ST. PAUL – St. Paul Regional High School, Glen Avon School, and the St. Paul Alternate Education Centre held a round dance on June 16 to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, which is held across the country on June 21.
Lynoya Mailloux is a Cree teacher and the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) liaison at Glen Avon. She also helped organize the event.
Mailloux says the schools are only separated by a field, so it made sense to come together in a shared space.
Most importantly, she says National Indigenous Peoples Day is about building community and connection, "Not just amongst Indigenous people, but amongst everyone," she said.
Seeing everyone come together, hold hands, and dance was a powerful moment of unity, "Because . . . we're just connecting," she adds.
"We're breaking down barriers that divide us," says Mailloux. "In that moment, there are no differences. We're just all people."
Elder Gloria Halfe, who is also a Cree and Aboriginal Studies teacher at St. Paul Regional High School, says the round dance is performed in a circle, which is a symbol representing balance, equality, and interconnectedness in First Nation cultures.
It is a shape that appears in many First Nation ceremonies and teachings, she says.
“When we dance in a circle . . . we come together, moving as one.”
