Project of Heart La Tuque High School CLC

La Tuque High School CLC

Central Quebec School Board

La Tuque leveraged PoH to build and strengthen several local partnerships and connections. Aboriginal artists and organizations came into the school, and students attended events at the local Friendship Centre.

“I was also aware that La Tuque had a residential school here in town.  I felt it important to get involved in order to teach our students about residential schools, to bridge the gap between our community and the Atikamekw, Cree and Innu that live in La Tuque and finally, to help the healing begin here in town.

After a variety of curriculum activities and the tile decorating, local artist Laurianne Petiquay was commissioned to create two identifcal final art pieces. ​

“When the pieces were complete, we had two ceremonies. The first one was for the students at the school.  Yolande Jacob came to bless the piece that would stay at the school.  Alfred Birothe, Laurianne Petiquay and Michelle Dupuis joined in the ceremony.  Laurianne explained how she designed and created the piece and she explained her use of colours and symbols.  Then Yolande purified the piece with an Atikamekw prayer and with the burning of sweet grass.  Then all the teachers and students were invited to close their eyes and sing a final prayer of healing, while Yolande sang and drummed.  

The heart tells the story of all the children that were affected by the residential school. The tiles represent the children on their journey away from and back to their home, represented by the tee-pee in back.  The heart is cracked, but healing, though some cracks will always stay.  The purple feather on the front represents the suffering and sorrow. The Turquoise stone in the middle represents healing and security for the Atikamekw and is encircled by sweet grass, a purifying herb.  The silver dust represents the spirits of those children who never made it home.

The second ceremony took place at the Complexe Culturel during Mon Rendez-Vous Autochtone. Michelle Dupuis, coordinator  at the Centre d'Amitié Autochtone de La Tuque, told the participants about our project and how this piece was to be displayed at CAALT.  Again, Yolande blessed the piece and sang a purifying prayer.  Finally, a group of Atikamekw singers sang while we danced a round dance.

Our work does not end here.  We are strengthening our partnership with the CAALT, by having the artist work with our students on different projects.  The CAALT is joining us as we march in support of Shannen's dream, and helping us to create a video about it.  Finally, the CAALT  have  approached us for help in introducing the residential school history and the PoH in the French schools in town.”

To see more about this project… Click Here.

Project of Heart Centennial Regional High School CLC

Centennial Regional High School CLC

Riverside School Board

CRHS, on Montreal’s South Shore, has over 1100 students from 68 different cultural backgrounds! With less than 10 identified Aboriginal students, two teachers of History & Citizenship classes decided to present PoH within a broader study of cultural genocides in world history. Many students who are Newcomers to Canada were surprised to learn about IRS history, and could relate Aboriginal experiences here to atrocities in their own countries of origin. 

The concept that everyone, at some point in their life, has been marginalized or isolated for a reason beyond their control, really allowed students to relate to the project and fight against bullying of all kinds.  

By the end there were over 300 students who participated, over 1200 tiles decorated, and 5 teachers on board!

To see more about this project… Click Here.

Project of Heart Gaspe Elementary School CLC

Gaspe Elementary School CLC

Eastern Shores School Board

Gaspe’s PoH was a very successful example of community-wide engagement. After students completed the normal steps, they were supported by the principal and many teachers to create art projects based on several prominent Aboriginal artists, displayed at an evening art gallery. The event was so popular that CBC was in attendance, resulting in a fabulous interview including some impressively articulate students!

“In class grades 3-6, using the 100 years of loss kits and the novel Fatty Legs we covered the history of residential schools to varying degrees based on the age of the children, but they all finished with an understanding of what happened.

Through the project we strengthened our relationship with an organizer in the Aboriginal community, Andrew Lavigne. Several of the staff involved were invited by Andrew to attend a sunrise ceremony on the morning of gallery night. We were very excited to have been invited and the experience was wonderful.

He helped us to make contact with Elder who came to our Art Gallery Evening and led a gathering ceremony and smudged the tiles in the presence of all those who were there.

Everyone then toured the gallery and listened to their children explain what they had learned. The students were very happy to share that moment with their families. Andrew set up a table with native artifacts and stayed to help those present learn about his culture. We had about 80 people attend.

Overall, this has been a powerful learning experience for students, staff and parents and we are already preparing for next year!”

To see more about this project… Click Here.

Project of Heart New Richmond High School CLC

New Richmond High School CLC

Eastern Shores School Board

NRHS also had a powerful twinning experience as a result of PoH. Through special funding from CTF they were one of several schools offered funds to travel with a twin school to Montreal for the TRC event.

In this case, they partnered with a neighboring school on-reserve in the community of … This is a strong example of practical reconciliation at the local level, as many students migrate back and forth between these two schools over their academic years. Students and teachers working together between the schools helps to build stronger continuity for these transitions, and contribute to greater peace and understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students.

“This was a phenomenal experience for our school. The students were engaged in class and participated well in all aspects. Those that were able to travel to Montreal came back even more excited about the project and were able to give testimony to their families and peers during our Evening of Healing.

We created 3 commemorative art projects with the more than 500 tiles. One of these projects is on display in our school entrance. A second project was given to our twin-school community of Gesgapegiag and the third will be given to the Project of Heart as thanks for starting the whole project.

The ‘Evening of Healing’ was hosted on April 30th as a means for our students to share their learning, experiences and stories from the project. It was a way for us to acknowledge the history and legacy of Indian Residential Schools and commemorate the lives of those affected by this history.

