National Indigenous Peoples’ day celebrated in Meadow Lake schools
Local students got into the spirit of National Indigenous Peoples’ Day Thursday.
The day is observed on June 21 annually to honour the Indigenous population of the entire country by celebrating culture. Many local schools took part, including Gateway Elementary School. The staff, led by teacher Jana Ross, filled the day with activities for students celebrating and observing Indigenous culture. The morning activity stations included Métis sash art, lacrosse, a traditional Cree game called stick dice, learning about plants and their medicinal uses, and Cree vocabulary bingo.
Ross said more than 63 per cent of the student population at the school identifies as Indigenous, and observing National Indigenous Peoples’ Day is important for students and staff alike.
“It’s great for the [Indigenous students] to learn their own culture,” Ross said. “A lot of these students have grandparents who went to residential school, so their culture has been lost over time. It’s about reclaiming that. And for the non-Indigenous students, they live in a province with a high aboriginal population and they need to know their neighbours and friends, educate themselves, and work on reconciliation.”