Cynthia Young holds up a wolf pelt for some Grade 3 students to look at before walking around the room to let them pet it if they choose to. Jeannette Benoit-Leipert Meridian Source
February is Indigenous storytelling month, a time to pass on traditional knowledge verbally, as it has been for thousands of years.
Lloydminster Catholic School Division (LCSD) Indigenous programming coordinator Cynthia Young will be busy all month, sharing her storytelling gift with students.
Mrs. Ursaki’s Grade 3 class was one of the many classes who booked in for a session with Young at Holy Rosary High School’s Indigenous Learning Centre.
“My favourite part was getting to feel the buffalo skin, the fur. It was very fluffy and then the back was kinda rough,” said Grade 3 student Milo Guenther.
“I learned different words in Cree.”
Guenther’s classmate Hendrix Gartner also enjoyed Young’s presentation on Feb. 8.
“I liked getting to learn all about the animals and stuff, and getting to feel the buffalo hide,” he said.
Young taught students about various animals and their significance in Indigenous culture, using stories and other learning materials that could be passed around for students to look at.
One of the interesting things she shared was how the behaviour of animals and insects can help predict the weather. She used hornet nesting locations as an example.
“They build them high if there’s going to be a lot of snow. Last year they built them in the ground. Do we have a lot of snow this year? No,” she said as the children chimed in to answer along with her.
“You learn to pay attention to your land, and what the animals show you. They’ll always know what kind of seasons are coming.”
Another animal Young featured during her presentation was the buffalo.
“He gives us food, he gives us clothing, tools. Also, his stomach was used to carry water. All kinds of stuff is used on these animals. His hoof can be opened and cooked, and there’s a marrow in there. Same with moose,” said Young.
“They learned all about their animals and the stuff they can use from their animals because that’s all we had. We had to live in the bush, we had to take care of ourselves.”
Mahihkan (wolf) is another animal whose behaviour is very important to look at, and Young is masterful at tying these teachings to students’ lives.
“When they move their packs to different areas, they put the old ones in front. They put the other mahihkan, and then in the back they have their best mahihkan,” Young explained.
“So that if anybody comes and attacks them from the back they are able to take care of everybody. That’s how we should be. We should take care of each other.
“Pretty soon you’ll be in Grade 8 here, and Grade 12. Look around, take care of one another. Be kind to one another. Make sure we all get there, just like mahikan teaches us.”
