Since January Students at South Nelson Elementary school have been focusing on connection with Indigenous art and connection with the world around us. 

Students learned about the Potlatch Ban in Canada through the story “The Secret of the Dance” by Andrea Spalding and Alfred Scow and studied Traditional West Coast masks. 

They also learned about Norval Morrisseau and his contributions to contemporary Indigenous art in Canada and created pictures of various animals in the style of Morrisseau.

In February we baked bannock together in preparation for our Winter Feast, and focused on sharing stories and reading stories about togetherness.

All year South Nelson students have slowly been learning some Nsəlxcin, the language spoken by Syilx First Peoples. We have been practicing hello/goodbye, good morning/afternoon, see you again later, and how to count from 1-10. Our goal is to learn the colours and numbers well enough by the end of the year to play a game of uno using Nsəlxcin.

We are returning the language to the land and it’s beautiful to watch the students approach a new language with such curiosity and care.

Most recently students focused on how we are all connected, through the story “Be a Tree” by Maria Gianferrari. After, they listened to a story called “We are all connected” told from the perspective of water that introduced students to various nature related Nsəlxcin words through specific local character cards that each student had.

It has been a wonderful year so far and I am excited to finish it off with many fun outdoor teachings and games!

Submitted by Baylie Corner, Aboriginal Academic Success Teacher