On April 5, schools across SD 73 held assemblies and activities to honour and recognize Secwepemc and Nlaka'Pamux territory as well as other First Nations and Aboriginal groups. In Kamloops Thompson School District this is now known as the "Day of Sucwentwecw." Sucwentwecw (sook-went-wa) means to acknowledge one another. During this day a number of events, activities and assemblies were held to recognize the Secwepemc and Nlaka'Pamux Nation and to teach students and staff about the traditional aboriginal and First Nations people, their histories and the territories SD 73 now occupies. The theme for this year's Day of Sucwentwecw was 'Balancing Our Actions: The Self, The Family, The Community, The Land'.
At BEST our gathering opened with Mr. Law welcoming our guests and making a short speech about how lucky we are to live in the best country in the world. Each class then moved through four stations throughout the morning, each of which highlighted an aspect of First Nations culture. Team Awesome participated in some dancing and drumming, as well as learned about powwows and played lahal. Everyone then gathered again in the gym for some short closing remarks from both Mr. Law and Ms. Chernoff, a music video made by students from Chu Chua followed by our own drum group drumming us back to our classrooms for the remainder of the day. The Day of Sucwentwecw is a day to celebrate and acknowledge one another and I would like to think that we at BEST do just that every day and not solely on April 5.
At BEST our gathering opened with Mr. Law welcoming our guests and making a short speech about how lucky we are to live in the best country in the world. Each class then moved through four stations throughout the morning, each of which highlighted an aspect of First Nations culture. Team Awesome participated in some dancing and drumming, as well as learned about powwows and played lahal. Everyone then gathered again in the gym for some short closing remarks from both Mr. Law and Ms. Chernoff, a music video made by students from Chu Chua followed by our own drum group drumming us back to our classrooms for the remainder of the day. The Day of Sucwentwecw is a day to celebrate and acknowledge one another and I would like to think that we at BEST do just that every day and not solely on April 5.
