This fall I began an art project with my students to create a painted tiled mural of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council flag to go in the school's main lobby(Chester Area Middle School). It is surrounded by a border of images of the petroglyphs found at Keji, Lake McGowan and Bedford, N.S.
The cloth flag had been hanging on the wall, but after a visit from the fire marshall who said there was to be no fabric on the walls, it had to be taken down. I felt bad about this so I decided to make a permanent flag to remain in place as a welcome symbol. We began by going on a field trip to the Glooscap Heritage Centre in Truro to learn about the petroglyphs- among other things. We drew the flag on paper and broke it into a numbered grid. Different students painted the various ceramic tiles with a special paint that vitrifies when you bake it in a domestic oven. We glued it all back together onto a painted plywood board (4'x8'), surrounded by the border. Pilot holes were drilled first, and after installation, the remaining border tiles were glued on.
We had a huge assembly, attended by 400 people with singing and drumming and 4 special Elders from the nearby Gold River Community, a part of Acadia First Nation. The students also presented PowerPoints and imovies at the assembly about what they learned. The mural was unveiled.
The mural was smudged with sage smoke by Elder Rose Morris.
The students (as well as April Hiltz, Sheila Porter and Shon Myra) helped cook a free feast for the school of 2 gigantic baked salmon (that the band donated), halibut chowder, Luski bread, strawberry shortcakes, blueberry and cranberry muffins. The Elders were served by students at a special table and the rest of the school filed through the Family Studies Lab for free food!
The festival was a big success and we made it into the Chronicle Herald!!!-- Also in Bridgewater's Progress Bulletin. The very next morning, I chaperoned (with 2 other teachers) a 2-day camping trip to Keji with 21 students, and of course we had a tour of the sacred petroglyphs!!!
This is my happy face......:)
Julie Chandler is amazing! In efforts to promote Family Studies, I'd say this project, unveiling, and a community feast is a chart-topper! Congratulations on a wonderful outcome. Your smile conveys your justifiable pride at doing something positive out of what could have been a depressing situation. I hope the Fire Marshall attended the feast!
ReplyDeleteJulie, I too have to congratulate you. It is rewarding to see a project completed with the help of both the community and the students. They will be proud every time they walk past this mural, as should you be. The look of delight on your face says it all!!! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an amazing story, the darn fire marshall's;) but look at what it lead to, a permanent piece of art! I am overwhelmed just thinking about what an opportunity you created for your students. I am going to show this piece of your blog to my staff, I think something similar would be a welcome addition to our hallways, helping give students a piece of their heritage within our walls. Thanks so much for sharing!
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