For us, the 100+ turnout (in a school that generally struggles with parent participation) was truly an acknowledgement of how important this history is to our students, our school and our communities. Start to finish this was a moving and important project.”

To see more about this project… Click Here.

Princess Elizabeth Elementary School CLC Project of Heart

Princess Elizabeth Elementary School CLC

Eastern Townships School Board

This was another great example of a school with only two Inuit students, but that embraced the idea that IRS history is Canadian history, and something all citizens should learn more about.

To further engage the students, an Inuit parent of the school came to spend a day teaching the students how to make dream catchers while telling them more about her traditional culture.  A local artist Ena Greyeyes visited our school on numerous occasions to share her stories, artifacts and involved the whole school in drumming and dance.

Ena Greyeyes was the guest speaker at a very moving EVB (Establissement vert Brundtland) school assembly that was held for Earth Day focusing on the Project of Heart. The EVB philosophy of solidarity, respect, peace and unity blended beautifully with the Project of Heart. Students and teachers in Chisasabe joined in through Skype. All participants were engaged in the entire project and moved (like many other schools) by attending the TRC event.

Many especially enjoyed the Blanket Activity by Kairos Canada and getting to meet their new twin school from Kahnawake. They will continue to learn and practice reconciliation through a Skype and letter writing relationship with each other.

To see more about this project please see the final report.

Val D’or Adult Ed Centre CLC Project of Heart

Val D’or  Adult Ed Centre CLC

Western Quebec School Board

With older teens and adults, a majority from Algonquin and Cree communities, this PoH became something like an informal healing circle. The CLC Coordinator ran PoH as a lunch time discussion activity. However, word quickly spread that IRS was being discussed, and shortly she was inundated with calls from family and friends who wanted to speak about their experiences. Calls were referred to a TRC support line and an Aboriginal Educator came in to lead some important discussions.

The story came to light that one of the Val D’or students was actually an IRS survivor herself, and this finally gave her the chance to start speaking out. She drafted a beautiful poem and was invited to read it on the main stage at the TRC as a highlight of the Education Day.

“We could feel heavy emotions amongst our students as they themselves started researching different schools, some recognised the names of schools which their parents had attended, and they started to be more aware of the horrors their family members had been through.

Having [the educator] come to the school was important. He was able to share his experience with our students and also let them speak their minds openly about today’s reality that has a direct link with over a hundred years of Residential schools.

Throughout all the discussions, students were encouraged to make tiles where many poured their thoughts and emotions onto. The result was amazing! We then invited Melvin Moar, a local tamarack wood artist to come in and make pieces of art with the students. 2 beautiful dream catchers were made to commemorate children who had died in residential schools.  

I believe Project of Heart was a very good initiative for our students. They came out stronger and with better knowledge of their past.”

To see more about this project… Click Here.

St. Willibrord Elementary School CLC Project of Heart

St. Willibrord Elementary School CLC

New Frontiers School Board

Over 1/3 of students are members of the Mohawk Nation, from the Kahnawake community. St.Will’s was already putting a heavy focus on anti-bullying through traditional restorative justice concepts through a partnership with... They used PoH to further these goals and make the school a safer place for Mohawk students to talk about the legacy of Indian Residential Schools that affected many of their families.

The 40 most involved students also took a journey on a cold February day to meet students at PETES to attend the Have a Heart Rally at Parliament Hill. Afterwards students from the two classes had lunch at PETES, were treated to cocoa by their guests, and before the day ended a break dancing competition broke out between the new friends!

“This project was of great importance to our school due to the high enrollment of Aboriginal students. With the support of the CLC Coordinator a connection was made with an elder in the Kahnawake community who will be coming to talk with the students before the end of the school year.

The project of heart and the 100 years of loss toolkit were connected to the QEP. The project of heart fell under our Ethics, Religious and Cultures program (ERC) and the 100 years of loss was taught in Social Studies. The project also connected with our school success plan (MESA). The project fell under goal 6 to improve curricular connections of CLC concepts to the educational project of the school and the service of support we provide to the population and the at risk population of our school.

Our Mohawk students went home and had discussions with their families and began to learn about their heritage and several struggles their family members went through."

To see more about this project… Click Here.

Project of Heart Pierre Elliot Trudeau Elementary School

Pierre Elliot Trudeau Elementary School CLC 

Western Quebec School Board

PETES, located in Gatineau, has several Aboriginal families and is working to support more connection between these parents and the school. By working on PoH and inviting parents to come on the bus trip to Montreal for the TRC gathering, interest from parents has greatly improved.

“Involvement in PoH has led to an increased sense of belonging and comfort level in the school/CLC in general for our aboriginal students and families. This has been reflected in CLC events such as Community Sports Nights where aboriginal family involvement has increased dramatically in the past three months. It was also apparent when we hosted our friends from Fort Albany Cree Nation and a number of our native families joined in our potluck celebration and basketball games!”

 ~Dermot Guinnane, CLC Coordinator

This school has one class in particular that has been highly productive with social justice actions, including creating a book called “Kids Have Power”. Having a teacher that supports community engaged pedagogy has certainly helped them to receive an award from the Canadian Coalition for the Right of Children, for Aboriginal focused initiatives at the Have a Heart Rally at Parliament Hill in Feb 2013. These inspired students created their own final art project:

“We decided to create our POH masterpiece with our very own Aboriginal student artists. We met with a group of  professional artists and held a meeting with the First Nations kids to brainstorm ideas for an installation. It was at this meeting that the idea for the teepee was born. The students said it would represent ‘ bringing children back to their roots’, ‘back to their homes’.”

To learn more about this project... Click Here.