As
we entered the room on this clear, mild January morning we were
welcomed into a circle of seats, creating a warm sense of openness and
calm. After acknowledging the peoples on whose traditional territories
we were on, Sherryl sang us a welcoming song in which we had to face
East, then South, then West and North back to East. The power of
Sherryl’s high-reaching voice and the drum beating like the heart beat
of Mother Nature had us all ready and keen to learn songs from the First
Nations, embracing what the songs mean to people of the nations that
they come from.
In
the morning we were introduced to songs of chant, songs of praise,
songs with drums, and songs with Orff instruments. The songs consisted
of words the Cree, Blackfoot and Dene languages as well as English and
French. Sherryl taught us all the songs with superb effectiveness
through the oral tradition of echoing, welcoming us to record the songs
on our devices to accompany the transcriptions included in the handouts,
giving us all the freedom to take the songs away and be able to pass
them on through our own teachings. Find a link to the lesson plan for “Music Alive” here.
The
afternoon’s activities varied wonderfully, keeping us all fully engaged
right to the end. A song about water, with ocean drums and people
moving with blue scarves to resemble ocean waves, was one of those
unique moments in which we were all involved and looked around after
with expressions to say “wasn’t that beautiful?” Versions of familiar
songs such as ‘Old MacDonald’ incorporating Metis words got us all
thinking about how our teachings of First Nations songs can reach out
across to Language Arts and other curricula. A song-based stick passing
game at the end of the day rounded things off perfectly, making us all
feel ready to take what we’d learned today back to our classrooms and
provide all our grade levels with joyful musical learning. Find a link
to the travelling stick game here.
Many
people came today with the key motivation of discovering Aboriginal
content that we can use in our classrooms and meet some of the demands
of our new provincial curriculum. However, we all came away with way
more than just that. Besides being enlightened from delving into
Aboriginal perspectives and learning the songs, language and culture of
many First Nations, we have furthered our abilities as practicing Orff
teachers and discovered ways, as encouraged by our school system, to
connect with other subject curricula, but with an Aboriginal Education
focus. I cannot wait for it all to be passed onto our students!
Adrian Clift
Music Specialist
Seaforth Elementary – Burnaby