The round dance at PACI. Photo courtesy @neesers7, Twitter.
Hundreds of students were a part of reconciliation this week in Prince Albert.
Students from Carlton High School and nearby Muskoday gathered at Prince Albert Collegiate Institute on Wednesday, where they heard first-hand about the shared history with First Nations and non-First Nations people.
The Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division’s (SRPSD’s) Board of Trustees wanted the event to act as a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations.
Throughout the day, students were able to attend four of 12 different sessions. This included talks about how residential schools impacted First Nations people, hosted by the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre. Also, a Muskoday band councillor explained the roles of Chief and Council, a trapper talked about sharing the land, and an Elder spoke about traditional First Nations medicine.
The morning started off with an interactive blanket exercise, which “takes students through over 500 years of history in 40 minutes. So it takes them through history prior to contact and the arrival of the Europeans to now,” said Tracy Bloomquist, integrated learning department consultant with SRSD.
Cultural understanding requires people to look at the past, she said.
“I think the hope is to engage in conversations about our shared history so that our history is known and people are able to understand the past to better understand the future.”
Sharing circles were a chance for students to express feelings, thoughts, and ask questions. For SPRSD First Nation-Metis Partnership Consultant Linda Greyeyes-Highway the hope is to get students talking, not just at school but with each other “so that they can start a process of breaking down the barriers and eliminating the racism and the hating that does go on between cultures. And we hope that reconciliation is the avenue for that.”
The day wrapped up with a round dance, to bring students together and leave them with a lasting impression, she said.
“It was a time for the students to come together and realize that they are all one; we are all one, we are all responsible for one another; and that they’ve made some new friends,” she said.
The two women said the SPRSD is aiming to host similar “Education for Reconciliation” events in the future that can accommodate the schedules for rural schools.
Photo courtesy @tracybloomquist, Twitter