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Indigenous culture and history a learning lesson for Ladysmith students

Feb 16, 2018 | 2:06 PM

NANAIMO — Students at Ladysmith Secondary School tried their hands at being historians when they sat down and talked with Indigenous Elders about their history.

For hours on Wednesday, Feb. 14., students asked any questions they wanted of 16 local elders and then turned the answers they received into poems.

The poems will now be published in a book by author and poet Wendy Morton, who said it was inspiring to see students so intent on the project “just listening and writing and asking questions. It’s beautiful.”

Questions ranged from “where were you born” to “what was it like going to a residential school” and “what did you learn from your Elders?”

This was the 19th time Morton has done the Elder Project since starting in 2009. She said it provides context and knowledge for students while also helping Elders who sometime feel “disconnected from their youth and their families.”

“This is the new generation, the generation of selfies and phones,” Morton said. “That wasn’t part of the generation the Elders grew up in, they talked to each other. So for the children to sit with the Elders and talk and hear them, I think is significant.”

Teacher William Taylor said it was a privilege to see the knowledge being shared with the class.

“Some of the students know this already from their lived experience, being where they’re from and who they live with. Other students were encountering this idea for the first time. Their idea of Elders is a little bit different from our First Nations’ students idea of an Elder.”

While specifically learning about Indigenous history was at the core of the lesson, Taylor said there’s a message and moral for everyone to reach out and talk to their families and grandparents to “build communities because they’re important for our growth-where we’ve come from and where we’re going.”

The poems written by the students will quickly be compiled and published in early April.

 

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit