Mother makes desperate plea for return of foster son's missing regalia
Surrey foster mom says regalia stolen from car outside Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre
A Surrey, B.C. mother is making a desperate online plea for the return of her foster son's missing First Nations dance regalia.
Linda Cyrette says the traditional outfit was stolen from a friend's car that was parked outside of the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre in East Vancouver last week.
"The car had been broken in to and amongst other things in the car, Jonathan's regalia had been stolen," said Cyrette.
"He was devastated because it means he can't dance."
19-year-old Jonathan takes part in First Nations traditional dances and can't compete without wearing the traditional gear.
"It's huge to him. His culture is very important," said Cyrette. "Jonathan is on the drum group and the dance group with his other siblings that we were able to reunite him with."
"So it's not just about dancing and his culture, it's also about being connected with his birth family."
One of a kind
Jonathan is a big Canucks fan — so when Cyrette offered to save up her own money to have a special regalia made for him, he immediately wanted to get the Canucks colours on the First Nations outfit.
The final product is a blue regalia — with white, green and blue ribbons and a big Canucks logo on the front.
"It took several months to make, it's all hand-made," said Cyrette. "The result was stunning, whenever he dances, people take pictures of him, they recognize him,"
Cyrette says Jonathan was even filmed in his regalia while banging his drum at a Canucks game. The team's staff played the video on the big screen above centre ice during a stoppage in play.
"Everybody at Rogers Arena cheered for him and he said it was the best night of his life," said Cyrette.
Cyrette says her Facebook post asking the public to keep a lookout for Jonathan's regalia has been shared thousands of times.
She says anyone with any information is asked to message a Facebook group created to find the First Nations outfit.
Cyrette is offering a reward for the return of the regalia with no questions asked.
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