Today I arrived earlier – in my new schedule of 8 am to 3 pm, Mon. to Fri. This will be a big shift for me after spending so much of my studying time at home! As I approach the school for a second time, I look more closely at the totem pole, the bird canopy and the painting on the school. I am struck by a white figure on the totem pole, and I make a mental note to ask someone about it when it seems appropriate. Walking under the bird canopy – and I am hesitant to describe it as that – it is an extraordinary carving, but I did not take time to see if it is an eagle or a raven or some other bird. Walking underneath the bird filled me with energy, and a sense that I was being swept into a powerful place. I became excited and I hoped that my skills would be able to support what feels like positive relationships I am already making – with the children, my team, my site supervisor, the staff.
I attended the daily morning prayer, where the whole school gathers, children and staff. It is spoken in SENCOTEN, and is followed by the school song that is sung in SENCOTEN. I listened to Mr. Elliott, the grade 3 immersion teacher as he spoke to the children in SENCOTEN followed by the whole school in English to describe the coming of the new year at the end of the month when the new year arrives. It coincides with the Chinese New Year, as it recognizes months according to moon cycles. There are 13 months in the year. Mr. Elliott has a deep and resonant voice. He also has a calmness that seems to affect the children when he speaks. The room becomes more quiet.
I spent a part of the morning laminating suns I had painted the night before to use as ‘markers’ in the classroom when a child is pulled out to work with one of us. By placing a sun on the child’s desk, teachers are aware the child or children are working with interns. I really enjoyed eating lunch with Nichola in the staff room. We talked with many of the people there, in a relaxed, easy manner. After Nichola left, I spoke with Ian, the SENCOTEN language teacher. He told me an amazing story of how he had grown up and was preparing to go to university to study medicine. He became extremely ill in his last years of high school and missed a lot of classes. It was difficult to catch up with math, and he did not enter the medical program. He ended up spending a lot of time with his grandfather and was given the opportunity to extensively learn SENCOTEN. He reflected that he had never spoken this story before and recognized how powerful his illness and the resulting time spent with his grandfather was.
I met with Niske Blake and Cora McGuire at the high school in the afternoon to talk about what the BrainDance is and how it might fit into their classes. We met in their classroom and I described how the movement is based on the first eight lines of movement one does as a human being, developed from Bartenieff principles. They were very clear they did not feel the older students would engage at all with this type of activity. They felt the younger classes would respond more readily. I asked about what the older students liked to do and they described soccer, lacrosse, tennis and yoga. I suggested we approach the BrainDance as exercise that will support better balance and agility in soccer, flexibility in lacrosse and strength in yoga. They appreciated the idea and said I could meet with them each day for one week with their class.
I had a meeting planned with Joe Carmel, the principal and Pena Elliott, the culture and language teacher afterward in the staff room. While Joe and I waited for Pena, Blakely, the science teacher came in and Joe suggested he would be interested in the BrainDance from a scientific medical pint of view. I explained the principles to Blakely and he agreed, absolutely, that his younger class (grade 6-8) would be interested. We agreed to make the classes’ participation coincide with his unit on the brain and he agreed to let me know when that was so I could come in and work with them on it.
When Pena arrived we discussed the art project I am embracing with composer Kim Farris-Manning. She is a fourth year music student who is focused on composition. She is engaged with working with elder John Elliott on a traditional teaching story about the wind. John happens to be Pena’s father and was familiar with the story. I explained that I work in contemporary dance and Kim envisions a presentation on Mt. Tolmie. Pena was interested in the project and felt his younger students could learn about creating regalia for the performance. He said he would speak to the appropriate people and families to receive permission to work on this kind of project. He also explained that most dance of SENCOTEN speaking WSANEC people happens in private ceremonies, unlike the Musqueam and Cowichan tribes who have dances and dance groups who perform publicly.
This conversation led to Joe asking about the extended length of time people (including children) spend in the Long House. He asked if there was a way those teachings could be brought into the schools. Pena responded there might be a chance, but he was very doubtful – the teachings in the Long House are considered absolutely separate from a child’s learning in school.