Students from across the Treaty 6 territory spent the day in North Battleford learning about their neighbouring communities.

A dozen schools took part in the first ever gathering that shared community history and interesting facts from each of the 12 bands that took part.

The Sweetgrass School’s principal, Janice Smith, says the research uncovered interesting history about Chief Sweetgrass.

She says the Chief’s mother originated from Missouri.

The school’s research team also found the federal government made it very tough for First Nation farmers to be successful.

Meanwhile, the presenters from Big Island Lake Cree Nation talked about the number of twins that are from the community.

In the last 100 years there has been 34 sets of twins.

School teacher, Elizabeth Heathen says just about every family from Big Island Lake has a set of twins.

“Our first Chief, Chief Joseph Bighead, we found out that his ancestor, we think is his grandfather, is a twin,” says Heathen. “So I think we stem down from there, from that first set of twins.”

For the past 18 years, the community has a round dance in honour of all the sets of twins.

Treaty 6 Education Council, Director of Education, Patrick Buglar, says the event has been a real learning experience for everyone involved.

We want our kids to have the opportunity to learn about themselves and their communities, he says.