Students at Sacred Heart School walked outside to discover a school bus and poles to construct a teepee on June 5. The teepee raising ceremony was led by Lyndon Linklater, who is a traditional First Nations knowledge keeper and storyteller.
Prior to his opening address, Linklater was presented with a customary gift of tobacco from students and faculty at Sacred Heart School.
“In partnership with our knowledge keeper Lyndon Linklater, we have been working on more Truth and Reconciliation work within our school division,” explained Ward Strueby, director of education for Holy Trinity. “We are looking at developing more light in the community, and also teaching students about the truth of what happened in the past.”
“Lyndon Linklater is going from school to school this year to show students how to put up a teepee, and then take students inside and teach them about… how it relates to the First Nations ways of knowing,” said Strueby.
“Last year we opened a community garden in partnership with the Kinsmen Inclusion Centre to work with our functionally integrated students. This year, our partnership with the Inclusion Centre won our board the Premier’s Award for Excellence for the Saskatchewan School Board Association.
“In the future… for National Indigenous People's Day, we are looking to do a sleepover… with students so they get the experience of actually sleeping in a teepee,” Strueby announced.
Once the teepee was set up with the help of volunteers, students were invited inside.
“It’s a very different way to grow up and a different way to think, but this is how the First Nations people did it…,” Linklater explained to his students.
Spirituality can be a great way to draw connection and understanding between cultures. “There is one thing about the First Nations people, we love God. I love God.”
When asked about the circular shape of both the teepee and the drum he held, Linklater spoke about this symbolism.
“So, when you come into our teepee, see the shape you see? A circle. That teaches us that God is at the foundation of our homes; God is at the root of our families… So, when we come into the teepee, the first thing we see is the circle. What that teaches us is never, ever forget about God, because God is everywhere.”
Inside the teepee, guests were greeted with the pleasant scent of freshly cut wooden poles and smoked, tanned hides which Linklater passed around the group. “Have you ever heard of moccasins? This is a special moccasin, because this is made from what is called a smoked, tanned hide… it is like leather. A long time ago this is what we used to make our teepees.”
Linklater also talked about the appearance of teepees. “Some types of wood burn white, so we could have a white teepee, or brown, or dark brown, and it all has to do with the smoke that we use to tan the hides.”
Linklater included a fun song for the students and answered their questions, all part of the role of knowledge keeper.
“How I became a knowledge keeper, and how I see others become knowledge keepers, is the community will visit me with that title or that role. Over a period of time… things will happen in the community… ‘Oh, ask Lyndon Linklater, he knows how to put up teepees.’ In time, what will happen is they will just start calling you a knowledge keeper.
“And then there are other areas - there is ceremony, craft-making, protocols, powwows, and singing; there’s just so many different areas that require a special mixed skillset of knowledge, so that’s what knowledge keepers are, and they have different areas of expertise.
“I guess another way of explaining a knowledge keeper is ‘an elder in the making.’ One day I will be an elder, but I’m in no rush!”
Lyndon Linklater is a powerful storyteller who shares the knowledge of Indigenous culture through a mixture of story and humor. He is the longest serving member of the Office of the Treaty Commissioner’s Speaker’s Bureau, a citizen of Thunderchild First Nation (Plains Cree) in Treaty 6 territory and has spoken to tens of thousands of people.
He currently works with the Remai Modern Art Museum in Saskatoon as their Indigenous Relations Advisor to offer advice for the delivery of cultural programming.
The upcoming schedule for teepee raising ceremonies across the Holy Trinity School Board includes:
- Monday, June 5 morning: St. Mary School from 9:10 - 10:30
- Monday, June 5 afternoon: Sacred Heart School from 1:30 - 3:00
- Wednesday, June 8 morning: Christ the King School (Shaunavon) from 9:00 - 10:30
- Wednesday, June 8 afternoon: All Saints Catholic School (Swift Current) from 12:30 - 2:30
- Friday, June 9 morning: St. Michael School from 9:20 - 10:30
- Friday, June 9 afternoon: Vanier Collegiate from 1:30 - 3:00
- Tuesday, June 13 morning: admin meeting at the Board Office Garden from 9:00 - 10:00
- Tuesday, June 13 afternoon: Vanier Collegiate from 1:00 - 2:30
