This is a project to commemorate Reconciliation, the Indigenous community, our Indigenous history, and the history yet to be made. This project is for the community, to educate them. We recently changed our school's name and a lot of people don't know exactly why we changed the name and why it's so important. This project was created to take a step toward reconciliation within our community.
At the beginning of this year, grade eight teacher Ms. Derksen got a few of us to brainstorm an idea for a big Reconciliation project. We had an elder come in and talk to us while we figured out what we wanted to do. So for the past few months, we’ve been researching, writing, and presenting. In the end, we’ve decided to make a mural highlighting Reconciliation, made by Tsuut'ina nation artist Nathan Meguinis. With our website, podcast, and mural, hopefully, people will be able to learn more about the importance of reconciliation and be inspired to take action.
-the Riverside Social Justice Group
We acknowledge that the land on which we all learn and live in Treaty 7 and Metis Region 3, belongs not to us but to the people who once lived here. The Blackfoot Confederacy, Kainai, Piikani, Siksika, the Cree, Dene, Saulteaux, Nakota Sioux, Stoney Nakoda, the Tsuu T’ina Nation, and the Metis People of Alberta.
From the food we eat
To the water, we drink
The air we breathe and
The land we live on,
We thank Mother Earth
For this beautiful life and
The gift of nature,
If we take care of it
Then it will take care of us.
Riverside has been working towards a better connection to our land for years, specifically with the name. The people called Calgary, Mohkinsitis, the spot where the Elbow meets the Bow River. They called the river “bow” because the land provided the wood that they made their bows. They used the land with respect and care until the Europeans came along and disrupted its balance. Now that cities are built and smoke is filling our lungs. We need now, more than ever, to acknowledge our mistakes.