During Tuesday’s traditional black-foot ceremony, 15 eagle feathers were distributed to all Calgary Police Department (CPS) facilities to increase the religious and cultural options for oath rituals and oaths.
“We really want to represent all the communities we serve,” said Jason Hiscock. “And we want to represent our own officials, too, because we have officials from every community.”
These feathers are beaded from Kainai Nation and beaded by Indigenous artists and can be used for ceremonies of oaths and oaths of oaths, statements and other legal documents.
They will be kept in cedar boxes made by Metis artist Bob Davis, lined with uniform materials and decorated with black-foot symbols from the Calgary Police Department.
The blessing ceremony is an honor, and adding feathers to its process is a step forward in the path to reconciliation, CPS said.
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“It’s really a lifestyle perspective that allows you to write your perspective and see things in different ways,” Hiscock said. “You can’t just do one good thing and then, ‘Great, you’re done’. You have to keep working hard to interact with the community.”
Advocates say that for symbolic reasons, feathers are a good thing, but that doesn’t solve the deep-rooted problems between police and their people.
“I don’t want to underestimate the meaning of working on my own territory from our own elders, so it’s always good, but there has to be meaningful systemic change,” said Indigenous advocate Michelle Robinson.
Robinson has been outspoken since Jon Wells’ death.
“The 94 calls for action and 231 calls for justice show that we need an independent indigenous group to monitor these things,” Robinson said. “And never tried this kind of work.”
Robinson said that unless there are major policy changes within the national police force to address systemic racism, harassment and accountability, cultural symbols such as the Eagle Feather will not help.
But it was a sign of the promise of the Calgary Police Department to keep going.
“Like any relationship, there are good days, and bad days,” Hickock said. “I think as long as we keep moving forward and keep focusing on the goal of working with the community…I think we are taking a good path.”
& Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
