at Red River Exhibition Park welcomed 43 new Canadians at a citizenship ceremony — a first in Manito Ahbee’s 20-year history. 

The ceremony was facilitated by Suzanne Carrière, Canada’s first Métis citizenship judge. 

“Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is a responsibility shared by all Canadians, even new Canadians, as you’re about to become,” Carrière said during the ceremony.

Carrière led attendees through an oath, later shaking hands with each of the new citizens as they were welcomed by Indigenous leaders. 

Manito Ahbee board chair David Dandeneau said it was a “joyful” experience to hold a citizenship ceremony at the festival, adding it was the “perfect setting” for new Canadians to experience the many cultures of their new home.