Maple Ridge School celebrates National Indigenous Peoples Day

Hundreds of students at Eric Langton Elementary in Maple Ridge heard about Indigenous games as they celebrated National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday.

This was the school’s fifth annual Traditional Indigenous Games Day, which saw 465 students rotate through 18 stations organized by the school’s leadership students.

Stations include games such as: double ball, lacrosse, the bone game, animal muzzle, bison running, javelin throw and one foot high kick.

Leadership students, made up of students from the 6th/7th grade French Immersion class and the 5th/6th Grade English immersion class, went through the history of each game through the students’ rotations before teaching them how to play.

It’s a youth leadership initiative, a research project where they researched Indigenous games from across Turtle Island, explains Katrina Haintz, a member of the Coast Salish Hwlitsum First Nation and Aboriginal support worker at the school. Turtle Island is an indigenous reference to the continent of North America.

The students used Inuit games, Metis games and First Nation games – in an effort to honor all the cultures that our school represents.

“I think for me the most important part of this is that it is an act of reconciliation. Seeing our Indigenous youth working with our non-Indigenous youth, coming together with so much excitement, so much pride, and so much joy in what they do and how they share the teachings. It’s beautiful,” Haintz said.

Katzie First Nation elder Coleen Pierre has participated in the games since they started school. She is honored to participate, especially since the games are held within her traditional territory.

“You can feel the excitement and adrenaline of the students,” says Pierre, who was impressed by the students’ willingness to learn more about indigenous culture at school.

And the students have learned so much, she said, that when they see her, they advise her on events and stop asking her questions.

“It shows that they are being taught in a good way. And I respect the fact that they want to know more about the local indigenous community,” said Pierre.

“Everything about today is beautiful. It’s beautiful and I’m honored to be here,” the elder said.

Principal Brandy Mcintyre noted that the leadership students put a lot of effort into planning the day’s competitions. They learned about the history of each game, they planned each of the game stations in advance, they prepared the information to read before each game about its history, and then ran the stations for that day.

“They have taken the role of student leadership so much to heart and they do it with an open mind and an open heart,” she said, adding that she is so proud of the work they do with the staff as they try “ to embed Indigenous ways of knowing and being within our school community.”

Students also learned about native dances with demonstrations from The Wild Moccasin Dancers, who performed in the school’s gym.