Don’t cave to any public pressures of any kind. That was the message delivered to students at St. Benedict as part of a school wide assembly this week.

The assembly was put on by the Indigenous Club and Diversity Club in partnership with funding from a Speak Up grant provided by the Ministry of Education.

Boys with Braids events were first started by Michael Linklater, a Cree from Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan who wanted to raise awareness of why Indigenous boys and men wear a braid. Linklater was teased and bullied at school.

Speakers Charles Petahtegoose from Atikameksheng and Wasauksing along with Perry McLeod-Shabogesic, a traditional co-ordinator at Shkagamik-Kwe Health shared their wisdom on why braids are a symbol of strength and wisdom that reflects identity.
The speakers were able to explain to the students that the issue transcends braids to anything they see in society from another culture.

Afterwards, the speakers held a power circle teaching for a group of students to talk about how braids, bullying and the struggle to conform has impacted their lives.

Thanks to great weather, the educational pow wow at St. Benedict went off without a hitch Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

The detailed and colourful regalia stayed dry and there were hundreds of students who were able to walk away from the experience learning something about traditions and Indigenous culture.

The pow wow was partially funded by a Speak Up grant from the Ministry of Education in the area of Opening Doors for Indigenous Conversations.

Laura Kuzenko, Principal of St. Benedict Catholic School says the grant was successful to ensure that more than 450 visitors from within the board and within other boards learned the traditions and spiritual meaning behind such an important cultural solstice event.

“We have a number of international students at our school who would have experienced a pow wow for the first time and yet we have many Canadian nationals who were here for the first time as well to learn together.”

Lunch was also served to the visitors which included traditional Indian tacos.

The raw truth unveiled during blanket exercise at St. Benedict

The history of Canada and its relationship with Indigenous peoples was unveiled today at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Sudbury.

A number of students took part in a Kairos Blanket Exercise to learn the truth about how the Indigenous Peoples were treated by European colonizers, settlers and the Canadian government for hundreds of years.

Ms. Dowdall organized the blanket activity in collaboration with the Indigenous Sharing Learning Centre at Laurentian University. She explains that the blankets represent the land we know as Canada (Turtle Island) and works to increase empathy and understanding among participants.

The activity was created in 1996 by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition to develop a new way for people to understand the shared history of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The students walk thru pre-contact, treaty making, colonization and resistance. It’s always followed by a talking circle.

A huge thank you goes out to the classes at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School that participated in the blanket exercise today.

In photo: Avery Dambremont, who is studying grade 11 Aboriginal art takes part in a blanket ceremony in the school gymnasium today.