It has been an annual tradition to host a late winter carnival since Glendale Sciences and Technology School began serving kindergarten to grade 8 students four years ago. The last two years we have fashioned the carnival to honor and represent First Nations culture. Owing to the very mild weather and apparent early spring this year, our 'winter' carnival this past week turned into a First Nations celebration of spring instead!

A description of the Pendleton blanket hangs on the wall underneath of it in the front foyer of the school...
A brave warrior astride a swift steed thunders across the plain. Similar images were painted on buffalo hides by Plains Indians in the 1800s. Our Celebrate the Horse blanket is based on a design from the Blackfoot tribe, expert horsemen who called the animal “elk-horse” for its great size. The arrival of the horse with 16th-century Spanish Conquistadors changed forever the culture of Native Americans, encouraging migration, trading, herding and hunting. THe blanket visually depicts the story of a Blackfoot warrior who nursed his horse back to health and in gratitude the horse gave the man a magical teepee that gave him the power to heal the sick. This blanket was designed exclusively for the American Indian College Fund by Blackfoot artist Michael Gray.

We intend to honor and appreciate First Nations culture and history at Glendale everyday, and the blanket is representative of this effort. Our celebration of spring is like a pow wow or round dance. It's a celebratory event. The First Nations Celebration of spring was designed to support and make visible the ubiquitous nature of our efforts to honor First Nations culture and traditions by highlighting and honoring specific cultural elements in targeted ways for all to enjoy and learn from.
The philosophy of our school is founded on the First Nations concept of the medicine wheel. We offer four pathways of intervention at Glendale, each representing a direction of the Hope Wheel... our version of a medicine wheel. The wheel is centered by the word HOPE, which is an acronym for Health, Opportunity, Privilege and Education. If you click on the texts below in each respective direction of the Hope Wheel, you will be redirected to our student support website which details a growing list of ways we support all students at Glendale.
Our First Nations celebration of spring this year is one way we choose
to organize and represent our efforts around this Hope Wheel. The more we know our students, and the more they know about each other and us, the easier it is for everyone to work together and have positive interactions... to understand each other better.
We shared many things during our celebration. We sampled bison meat, bannock and saskatoon berries, played Aboriginal games, learned how to shoot with bows and danced to Aboriginal drum music. We learned how to create beaded necklaces and bracelets and we shared legends with each other that taught us about First indigenous teaching and learning and point of view.

