Treaty 4 flag to be raised thanks to Thom students
A flag representing Treaty 4 First Nations will be raised in front of the Regina Public School Division office, thanks to a group of Thom Collegiate students.
It all started in April, when a group of Grade 10 students in a native studies class decided that if the Treaty 4 flag was flying over City Hall, it should be flown outside the school board office as well.
“Because this is Treaty 4 territory and we are all Treaty 4 people, we felt that it should be represented by flying the flag along with the Saskatchewan and Canadian flags.” said Tamika Parisian, one of the students who initiated dialogue about the flag.
“A lot of people don’t know that we are all treaty people and the flag represents the promise that both First Nations and non-First Nations people would live peacefully on this land,” added Aumery Whitecloud, another student actively involved in the project.
The process was simple — all 28 students in the class dictated a letter to their teacher, Kim Sadowsky, requesting the flag be raised.
They then gathered around 400 signatures to accompany the letter, and sent it to the Regina Public Schools board, who unanimously passed the motion at their Tuesday night meeting.
Board trustee Aleana Young, who put forward the motion on behalf of the students, said it was “wonderful” to see such enthusiastic student involvement.
“This is something we all hope our students will do in terms of engagement, thoughtfulness, consideration as well as activity,” Young said following the meeting.
“I can’t imagine how much time and effort it would have taken to go out and get these signatures, so ... I was really, really happy to put forward this motion on behalf of the students.”
According to Sadowsky, though, collecting those signatures was actually quite easy.
“It was one of those things where, for most of the students, it was a no-brainer,” she said.
“They were surprised that it wasn’t already flying.”
Parisian said she was very excited after hearing the motion had been passed at Tuesday night’s meeting.
“I messaged everyone and we were all overjoyed,” she said.
While the date for hoisting the flag is yet to be decided, the students are looking forward to it.
“Our next step is to help raise the flag in a good way at the school board, gathering together in a respectful way to acknowledge traditional protocol and our shared history of this land.” said Chris Youck, another student in Sadowsky’s class.
Sadowsky said she was surprised at how educated and passionate the students were about the issue.
“It was great to see various kids from different cultural backgrounds all coming together and agreeing that this was a shared history and we need to know more about it,” she said.
The students are hopeful that, in time, the Treaty 4 flag will fly outside all schools in Regina, including their own.