National Indigenous Peoples’ Day at Fort Langley
Today, my children and I attended the National Indigenous Peoples' Day at Fort Langley. The event included a Métis jig workshop (with Lisa Shepherd from the Métis Nation), a Traditional Plant Workshop (with Deanna Miller from the Katzie First Nation), Tea with Auntie Lisa (with Lisa Shepherd), Bannock at the central fire pit, and a Welcome Song and Walking Tour (with Fern Gabriel from the Kwantlen First Nation).
We were offered tea by Auntie Lisa, from the Métis Nation, when we arrived at the Big House in Fort Langley. The tea was made from herbs grown in the garden at the Fort, we had three types to choose from: mint, mint/sage, and mint/sage/raspberry leaf.
After serving us tea Auntie Lisa and the guests sat down to discuss the Métis culture. The sash she had in front of her was different than I had seen previously, she mentioned that the Métis women of BC typically had a sash similar to the one in the photo below. According to Auntie Lisa, people wore sashes in the colours that were available to them. While we were talking she continued to do some beading work. Lisa Shepherd is a Métis artist who creates garments and fine artworks and teaches workshops on beading and the Métis jig, she was commissioned to create a mossbag (which is a traditional baby carrier) for Fort Langley to display at the Big House.
Auntie Lisa had a few important things to say, that I think as educators are important for us to know and acknowledge. She asks that we be careful of language, that the language we use be inclusive for all the Indigenous people of Canada. In particular, that instead of saying First Nations, it should be FNMI or First Nations Métis Inuit to be inclusive of all the Indigenous people. She also mentioned that while we used to and can still use the word aboriginal that this can be problematic as the word is made up of two parts, "ab" which can mean "not" and "original", thus creating "not-original" when the intention of the word is to say "original people". This was something that I have to admit that I had never considered before.
She also would like the people of Canada to understand that since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada the FNMI people of Canada need the help of all of Canadians, that it should be the responsibility of every Canadian to read the stories and that all of Canada should know the trauma, through this we can all be part of the understanding and help with the healing.
Lastly, and I think this is very important for educators to understand, that the FNMI people just found their voice in Canada and it is important to let them use it. Auntie Lisa believes that the history of the FNMI people of Canada should be taught in schools but that members of the various FNMI communities should be brought into the schools to discuss their culture and stories. Finding people in the community, either through a district's Aboriginal Resource department or other connections in the community, can greatly enhance the learning and understanding for students around the FNMI curriculum and First Peoples' Principles of Learning.
Fern Gabriel of the Kwantlen First Nation welcomed us to the Fort and her ancestral territory today and Carlyn Andres of the Katzie First Nation sang a "Women's Welcome Song". Fern guided us on a walk where she discussed some of the histories of the First Nations people of the area, as well as some First Nations stories about salmon and cedar. Carlyn graced us with a few more songs as we walked and also pointed out some edible and medicinal plants that we found just outside the Fort walls. Fern Gabriel's message at the end of our walk is important for everyone to hear, that our earth is on fire right now. When First Nations communities gather they think about the future grandchildren of the youngest person in the room and ask "how are we going to protect the earth for the grandchildren?". We should all be asking ourselves that question.
A wonderful day that we were privileged to be able to experience.
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