The NWT Métis Nation Healing & Wellness Program is holding a Full Moon Ceremony on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. The gathering starts at 6:30 p.m. at Castaways Cottages on 6 Lagoon Road in Hay River, and no registration is needed to attend — everyone is welcome.
The evening includes a sharing circle focused on women’s self-care, plus drumming and singing. Organizers suggest participants bring a water bottle, a ribbon skirt, a drum, or a rattle.
In many Indigenous cultures, Full Moon ceremonies honour Grandmother Moon and her connection to women and water. The event continues the healing program’s regular offerings in Hay River and Fort Smith, which include pipe ceremonies, sweat lodge gatherings, drum circles, grief support, and grounding practices.
The program opened a dedicated office at the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre, #2-8 Gagnier Street in Hay River, in November 2025. The office is staffed by Rhonda Plamondon, a Healing & Wellness Support Worker, and represents an expansion of community-based services shaped by Indigenous ways of healing.
Castaways Cottages sits on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, about 10 minutes from downtown Hay River. The venue is a 100% locally owned Indigenous business that highlights traditional culture.
The Northwest Territory Métis Nation has deep roots in Hay River. The first Annual General Assembly of the Métis Association of the Northwest Territories was held there in 1973, and the community remains a centre for Métis governance in the South Slave region.
