Piyesiw Awasis School on the Thunderchild First Nation will welcome 21 students from Toronto on Sunday. (Facebook/Thunderchild First Nation - Interim TLE Coordinator)

By Brady Lang

sharing experiences

Thunderchild F.N., Toronto schools prepare for exchange program

Apr 25, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Thunderchild First Nation is ready to welcome 21 students from Toronto.

They will arrive on Sunday and spend a full week living at the school, learning about the practices of Indigenous culture, as well as experiencing what life is like away from the big city.

The program is housed and funded by the YMCA Youth Exchanges Program, and in turn, 24 students from Thunderchild’s Piyesiw Awasis School will be heading to the James Cardinal McGuigan School in Toronto in late May.

Piyesiw Awasis School teacher Leah Arcand first had the idea when she took her students to B.C. last year for a surfing trip, and after seeing the experience that the students had in their travels, wanted to make a school trip happen to another part of Canada. One of her friends suggested the YMCA program, and after talking to her students, she decided they would apply to the program and see if they could make it happen.

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“It’s a big cross-cultural learning experience. There are a lot of land-based activities [planned],” she said.

Some of the activities planned during the exchange are sharing the worldview of Thunderchild, a tipi presentation, a pow wow demonstration, and a sweat.

Arcand is unsure if any of the students coming from Toronto have experienced the First Nations culture, but maintained the experience will be eye-opening for the visitors.

“I’ve been to Toronto before. It’s like a big concrete jungle,” she said. “To see the landscape, it may be a culture shock. I think it will be a positive experience and a good eye-opener for our community.”

Arcand said the one-on-one impact from the students sharing their experiences will be beneficial when it comes to understanding one another and where they come from.

“What people know about Indigenous people comes a lot from the media. That can be negative,” she said. “When they meet the actual community members, it’s not like that at all. I think stereotypes will be broken down and there will be a larger understanding of who we are and where we come from.”

A large focus will be on identity and showing the students from Toronto just how proud the Thunderchild students are of where they come from.

Arcand said many of the 24 students from Thunderchild have never been on a plane or travelled as far as Toronto. She said the experience will be invaluable.

“I’m excited for them to get the huge culture shock and to see the world,” she said. “[I want them] to get a better perspective of the world and get excited for their future. I want them to take everything in, [meet some] new people and really step out of their comfort zone.”

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brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangBFN