The new year at South Nelson has begun with a focus on learning traditional Indigenous games. Students have enjoyed learning and playing three games - hubbub, sticks in the fist, and stick catch.

Hubbub - This game was played by many nations and called by many names. Usually nations would compete against one another and set wagers on the game. These games provoked great celebrations and people would cheer "hub hub hub..." hence the name "hubbub" began to emerge. Students do not set wagers when playing, but it is important for them to learn the origins of the game. In classrooms we play in 2 teams, each team facing each other while sitting in a line. Each member takes a turn rolling the 5 marked stones, and collecting points for different combinations. 5 of a kind is 3 points, 4 of a kind is 1 point, and any other combination is 0 points. The game is to be played until the bag of 50 sticks has been divided, but in the classroom setting we play so everyone gets 2 rolls and the winner is the team with the most sticks collected. 

Sticks in the fist - This is another game of chance, traditionally played by the Blackfoot, Chippewa, and many other nations. The object of the game is to use your intuition to choose sticks from a bundle that someone holds in their hands, while trying not to choose the stick that is marked at the end. Traditionally the game is played with a bundle of 10 sticks, but in the classroom setting we use 1 stick for every student in the circle, plus the marked stick. This way students are able to go around the circle without choosing the marked stick if they are lucky, which is considered a perfect score. The game resets when the marked stick is chosen, and we often play multiple rounds to see if we can beat the previous score.

Stick catch - This game is played by many different Indigenous people across Turtle Island. The Pimas and Papagos from the southern states, the Inuit and the Pacific Northwest Coastal Nations like the Haida. This game is played in teams, and the object is to see how many sticks your team can balance on the back of their hand and then catch. The first team member begins with one stick balanced on the back of their hand, and they have to quickly pull their hand from under the stick and catch it before the stick falls to the ground. For every successful catch, the next person adds one more stick, until the pile of sticks is gone. This game traditionally helped people develop patience as well as hand eye coordination, which was helpful practice for hunting. This game is a favourite of students and provides a great way for them to work together and encourage each other. 

We have ended the month at South Nelson by learning about the origin of the Star Blanket and creating beautiful pieces of art in the same style. We discussed where the art comes from (Blackfoot, Sioux, Cree), and how this style was created with natural dyes on hide pre-contact, and was turned into the current expression of the star blanket when Indigenous people had access to textiles post contact with settlers. We discussed how the star blanket uses an 8 point star, which represents the morning star, and each point connecting to the 4 stages of life and the 4 directions. Our star uses 6 points for ease in creating the design on a smaller canvas. Students looked at reference photos and created their own beautiful designs.

At Homelinks we have focused on learning Metis flat stitch beadwork for the past few months during our bi-weekly Friday meetups. Students and their families have enjoyed working together on poppies and florals.