Grad party under scrutiny
Chinook students deny racist theme
High school grad parties often have themes. But one held in Lethbridge recently has come under scrutiny because of its race-charged context.
Parents and students from Chinook High School, as well as officials from Lethbridge School District No. 51, are now responding following a “Cowboys and Indians” party said to have been held in the city.
Several social media posts on various sites have alleged that the party contained at least one person wearing a headdress with a Listerine bottle on it.
In a statement provided to The Herald by the Chinook High Class of 2017, that rumour was denied.
“On behalf of the Chinook Graduating Class, we formally apologize for offending anyone by having a Grad party entitled “Cowboys and Indians.” We had no intention of purposely hurting or offending anyone. As for Seven Quenelle’s post, his second-hand facts are simply not true. The school had no affiliation with the organization of this party. Our principal Kevin Wood has nothing to do with this event. There was no “skit” in with the Grade 12’s danced around in a “native headdress that was made out of Listerine bottles,” the statement reads.
“Although we did have an assembly on the 25th addressing the inappropriateness of our party and our principal stated that he stands with us in our mistakes and that the only thing we can do now is to own up to those mistakes. Mr. Wood also mentioned that we need to stick together as a school and support each other through these times. Yes, we are young adults but at our age we make mistakes. And this mistake is a serious one that we recognize as being avoidable. But what do we do? We learn and grow from them and become better individuals. The “Cowboys and Indians” party theme has been running every year at several High Schools until this year.
On Friday, Lethbridge School District No. 51 also issued a statement to clarify its position amid the allegations.
“Lethbridge School District No. 51 schools make it an aim to grow learning communities that are culturally sensitive and diverse, with the hope students go into the world and live the lessons learned within the halls of their schools,” the statement reads.
“Thursday afternoon at an assembly, Chinook High School engaged in a conversation about the importance of these lessons. Chinook also encouraged thinking and dialogue about racism in Canadian communities. There was also a reminder given about being safe and behaving appropriately during the graduation season,” it continued.
“The staff and students at Chinook talked about how important it is to be publicly involved in this deep discussion of First Nations racism taking place over social media, news media and the community at large. The school will continue to hold a place in the community that ensures progressive and thoughtful education for all our students. It will also be a place where such lessons are safe to learn.”
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