Yesterday, on April 7, 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 'Generational Roles And Responsibilities: Sense of Place.'
At BEST our assembly opened with the hand-drum group singing the Welcome Song. We were honoured to have Victoria Janieg as a guest speaker/ drummer and Lyle Thomas told us two Creator stories about Coyote. Mr. Hummel's class recited a poem, three of our girls demonstrated some jingle dancing and some of our students explained the generational roles and responsibilities. Ms. Boyle gave both the opening and closing remarks. 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 7.
At BEST our assembly opened with the hand-drum group singing the Welcome Song. We were honoured to have Victoria Janieg as a guest speaker/ drummer and Lyle Thomas told us two Creator stories about Coyote. Mr. Hummel's class recited a poem, three of our girls demonstrated some jingle dancing and some of our students explained the generational roles and responsibilities. Ms. Boyle gave both the opening and closing remarks. 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 7.
