Storytelling, music, dance and food are all playing a part in this year's National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day. This year, EIPS schools will celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday, June 19 or Monday, June 22, as June 21 falls on a weekend. Divisionwide, students and staff are participating in activities aimed at recognizing and learning about the historic and present-day contributions of Indigenous Peoples across Canada. These celebrations reflect more than a decade of focused efforts by EIPS to embed Indigenous perspectives in schools.
EIPS school are celebrating with events on June 19 and 21, as National Indigenous Peoples Day falls on a Sunday. EIPS schools have also been participating in activities throughout June for National Indigenous History Month.
In 2015, shortly after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its 94 Calls to Action, EIPS hired its first consultant to lead the launch of its First Nations, Métis and Inuit Centre. Since then, the team has grown to include multiple consultants, and lead First Nations, Métis and Inuit teachers in almost every school across the Division. Many EIPS schools have also built relationships with Elders in their communities. The goal: To engage students, in every grade, about First Nations, Métis and Inuit history, perspectives and traditions.
"EIPS has been so intentional about engaging in meaningful work," says Taryn Donald, a First Nations, Métis and Inuit Curriculum Consultant for EIPS. "Our hope is that the lessons we share provide Indigenous students the opportunity to see themselves and their cultures reflected in their schools, while also helping non-Indigenous students develop a deeper understanding of Indigenous histories, perspectives and contributions."
Schools weave Indigenous perspectives and lessons into the curriculum through land-based learning, traditional oral histories and the Seven Sacred Teachings of love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth. Students participate in lesson plans such as the Project of Heart and Blanket Exercises, explore traditions like hoop dancing and hide scraping at culture camps, and hear stories from intergenerational residential-school survivors all in efforts to strengthen understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
To honour those learnings, schools across the Division are celebrating by hosting assemblies and guest speakers, organizing round dances and traditional games, schoolwide art projects, and serving traditional Indigenous foods at Lunch on the Land events. "I'm excited to show my Indigenous background by wearing my ribbon skirt for the event," says Nora Heeney, a Grade 4 student at Woodbridge Farms. "I'm so proud to be Inuit."
National Indigenous Peoples Day is a nationally recognized day for all Canadians to celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. The day was chosen in recognition of the cultural significance of the summer solstice the first day of summer and the longest day of the year and a day many Indigenous groups traditionally celebrate their heritage.
