The final months of the school year are a time when students test their running, jumping, and throwing abilities in track and field meets across Saskatchewan, but one Prince Albert school is trying out a new set of games drawn from Indigenous culture.
On May 29, students at St. Catherine’s School tested their skills in games of Jump the Stick and Caribou Hop, among others. Principal Celeste Bisson said the games were traditionally played by Indigenous children and young adults seeking to develop their hunting skills.
“We used to do track and field events and this year we wanted to start our path on our pilgrimage through truth and reconciliation with something that would educate the kids about our First Nations people,” Bisson explained. “This year we decided to change our format to learning games that children and adults played.”
Students broke into different groups based on age and travelled to various stations where Grade 6 students taught them the essentials of each game.
The day began with a smudging ceremony and ended with a round dance in the afternoon. There was also a sharing circle for students to talk about what they learned.
Bisson said the event also helps students learn about the Grandfather’s Teachings: hope, humility, wisdom, and love.
“We’re going to reinforce that and hope that this becomes a tradition where it will be just part of our culture here at St. Catherine’s School,” she said.
Kentyn Wilson and Riashabha Nair were among the Grade 6 students teaching the games to younger children. Both said the teaching aspect comes with some challenges, but they were happy to help.
“(I’m) sweating a lot,” Nair said with a laugh. “It’s hard to get them (younger students) to do what you want in the game.”
Nair led students in a game of Make the Stick Jump, which was traditionally used to practice hunting small ground animals. She said it’s important to understand how previous cultures lived, even if it’s a bit difficult.
“I keep missing them even though the sticks are really close,” she said with a laugh. “(It’s) bad.
“All the cultural stuff that you learn—your language and everything—never forget it,” she added. “Help others learn about it as well.”
“It teaches the younger generation about the Indigenous people and how they did stuff,” Wilson added. “I feel like it could help encourage them if they wanted to do something like this when they are older.”
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
