County hosting public information webinar on Indigenous Gathering Circle project

ABOYNE – Citizens are invited to attend a June 20 online meeting where information about a proposed Indigenous Gathering Circle will be shared.

To be located on the Wellington Place campus in Aboyne, the circle is intended to provide "land-based, natural space for education, healing, and inclusivity," stated county Indigenous Advisory Committee member Colleen Brunelle in a June 13 press release.

The circle, originally presented as an Indigenous medicine garden, was included in the Wellington Place Mini-Masterplan approved by council last year.

In the Monday release, Wellington Place Administrator Jana Burns said the county's advisory committee originally requested space to grow ceremonial medicines, but the project went further, "resulting in the [proposed] creation of a dedicated two-acre Indigenous space at the campus."

The location of the circle will be behind the Wellington Place Child Care and Learning Centre, the Wellington County Museum and Archives, and the Aboyne Public Library branch.

A recorded version of the presentation will be available at www.wellington.ca/gatheringcircle following the June 20 session, and the public will be able to provide input and ask questions via the webpage.

“We look forward to strengthening existing partnerships and forging new ones as we work towards Reconciliation in a good way,” Brunelle stated in the release.

"There is space for all of us in this project – Indigenous, neighbours and allies."

The webinar takes place on June 20 from 2 to 4pm. Registration is required at wellington.ca/gatheringcircle.