District educators this week have been using a visually appealing design to remind the school community of an important national commemoration this Saturday: The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
Beginning in 2021, the Sept. 30 National Day of Truth and Reconciliation recognizes the abhorrent legacy of Canadaâs residential school system and its devastating effects on Indigenous children, families, and communities.
In addition to the well-established Orange Shirt Day, ASD-W has invited schools throughout the district to create and display orange butterflies as part of the Orange Butterfly Wishes initiative.
Amakehs
Amakehs is âbutterflyâ in the Wolastoqey language.
âSchool communities create and display butterflies with our collective wishes for students to feel included, safe, seen, heard, healthy, and happy,â said ASD-W Director of First Nations Education Sarah Francis. âThese butterflies can remind us of our commitment to build a peaceful path forward for a better future.â
Francis wants the initiative to become part of ongoing learning that students can revisit throughout the school year. To this end, ASD-W First Nations Education has also purchased and distributed more than 150 copies of the book âSwift Fox All Along,â by Rebecca Thomas, to each of the districtâs 69 schools.
âThis was a book we really both loved,â said Francis of her and colleague Richard Champagneâs decision to buy and distribute the book. Champagne is the ASD-W First Nations Education Lead. Said Francis, âIt was a book that resonated with me as an Indigenous person, and I felt it would resonate with a lot of Indigenous students in our system.â
âWe chose orange butterflies because they are featured in Rebecca Thomas’ book âSwift Fox All Alongâ,â Champagne said. âSwift Fox is a young Mi’kmaq girl who is going to visit her father’s family for the first time in their community. She has never met her Mi’kmaw family and has butterflies in her stomach. The idea of having butterflies in our stomach as we go back to school seemed like a universal text-to-self connection.â
Champagne said that the way Swift Fox gets over her butterfliesâthrough breathing and by helping another child feel safe and includedâseemed like great lessons to draw on for students of all ages.
âButterflies symbolize transformation and embracing change,â he said. âThey represent growing into a more beautiful self, one that is gentler and is a pollinator rather than a consumer.â
Learning about the harm done to Indigenous students in residential schools can be sad, Francis said. So, the Orange Butterfly Wishes initiative and the distribution of âSwift Fox All Along,â helps celebrate the beauty of Indigenous culture.
âIf we teach first to these positive elements of Indigenous identities, cultures, and histories, then the truth of the harm and generational impact of residential schools should have greater effect and reinforce the Truth and Reconciliation Commissionâs calls to action,â said Francis.