I am so glad I had the privilege of visiting Quinte Mohawk today. I learned so much more than I ever thought I would and I really enjoyed it so much. I felt so welcomed by the staff and students, it was easy to tell that they really appreciated us being there. When I first arrived at the school we got to hear the thanksgiving address and look at the beautiful mural that was painted to represent the Thanksgiving Address. Afterwards we had a tour of the school. I started out at the sensory room. I was really interested in it and had a lot of questions to ask. I was shocked to find out that the room cost around $80 000.00!
After seeing the school, I went into the gym to join in the dancing for the harvest festival. It was a bit awkward at first but I soon had two intermediate girls showing me how to do the dances. I was really interested in the Women’s Dance, and the girls showed me how to dance, and told me that the song honoured all the women and their relationship to the Earth. They told me that the English translation of the song meant “Good Job”. Another Dance we did was the Duck Dance which was very joyful and a lot of fun to do!
I then had the chance to go into a grade four and five split classroom to help them with their crafts. The class was making longhouses, and there was hot glued involved so they all really appreciated the help.
At recess we got a chance to interact with all of the kids in the school. I played tag, sidewalk chalk and Play-Doh. Afterwards, my fingers were sore from opening almost forty containers of Play-Doh for the students, but I am happy they enjoyed it. After recess we played Lacrosse with the same class. I am not a sports person and it was hard for me to try to make a goal on a student because I did not even want to throw the ball at him, even after them reassuring me it was okay.
After everything, the staff had put on a delicious thanksgiving meal for us to thank us for coming, when I was thinking we should be the ones thanking them! I would love to have the opportunity to work with such an awesome group of kids again.
Above is the link to the Thanksgiving Address, it has both the Mohawk and the English translation. The Thanksgiving Address is said every morning at Quinte Mohawk. It gives thanks to every single aspect of our world. The plantlife, the wildlife, the trees, the weather, the wind, the night time, the day time, the fish, the waters and the birds. It is a very inclusive way of being thankful for what we have been given and I would assume that it humbles people and makes sure that they do not take anything they have for granted.
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