Aboriginal education festival comes to B.C. school
'We are not historical, we are right now,' says Shane Pointe, VSB's first knowledge keeper
Over 270 elementary school students packed the hallways and classrooms of John Oliver Secondary School in Vancouver for a hands-on learning experience on Aboriginal culture.
"It's important for all these young people to know that we are right now," said Shane Pointe, Musqueam elder and Vancouver School Board's first knowledge keeper and elder in residence.
"We are not historical, we are right now," Pointe said.
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First Nation artisans taught students about the medicine wheel, walked them through canoe protocols, and showed them West Coast designs.
It was all part of the school's first step at integrating the new B.C. curriculum, which has been re-designed to emphasize Aboriginal culture.
"It's one of our schools goals...to infuse First Nations understanding throughout the curriculum, not just in history class but in math, science and P.E.," said Tim McGeer, principal at John Oliver Secondary School.
Exploring the arts
The Grade 6 and 7 students also took part in a powwow dance class that required serious stamina.
"It's pretty fun, I can say that, but it is pain too sometimes," said Daniel Krishna, a Grade 7 student from John Henderson Elementary School on trying the dance steps for the first time.
Students also learned about traditional cedar weaving.
"It was really cool, I didn't know you could make a bracelet out of tree bark," said Shahna Venkatesh, a Grade 6 student from Walter Moberly Elementary School.
Loretta Williams from the Tsawwassen First Nation taught the students how to make bracelets using traditional cedar bark weaving methods. She said students are often surprised these methods are still used.
"Sometimes kids think we are just kind of mythical beings because it is all history. Everything is taught in the past tense," she said, "but this is what we still do."
Proud moments
Tanner Mitchell, a Grade 12 Lil'wat Nation student at John Oliver Secondary School, guided the students through the activities and was glad he could teach them about his culture.
"I like expressing my culture," he said, "I don't feel like I get to express it much because other people think it's a fragile subject because of the residential schools."
The festival was wrapped up with a First Nation graduation ritual where students — Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal — were clothed in Coast Salish graduation gowns and took part in raising a pole to mark their transition into adulthood.
