Looking out over ‘a sea of orange’

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Published on Friday, October 7, 2016

Photos by Tony Eu. The keynote speaker was Darren McKee, the executive director of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association. McKee, who is originally from Crane River, or O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, spent his time sharing stories and insight, as well as providing opportunities for learning and understanding.

By Tony Eu

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

On Sept. 30, teachers and staff from across the Pine Creek School Division gathered at William Morton Collegiate Institute (WMCI) to attend an in-service day. The topic? Expanding capacity and proficiency in indigenous matters. The keynote speaker was Darren McKee, the executive director of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.

Orange Shirt Day

Coincidentally, Sept. 30 was also Orange Shirt Day, a national event to honour and remember survivors of the residential school system, as well as promote the ongoing reconciliation with the numerous indigenous populations it affected. As such, nearly all the members of staff who attended wore an orange shirt with the movement’s theme of ‘every child matters’ printed on the front.

Before the in-service began, two elders performed a ceremonial smudge, a purifying ceremony that uses the smoke from sage and sweet grass, among other plants, to cleanse a person, area or object.

Jason Starr, a First Nations man from the Bear Clan performed. Starr is also a recent graduate of WMCI and a resident of Sandy Bay. He performed a traditional song of the Bear Clan, using a hand made, traditional drum.

The event included a performance by Jason Starr, a First Nations individual and member of the Bear Clan. Starr performed a traditional song of the Bear Clan, using a hand made, traditional drum.

“The guy who helped me make this [drum] was my uncle,” Starr explained.  “This is made of buffalo hide. I made it by hand; everything is made by hand, from the sinew, to the wood, to the hide we tanned. We spent a good few weeks making it and I’m very proud to bring it out here and sing for you guys and show a little bit about my culture and who I am.”

MLA for the Agassiz constituency, Eileen Clarke, took to the podium. As well as being the local MLA, Clarke is minister of Indigenous and Municipal Relations.

“I’m really encouraged by the focus on matters relating to indigenous people and communities in our province,” she said, regarding the topic of the in-service.

She discussed the activities and goals the government has in relation to aboriginal matters, as well as some of the issues they’re currently dealing with.

Addressing the tragedy

One such issue is “the tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls,” as phrased by Clarke. She went on to say that the issue is “of vital and ongoing public importance to Manitoba and a priority underscored by its significant young and growing indigenous population.” She added that though we always hear of missing and murdered girls and women, we can’t forget that there are also male victims.

Clarke then narrowed in on the national inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women. “The critical work of the national inquiry will be facilitated… [with] reference to and in consideration of Manitoba’s experiences,” Clarke said, “[As well as the] considerable relevant work and analysis that has already been undertaken here to identify and better understand the systematic causes of violence against our indigenous women and girls.”

“By making focused, actionable recommendations,” Clarke continued, “the national inquiry may build upon the work and analysis undertaken in Manitoba, to better address the collaborative action necessary to bridge the systematic gaps that put indigenous women and girls at risk.”

Students display themed artwork

Master of ceremonies for the event and a staff member at Pine Creek School Division, Krystal Nicholls, took a moment to draw attention to a few points of interest.

The first one was that the artwork on display in the foyer was done by students from Isaac Beaulieu Memorial School in Sandy Bay. Students from Langruth Elementary School made the poster on display just inside the gym doors and WMCI students made a ‘puzzle piece’ art display that was also in the foyer.

On display during the in-service was artwork done by the division’s students, as well as students from Sandy Bay. 

The second point of interest was that if anyone had an interesting moment or picture to share, they could tweet it using the hashtags, #pcsdorange, #everychildmatters and #pcsdpd.

Division superintendent Brian Gouriluk started his presentation with an anecdote, “Thirty-five years ago, this month, I started my teaching career in Oxford House, Manitoba, a First Nation. I learned a lot more, in my two years teaching in the north, than I think I ever taught my students. I had some very important lessons and I’m very excited today that some of these lessons are now going to become part of what everybody will learn. You see, when I grew up in a middle class, suburban neighbourhood, I didn’t know anything about residential schools. I learned because the parents and my colleagues who were in my school and in my community, they were survivors.”

He shared a story of a friend whose brother had committed suicide, noting that in the community where he was teaching, that had happened to so many families. He also shared the story of how eight of their gradating students died in a plane crash coming back from another school in a different community. That same year, the community school had their first ever graduating class.

“Now, 35 years later, I’m happy to be here on Orange Shirt Day,” Gouriluk remarked. “Believe me, it looks absolutely fantastic standing here, seeing this sea of orange.”

Orange shirts a catalyst

 “I don’t want you to think of this orange shirt day as a one-day event. I don’t want to you to think you can’t wear this orange shirt any other day,” Gouriluk stressed. “Any day you wear this in your school is a fantastic thing, because this day and these shirts, they’re not just a symbol, they’re a catalyst. A catalyst for conversation, they’re a catalyst for understanding, they’re a catalyst for change.” 

He continued to encourage his staff to wear their orange shirts as much as possible, going as far as to say that he’ll consider an orange t-shirt as part of his staff’s professional attire.

He encouraged the staff to organize days in their own schools where they would all wear orange, stating that, “that’s going to make them the catalyst we need them to be.”

“Today I feel that we, as a school division, are taking leadership. Taking leadership in our community to bring that understanding and to bring about that change,” Gouriluk said to end his speech.

School board member James Bedford shared a few words, reinforcing the sentiment shown by Gouriluk, after which, Nicholls, as the MC, once again took the podium.

“September 30 has been declared Orange Shirt Day, annually, in recognition of the harm the residential school system did to children’s sense of self-esteem and well-being and as a affirmation of the commitment to assure that everyone matters. The goal of Orange Shirt Day Society is to create awareness of the individual, family and community intergenerational impacts of the Indian residential schools,” Nicholls said, explaining to the crowd the importance of the orange shirts.

Before handing over the podium for the keynote presentation, Nicholls explained the topic of the day’s in-service, expanding divisional capacity and proficiency in indigenous matters.

“In the context of education, capacity often refers to our ability to do, to experience and to understand, while proficiency refers to our expertise, often reflected in our ability to speak and preform. Knowledge, relationships, communication and protocol are four important aspects of capacity and proficiency and none more so than in the context of aboriginal and indigenous students, their families and their communities,” Nicholls said.

From there, Nicholls introduced McKee, who would spend the rest of the day sharing stories, insight and opportunities to ask questions and learn.

The keynote speaker

“My role here isn’t to create blame and shaming or have you feel bad. That’s not my intent. You’ll see the language that I use throughout the day is about becoming a learner, not a judger,” McKee explained.

Like Gouriluk, McKee started his presentation with a short anecdote.

“I was born not too far from here, in a place called Saint Rose du Lac. I originally come from Crane River, or O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation. I made my way, at a very young age with my mother, to Saskatchewan. I was raised in rural Saskatchewan, and in that experience, I was taught who I was and what it meant to be indigenous. That was my childhood; I grew up in a small rural community where I learned about the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Utrecht, but not my own treaty. I come from Treaty 2 territory,” McKee shared.

“I work with the Board of Education and many of our board members are farmers. I talk to them about the importance of the land, how important it is to them, they really relate to it. And then I discuss it from an indigenous perspective,” McKee continued. “It’s hard for people to understand, because it’s a bit of a foreign concept, but we learn together.”

From there, McKee continued into the rest of his presentation, doing as he promised. Sharing stories, insight and opportunities for learning and understanding.

“I felt it was a really exciting day for Pine Creek School Division, I believe our professional development committee is demonstrating important leadership in this area,” Gouriluk said after the event was over. As a final comment, Gouriluk stressed once again that, “This is not a one day event… It’s the start of understanding and change for our schools and our community.”