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Lorna Crane, left, graduate Cameron Crane, graduate Gladys Edwards, Kim Brown and Damian Kayotuk gather at the Aboriginal Honour Ceremony celebrating aboriginal graduates in Ndilo on Saturday. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo |
Family and friends attend Aboriginal Honour Ceremony
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 12, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Cullen McLeod came a long way to graduate high school.
He grew up in Inuvik and was immersed in the Inuvialuit customs of his maternal heritage, then moved to Yellowknife with his mother in 2010 and studied at Sir John Franklin High School.
He graduates at the end of June, and on a sunny Saturday in Ndilo he stood with more than 40 other aboriginal graduates at this year's Aboriginal Honour Ceremony, held to recognize aboriginal achievements in education.
McLeod had his mother and sister come on the stage with him. He told Yellowknifer attending the ceremony was important to him because he grew up in his mother's Dene culture.
"It's always been a part of my life and so I wanted it to be a part of this step in my life, too," he said.
He will be attending Mount Royal University in Calgary in the fall in hopes of gaining a degree in kinesiology and eventually becoming a personal trainer.
The honour ceremony at K'alemi Dene School was organized to celebrate the graduates and offer thanks with friends and family attending.
It began with a fire-feeding ceremony. The Yellowknives Dene Drummers played a prayer song as graduates and guests alike took a pinch of tobacco and offered it with a prayer, then placed it in a bowl by the fire.
Master of ceremonies Deneze Nakehk'o addressed the graduates where he spoke on being proud of their ancestry and heritage. He told the graduates to work on what he called their genetic memory, by which he meant their home and family, and to keep it strong. After the address, the grads were honoured with moosehide stoles designed by Karen Wright-Fraser.
Wright-Fraser and a group of women crafted the stoles in the style of the Metis sash, with beading work representing the Dene people and worn so the back of the stole formed the shape of a hood, which represented the Inuit people.
The graduates had their parents, grandparents, mentors and siblings on stage with them at the outdoor ceremony to place the stoles over their heads and onto their shoulders.
Gladys Edwards was the last graduate to receive her stole. She said they saved the best for last.
Edwards graduates this month from Aurora College after three years of continuous studies in the community health representative program.
She has been coming to Yellowknife from Aklavik to do two to three week-long courses a year at the college, which will enhance her profession in health promotions in Aklavik.
Attending the honour ceremony was important to Edwards, who is of Gwich'in descent, because she said it gives the graduates a cultural celebration apart from regular graduation ceremonies.
"It brings the aboriginal community together as a whole," she said.
Out of more than 100 aboriginal graduates in Yellowknife, 44 graduates from St. Patrick High School, Sir John Franklin High School, K'alemi Dene school and Aurora College attended the ceremony.
After receiving their stoles, the grads and their families were addressed by guest speaker Michelle Lavoie, who gave the graduates advice and reminded them to be proud that they are aboriginals.
The grads and their families then had a Mahsi Cho feast inside the school and photo opportunities before the ceremony ended.
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