National Aboriginal Storytelling Month

February 3rd, 2014 - This morning our class had the opportunity to go to Scott Collegiate to participate in a workshop in celebration of Aboriginal Storytelling Month. The session was led by Scott's elder-in-residence, Mr. Noel Starblanket.

Mr. Starblanket began by telling us about the history of storytelling in world cultures, and the importance it holds to First Nations people. He talked about the human need for stories and how it helps our brains to establish the concepts of family, place, history, and culture. He also talked about the way that, in his own culture, stories were most often shared during the winter months.

Our class learned about Wisakechak, the Trickster, and his roles in Cree stories. Mr. Starblanket explained that Wisakechak was sent by the Creator, and was half human and half spirit. He was responsible for many of the inexplicable and chaotic things in the world. We were told that Wisakechak stories were only told during winter months, and to share them during any other time of the year was extremely unlucky.

Then, Mr. Starblanket introduced the personal memoir as a form of story. He divided his own life experiences into four parts - early childhood on his reserve, his experiences at residential school, his life immediately following residential school, and his time later in life in which he followed a spritual path towards healing. It was interesting for the students to think about how their own lives could be divided into four parts as well!

On Tuesday, February 25th, we have been invited back to Scott for an evening of soup, bannock, and story sharing! I am very excited to hear what all of the students wrote about!

7 Exhibit

We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to go to the MacKenzie Art Gallery to see the exhibition 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. This exhibit features the work of Canadian First Nations artists Daphne Odjig, Norval Morrisseau, Jaxon Beardy, Alex Janvier, Joseph Sanchez, Carl Ray, and Eddy Cobiness.

The students loved this exhibit and the colourful works were breathtaking. We looked at groups of paintings related to flood stories, colonialism, and personal narratives. The main theme to the exhibit was one of inter-connectedness, so it was especially fitting to showcase these artists as a collective.

The students went into the studio following the tour and created their own works in groups. Our group leader encouraged the students to use the "x-ray" style of art common in Morrisseau and Beardy's works, and it was interesting to see what they came up with. They then had to use painted lines to connect all parts of the painting together.

Glen Anaquod Memorial Tipi Raising Competition

Glen Anaquod was an incredible man who contributed so much to the education of young children during his life. Being extremely proud of his heritage, he was always excited to share his traditions and his culture with youth and was unbelievably generous with his time.

Following his passing in 2011, his family has held an annual tipi building competition in his name. This is a very suitable legacy to celebrate the life of Glen Anaquod, as the practice of traditional by younger people was so important to him. I was so honoured that Wascana School was invited to participate in this year's competition.

Originally, our team was intended to be comprised of teachers, but this quickly shifted once the raising began. One student demonstrated a clear sense of purpose and leadership and began to offer instructions to his classmates. Gradually, the students took more and more active roles in the assembly of the tipi and the teachers, in turn, stepped back. It was beautiful to see such hands-on, peer-guided learning happening before our eyes.

In the end, thanks in part to the group who preceded us (who rolled their canvas backwards and inside out), our tipi was never fully competed. However, I know that Mr. Anaquod would have been extremely proud of our students!

Treaty 4 Days

This post is a little late, but I still wanted to share some information about our fantastic day in Fort Qu'Appelle at Treaty 4 Days. On September 12th, our class (along with Ms. Bird's and Ms. Agecoutay's Gr. 7/8 classes) traveled to Fort Qu'Appelle to take part in the huge celebration.

Treaty 4 covers an enormous part of Saskatchewan, and the crowds reflected that this year. There were more than 1800 students taking part on Thursday alone (and nearly 4000 over 3 days)! It was wonderful to see so many students from all cultures learning about the importance of treaties.

We had the chance to take part in many fun activities ranging from games and obstacle courses to art and story telling. The moccasin game was a very popular spot for our students! Of course, the highlight for so many kids was climbing the hills. It seems like there would be little opportunity for students to learn about treaties while climbing a hill, but the view is breathless and gives everyone a better understanding of the importance of this land in the treaty negotiations.

My personal favourite is always cooking bannock on a stick. There is such a calm atmosphere around the fire pit and I never tire of it. It doesn't seem to matter how many students are crammed around the pit, or which direction the smoke is blowing in, when everyone is focused on turning their bannock it is the most quiet and relaxing place on the grounds.

Can't wait for next year!