Reconciliation project at Salmon Arm school catches elder鈥檚 eye

Seemingly small actions can carry big significance.

During the unveiling at the Little Mountain fields in June of the Secw茅pemc Landmarks Project 鈥� just days after the confirmation of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, one of the elders present gave a painful account of their time at the residential school.

Following the ceremony, a bannock taco lunch had been arranged across the street for those attending by Indigenous Education Workers at Shuswap Middle School, Theresa Johnson and Kaeli Hawrys.

When the elder came over for the lunch, she wished to use the school washroom so Hawrys took her there.

Johnson recounts how, earlier in the year, one of the projects the Indigenous workers helped organize for a Grade 7 class was to put Secw茅pemc posters and language recordings accessible by cell phone around the school. Each of the QR codes provides a student鈥檚 voice as well as an elder鈥檚 voice.

The project came about when the class read Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith, and the students were struck by how much culture had been lost with the loss of language. They wanted to display the language all over the school, Johnson said.

When the elder got to the school鈥檚 gender-neutral washroom, she saw the poster. In Secw茅pemc it translated to 鈥渁ll people鈥檚 bathroom.鈥�

鈥淎nd she looks at it and says, 鈥榟uh,鈥� explained Johnson.

鈥淎nd she says the name in Secw茅pemc, and then she says, 鈥業sn鈥檛 that nice,鈥� and then she goes in and uses the washroom.鈥�

The story was told to many classes.

鈥淲hile it鈥檚 just a small reflection from an elder whose people have lived here since time immemorial, it is a recognition in her 鈥� little, but for us it鈥檚 significant of something so much larger. It鈥檚 significant of the fact that her school experience was this way. She shared a brief little bit about that pain, right? But then coming here and being able to see her language, on our school walls.鈥�

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Johnson said people don鈥檛 realize when schools ask survivors to come and speak to students on Orange Shirt Day at the beginning of every school year, what it must feel like for them. Standing in front of 700 or 800 people and baring the most tender parts of their trauma to hundreds of people.

鈥淣ot everybody can do that, but we ask our old people and our survivors, the ones who have the strength to do that, or who are ready to share, and that鈥檚 such a big ask.

鈥淪ometimes, I鈥檝e had experiences with people who鈥檝e attended residential school who sit outside in the parking lot for a little bit. Because coming into a school for them, it鈥檚 still raw. And so we want to make reconciliation real.鈥�

She said reconciliation in action can be as simple as reading a survivor鈥檚 story, or parents having an age-appropriate conversation with their kids about how they鈥檙e feeling about the children found.

鈥淗aving an open, real conversation about it, learning what we can do, learning more about it, making sure it doesn鈥檛 happen again.鈥�

Part of making it real 鈥� or reconciliation in action, is creating things like the language project, Johnson said.

Amelia Hall was one of the students in teacher Morgen MacDonald鈥檚 Grade 7 class who took part in the project.

鈥淚t was very sentimental to me, because I have Indigenous and Secw茅pemc background,鈥� she said.

鈥淟earning about the words and putting more of our culture into the school was very nice to see. I didn鈥檛 really know some, but hearing some of it was very inspiring.鈥�

She pointed out there are more Indigenous signs in Little Mountain Park.

鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to see all of this.鈥�

Johnson said learning at its deepest level occurs through experience, so students making the posters and hearing the stories about the history are important.

鈥淭o elevate the culture that has been downtrodden by society in general and say 鈥� no more.鈥�

While some projects were for Indigenous students, others were for all students.

At the end of the year, for instance, Johnson and Hawrys accompanied classes to Marine Peace Park where Johnson took students fishing at the wharf and Hawrys did soapstone carving with them.

鈥淚f we really want to be agents for social change and a better world for everybody, it involves everybody learning about this,鈥� Johnson said.

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