Ribbon skirts crafted by northern Manitoba students take the stage at graduation ceremony

Daveigh Blacksmith is proud that when she walks the graduation stage in northern Manitoba, she will be honouring her culture.

During Thursday's graduation ceremony at R.D. Parker Collegiate in Thompson, the 17-year-old from Pimicikamak Cree Nation plans to hold an eagle feather while wearing a homemade ribbon skirt, beaded earrings and a beaded graduation cap that took her two months to complete.

"My mom's happy and my nanny is proud," Blacksmith told CBC. "My mom always says that I have my kookum's genes, because she always used to bead."

While Blacksmith is wearing regalia she made herself in her own time — including her blue-and-white beaded earrings and beaded cap — she will also be wearing the ribbon skirt that she made as part of an after-school program, where students meet and visit with elders from the community.

The group started in Thompson last year as a way for elders to build connections with the youth, said Chrissy Roeckenwagner, a teacher at the high school and host of the after-school club.

What began as a way for youth and elders to share time and meals together evolved into knowledge-sharing meetings, where teachings were shared between the generations. 

Eventually, the youth in the club expressed an interest in making ribbon skirts, which is how the club ended up meeting every Wednesday to work on the colourful dresses.

Blacksmith, along with her cousin Hannah Benson, also from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, pushed themselves to finish their skirts in time for the graduation ceremony, Roeckenwagner said.

"They were here after classes were finished, after their exams were done. They were coming in on their own time to make sure that they finished it," Roeckenwagner said. "I'm just very proud of them."

The ribbon skirt Benson sewed took about three months to finish, she told CBC, but she estimates she could have been done faster if she was doing it in her own time.

The black skirt is adorned with a turquoise ribbon, in honour of her elementary years at Wapanohk Community School — a school that also shared Indigenous teachings.

"I think it is a good thing for Native people to be more a part of their culture, because as you know, a lot of us had our culture taken away," Benson said.

The 17-year-old said Indigenous students in the United States are still facing challenges trying to wear Indigenous regalia at graduation ceremonies, referencing a New Mexico student who had her beaded graduation cap taken away last month, as reported by APTN.

"I feel kind of honoured that we would be able to do something like this for our communities and for the people who weren't able to do it," Benson said.

Soon to be high school graduates, the cousins said they want to see Indigenous cultural teachings and traditions continued and carried on to the next generation.

"I want to see a lot more representation for Native people," said Benson. "I hope I can see more of the language coming out, more people having it as their first language even … so we can just keep it with us, keep it close."