Pride flags to fly throughout Wiikwemkoong during June
By Sam Laskaris
WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY – Wiikwemkoong is displaying its Pride throughout the month of June.
The First Nation, located on Manitoulin Island, had a Pride flag raising ceremony outside of the Band’s administration office on June 1.
The Pride flag will remain up during the month of June in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
A total of 15 Pride flags were presented throughout the First Nation. Locations that the flags are also currently being flown at include all four schools, the Wiikwemkoong Tribal Police Services building, and the local health centre.
“It means Wiky is proud and progressive,” said Roxanne Recollet, one of the ceremony organizers. “Raising the Pride flag represents that we are a proud and progressive community.”
Recollet said several members of the community have also requested Pride flags that they can display at their homes noting that those additional flags will have to be ordered.
Recollet’s 15-year-old son Ash, who is transgender, was among those who spoke at the event, detailing the importance of parent, school and community support.
While other First Nations undoubtedly are supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, Recollet believes Wiikwemkoong would have been one of the few who had Pride flag raising events.
“I don’t know if other First Nations have raised flags,” she said. “As the parent of a transgender son, I’ve tried to search out different groups.”
Recollet’s research found that Manitoulin Island’s main town, Little Current, has an annual Pride weekend.
About 100 people attended the June 1 ceremony in Wiikwemkoong.
Recollet said it is difficult to say how many of the First Nation’s members are LGBTQ+ but it is estimated that about five per cent of the community is. Wiky has more than 8,000 registered members and more than 3,000 of them live in the community.
“They say a lot of our youth are coming out early,” she said. “They all need support.”
Recollet said there are not sufficient resources available in the First Nation now to assist those who are LGBTQ+.
“In my opinion, youth are getting their information from the internet,” she said.
Some local help, however, is being provided this month. During Pride month, there will be weekly sessions offered at the local youth centre.
“We’re starting a parent support group and a youth support group,” Recollet said.
Those groups will meet separately throughout June. Recollet believes the groups will continue to have meetings after this month as well.
“We’ll let the group decide how often they will meet,” she said.
The Pride flag at the Wiikwemkoong administrative offices has added significance now. It is between a pair of other flags representing the First Nation.
All three flags are at full mast. The two Wiikwemkoong flags had been at half mast since May of 2021 when it was announced the remains of 215 school children had been found at the former Indian Residential School site in Kamloops, B.C.
Recollet is thrilled to see the Pride flag now displayed in her community.
“It’s acceptance, it’s diversity, it’s inclusion, it’s love,” she said.