City officials join Friends of Malcolmson Eco-Park for Indigenous Healing Garden in Honour of Reconciliation blessing ceremony

Last week, the City of St. Catharines was pleased to join Friends of Malcolmson Eco-Park for a blessing ceremony of a newly established Indigenous Healing Garden in Honour of Reconciliation at Malcolmson Eco-Park.

Grandmother Jackie Labonte, Traditional Healing Coordinator with De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, conducted the blessing ceremony of the Indigenous Healing Garden in Honour of Reconciliation, in the southeast corner of the park.

An Indigenous Healing Garden is a dedicated outdoor restorative space designed to promote reflection, learning, wellness, and connection to the land through planting of culturally significant native plants. As a gathering space, the garden encourages community, storytelling, and healing – and serves as a place to honour Indigenous knowledge, foster reconciliation, and strengthen relationships between people and the natural world.

During Labonte’s blessing ceremony, approximately 40 community members, City officials, and the Friends of Malcolmson Eco-Park volunteers gathered in a circle, and each expressed a gratitude while holding an eagle feather. Attendees were then invited to participate in a ceremonial planting of wild bergamot in the Indigenous Healing Garden in Honour of Reconciliation and enjoyed a potluck lunch afterward.

The blessing ceremony comes after several months of planning. The Friends called on Indigenous community members for their knowledge and guidance. Marie Louise Bowering, a Mohawk woman, and Indigenous Community Connections Facilitator with the Niagara Catholic District School Board, referred the Friends to Louis Harris. Harris, a member of Six Nations who works in environmental education and community engagement with Heartland Forest, created the garden’s design in the shape of a turtle.

When shaped like a turtle, an Indigenous Healing Garden draws on the teaching of Turtle Island, a name used by many Indigenous Nations for North America. In many creation stories, the turtle carries the land on its back, symbolizing life, protection, resilience, and our interconnectedness with the Earth. The turtle's shell, with its distinctive pattern, is also associated with the cycles of nature, including the 13 moons of the year. Students connected with NPAAMB Indigenous Youth Employment and Training and Friends’ volunteers placed the rocks and filled them with soil, bringing Harris’s design to life.

The City is grateful to the Friends of Malcolmson Eco-Park for their leadership in bringing the Indigenous Healing Garden in Honour of Reconciliation to life, and for creating a space that supports reflection, learning, healing, and connection to the land. The City’s participation in the blessing ceremony reflects our ongoing commitment to strengthening relationships with local Indigenous communities and advancing truth and reconciliation, a timely reminder as we get closer to acknowledging Orange Shirt Day (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation).