All four quarters of the medicine wheel come together to celebrate in Timmins

The longest day of the year is a time to reconnect with the Earth. Hundreds of people gathered in Hollinger Park in Timmins on Wednesday to recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day.

“I was happy to see the blessing of the land by a young man -- it really touched my heart because, you know, the spirit of our people are here," said Annie Metatawabin, who is originally from Fort Albany.

It's also a good opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better.

“Well it’s a special day for all the Aboriginals to meet, to share things," said John Etherington, originally from Moosonee.

"It’s not just for Aboriginal people -- it's for everybody to come and learn about our culture, what we’re about why we have this celebration.”

“The gift of this is just all of us being here,” said Mary Boyden, an event participant.

"I’m seeing people from all four quarters of the medicine wheel here and we’re all celebrating together. It’s beautiful.”

Although National Indigenous Peoples Day was only established in 1996, Metatawabin said they've celebrated this day -- the first day of summer -- long before then.

"You know the history of our people had celebrated this day as a get-together,” she said.

“When I was a child I used to see my people coming together, because after living off the land all winter time they came back to the community and celebrated, happy to see each other again and embrace their way of life, their values and sharing and giving each other what they had brought back from the land.”

The day only happens once a year, but organizers said it's with the hope that learning about Indigenous peoples never stops.