Embedded Files
Art by Connie Watts, Nuu-chah-nulth
Artist Shelly Davies from T'Sou-ke Nation
With gratitude and respect, we acknowledge that we live, learn, and work on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish: T’Sou-ke Nation, SĆIȺNEW (Beecher Bay) Nation, and the Nuu-chah-nulth: Paaʔčiidʔatḥ (Pacheedaht) Nation. We also recognize that some of our schools are located on the traditional territories of the MÁLEXEŁ (Malahat) Nation, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples of Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
HÍSW̱ḴE, Kleco Kleco, Marce, Gilakas’la, Thank You
“Na’tsa’maht: being of one mind, one spirit. Together, working side by side, supporting each other, walking together. Good mind, good spirit for the good of our children, for the good of Mother Earth sustaining us.”
– Elder Shirley Alphonse
The NA'TSA'MAHT Education Department bases our educational practices around the following principles:
· Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits and the ancestors
· Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational
· Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions
· Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities
· Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge
· Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story
· Learning involves patience and time
· Learning requires exploration of one’s identity
· Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations
EMCS NA'TSA'MAHT Education Department provides the following:
Qualified teachers who can help you get the credits needed for graduation.
An academic focus linked to classroom learning.
Strategies required to be successful in the classroom.
Instruction using the “Aboriginal Way of Learning” and learning styles for your particular needs.
Help with transitions for courses, programs, and post-secondary education.
Cultural resources include books, kits, lesson plans, history books, and role model speakers that support classroom sessions, curriculum, local history, and culture.
A website that keeps you up to date on our events.
Curriculum-orientated field trips for all members of a class.
Cultural events that connect our students and their families with each other.
A Graduation Recognition Ceremony for our students and their families.
Our department is here to help you by providing the academic and cultural tools for success.
Artist Briony Penn, copyright Tsawout First Nation.
“It was not our way to separate these activities when we lived a traditional life because all was sacred to us. Our art, language, spirituality and our everyday activities were all one. In our homes and in our longhouses we continue to observe the wisdom of the past.”
~The Saanich Year, by Earl Claxton (YELḰÁTŦE) and John Elliott (STOLȻEȽ).
The 13 moons don’t line up exactly with the Gregorian 12-month calendar, but loose associations between months and the moons can be made, as shown above.
PEKELANEW – The Moon That Turns the Leaves White (October)
PEKELANEW – The Moon That Turns the Leaves White (October)
Pronunciation ((PEKE)[LÁN](EW) )
This is the moon of the first frost. Leaves lose their colour and turn pale. The earth cools, and people focus on hunting deer and elk.
This moon marks the end of summer and the start of cooler weather. The days are shorter and the nights are darker and longer, while in higher areas the nights can bring frost.
With the cedar that was cut in the spring for canoes, the work continues throughout the winter, and canoe making continues.
Seals and sea lions were hunted in the San Juan Islands. Cod fishing slowed, and grouse hunting ended. Deer and elk hunting preparations began.
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