Students at Alouette Elementary took part in a drumming circle at the end of September for Orange Shirt Day.
Staff and students gathered in a large circle on the school field, joined by Katzie First Nation elder Coleen Pierre and her daughter, Mavis Pierre.
About 10 students stood next to them, holding drums.
“I used this drum to represent where I came from and [to] help out other people understand what the ceremony is,” said Grade 7 student Jakob. “And the significance of one drum beat mixed together makes a community.”
His drum, Jakob added, is special because it was given to him by his grandfather.
“I didn’t really get to spend any time with him,” he said. “So as long as I can [drum], then I guess that’s all I can really do.”
The student drummers were accompanying Mavis Pierre, who sang in her traditional language.
Before the performance, elder Coleen Pierre spoke to the students about the significance of wearing orange and thanked them for taking part.
“What is amazing about the presentations, the talks and events that I’m asked to participate in is it’s definitely sincere how the schools address it,” Pierre said. “They show compassion. If they see me shed tears, they cry along with me, which means, I interpret it as they’re sharing in the sorrow that I carry, that I’ve heard, that I observed from speaking to those survivors.”
Pierre also read aloud a poem honouring residential school survivors that she wrote after hearing from survivors at an event in Mission, B.C.
Grade 7 student Olivia says it’s important to listen and acknowledge the pain residential schools caused.
“It makes me feel sad that people had to actually go through that,” she explained. “It’s actually something that needs to be taken seriously because it’s actually really sad, and I really feel a connection when they speak about our ancestors.”
Brooklynn, a Grade 6 student, agreed.
“It’s really sad for me because they had to go through all that pain, like we didn’t,” she said, adding that even though it’s sad, she’s glad they are acknowledging what happened.
Pierre noted that events like this one highlight the growing awareness of what happened at residential schools.
“It means so much to not only myself as an elder, but being a survivor of a residential school survivor,” she said.
