The Lac la Hache Elementary School hosted members from the Canim Lake and Alkali Lake Indian bands June 15.
School principal Steve Carpenter says it was a great day and the students learned so much from the dancers, drummers and elders of both bands. “Learning in a hands-on environment from people who are living within the culture has so much more of an impact than reading from a book or on the computer for our students.
“We had kids who said they weren't going to dance at the beginning of the day, and at the end, not one student sat out of the dancing. The ones who said they weren't going to dance ended up having the most fun and even saying, ‘this is great’ and ‘this is a lot of fun’ as I danced past them."
The band members played their large group drum and sang as the dancers presented a number of different styles of dances, including jingle dance, fancy dance and traditional dance.
A lunch consisting of fresh vegetables, bannock, smoked salmon and stew with rice was served and enjoyed by all.
Dancer Francis (Frankie) Robbins invited the school out to visit Alkali Lake, and Carpenter says they are going to take him up on it next year and go out to see a sweat lodge, pipe ceremony and the cultural history his band has on their reserve.
“We ended the day with a group picture of everyone mixed in together and no groups based on culture, band, age, gender or anything - just the way our world should be.”