There are several events going on around Winnipeg today for National Indigenous Peoples Day.

The University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus ran activities from 7:30 this morning to 2 this afternoon, including a teepee construction, story time for children, a feast, performances, and speeches.

"What is the purpose of National Indigenous Peoples Day? Essentially, many people will say it's to honour and acknowledge the Indigenous culture and heritage, but it's more than that. It's to recognize that Indigenous peoples are at the core, the very foundation, of what exists today in Canada," said Dr. Catherine Cook, Head, Ongomiizwin, Vice-Dean, Indigenous Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett was also on hand. She'll be attending a ceremony this afternoon at the St. Boniface Heritage Garden where a new Louis Riel interpretive panel that will be unveiled by Riel’s great-niece France Lemay Sibilleau of the Union Nationale métisse de Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, and Lucien Croteau of the Conseil Elzéar Goulet local of the Manitoba Métis Federation.

Celebrations were held outside City Hall today as well, including dance, music, and visual arts performances. Yesterday, 40 more signatories were added to the city's Indigenous Accord.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will be hosting a concert tonight, and the Manitoba Children's Museum held activities until 3 this afternoon. Indigenous Day Live will run this Saturday at The Forks.

National Indigenous Peoples Day was originally called National Aboriginal Day, proclaimed by the government in 1996. The name was changed last year.