Paterson program brings indigenous, non-indigenous students together
Indigenous students from Gilbert Paterson Middle School are taking part in an art and learning program designed to bring indigenous and non-indigenous students together. The students, part of an after school FNMI art program, have been working with students from Bob Edwards Junior High School in Calgary to better explore and understand Truth and Reconciliation.
Last Wednesday, the students took part in a Blackfoot naming ceremony to give a name to their art project. The name translates to “Children Speak the Truth.”
Andrea T.J. Fox, district principal with FNMI education for Lethbridge School District No. 51, has been at the helm of the project for the past three years in partnership with the Calgary Board of Education.
She said the students learn cultural foundations about indigenous history, both current and historical issues impacting indigenous people, and the relationships between indigenous people and Canada.
“This is how we are working toward Truth and Reconciliation,” Fox said.
“It’s very much the truth part, where we are learning about history and reflecting, and then going forward. It is through the teachings and understanding that the students are gaining.”
With that knowledge, the students create art based on their new understanding. That art will go up in an art show and celebrate what the students have learned together.
“I really appreciate how the students from both schools have been able to ask very important questions and, most of all, are open to the process — which is essential,” said Fox.
Catherine Thorsen, vice-principal at Gilbert Paterson, said it was a “tremendous” honour for the first Blackfoot naming ceremony to take place at the school for the project.
“But it’s a bigger honour because we’re a school chosen to be part of a huge initiative to do with Reconciliation,” she said.
“Our school houses many students who are bused here from the reserve and we wanted to offer a unique opportunity for those students after school as they wait for their buses.”
She said she has seen the self esteem of the students involved greatly improved since joining the project.
“This honour is now with the kids,” she said. “Letting them show not only through art, but conversations, what not only they went through themselves, but also what their parents and grandparents went through and trying to make sense of it all.”
Once the artwork is completed, students will take part in discussions between themselves and exit interviews regarding their experiences. Each school will host the other and hold a feast and a tour. The artwork will be part of gallery exhibits in Calgary and at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge.
“It’s important for (the students) to have opportunities to explore their cultural identity in a safe and creative environment,” Fox said.
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