Braided Journeys Ben Calf Robe

Practice up for the Pow Wow trail!

May 5th marks the day of awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (or Exploited Peoples to include boys and 2 spirited peoples). Students expressed their awareness through some art projects in the Braided Journeys room.

April calendar… a little late 🫣

These were the cutest little mini tipi crafts. 🥰

Celebrating a little St. Patty’s day with treats!

Students attended the Indigenous play “I am Eagle” by Matricia Bauer as part of the skirts afire festival. Edmonton’s theatre and multidisciplinary arts organization featuring women. “I am Eagle” is a story about birds—a play that uses fantasy to explore a very real and human experience. In this story, a young eagle, representing me, is taken from its nest and raised in a place that’s not its own. The eagle faces adventures and challenges, grappling with its identity and a deep sense of not belonging. The journey back to its true flock becomes a powerful metaphor for my own return to my culture and community.
A Note from the Playwright:
My story, like many Indigenous peoples of my generation, is one of silence and loss. As a ’60s Scoop survivor, the trauma of that experience has been a quiet but constant presence in my life. Feelings of cultural displacement, confusion, and suffering were carried in silence from childhood through adulthood. My journey included a confusing marriage, raising my children, and a long battle with addiction.

The actors were incredible and the puppets came to life in this amazing performance. Matricia hosted a talk back following the play allowing students to connect more with the story and learn more about the symbolism and also got to see the puppets up close!

Our Grade 9 Pathways to Wellness monthly young women’s circle was led by 4 Directions Wellness Specialists, Donita Large and Lindsay Ashmore. Donita began the day sharing her beautiful song “Sweetgrass” and the girls shared what spoke to them in the song. Lindsay led two amazing art activities. The activities were exploring the use of plasticine and then “painting with wool,” a one-dimensional wool-felting technique using wool roving and felting needles on burlap! Both are very kinaesthetic and sensory media that allow for flexibility in use and were provided for response art-making after watching the videos and exploring ones own connection to the material, which was the Goose Moon (March), and exploring the idea of leadership and a quality each felt they embody as a leader and then their connection to Grandmother Moon. Videos shared: https://youtu.be/Up9Oz6KWGSI https://youtu.be/sexeCj3LeZ4
We met the young men for a delicious homemade “Indian tacos” lunch inbetween sessions. The young men and women are growing in culture and in their own understandings of who they are in connections with the Indigeniety which is beautiful to watch. 💕