Skip to main content

Walk to Musqueam

Flags adorn the entrance of Musqueam.
The Runner by Debra Sparrow

We were lucky today was such a beautiful day for our walk to Musqueam to view decorations created by two Musqueam members. At the entrance of the reserve (Crown St. and Stautlo Ave.), Debra Sparrow has designed a modern day Coast Salish monument of The Runner. The Runner was the person who kept watch for the Nation and would run through the village alerting the community of people approaching their territory. A plaque placed at the feet of The Runner  states "The spirit of our ancestors moves through the open spaces of our runner. He carries the knowledge and history of our people....he whispers to them...generation to generation."  This monument is another example of how people use decorations to tell stories.


Next we looked at a house post carved by Dave Louis Jr. The Coast Salish people do not carve totem poles but rather house posts that traditionally would adorn the interior entrance ways of the each respective family long house.  The house posts would commemorate an event, person,   family or a welcome figure greeting guests.  Many of the art forms of the Coast Salish people were personal to each individual or his/her family. 


House post by Dave Louis Jr.
The children were in awe of the height of this house post. It's interesting to note that prior to seeing the house post some children felt that totem poles and house posts were not decoration because of the lack of colour.  Seeing the house post in real life as opposed to a photograph changed the opinion of these children as they considered this house post a decoration. The children noted the carving of the figures on the post made it a decoration even though it was not brightly coloured.


This walk was quite the adventure today.  When we arrived back at the centre, the children were very hungry and tired.  It was one of the quietest lunches we have had at the centre!

Comments

  1. KateNovember 30, 2011 at 7:54 PM

    Hi Deb,
    I LOVE the idea of the history of the people whispering through the runner. I wonder how history whispers through each of us. I'm going to think of that tonight as I call forth my long line of Irish story-telling relatives.
    Thanks for taking the children on such a rich exploration of their community. I hope they'll visit it again and I wonder if they could do a large drawing of themselves in a running position and then make the spaces...the parents could tell the histories and blow them through the spaces.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deb GrantNovember 30, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    I love the idea of the drawing! What a great connection to one another.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Similarities and Differences Between Friends

We are nearing the end of this unit of inquiry.  Next week is already our summative week. Our focus this week was likes/dislikes: do we have to like the same things as our friends?  I asked this question to the children.  All of the children said yes except Rocco. Rocco said "friends don't have to do the same things." "Do we have to like the same things as our friends?" Using the book, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley (the story of two great friends), we listed the traits of each character.. The children found out that Pearl and Charlie were complete opposites yet were the best of friends. I asked the question again.  Esme and Simone changed their response. Simone replied that "that friends don't have to do the same things but sometimes we do." We wrapped up by making "Wanted: Friends" posters.  Some of the qualities listed on the posters were: Rocco: caring Simone: someone who is nice Alfie: play with me Bela: someone wi...
4 comments
Read more

Storm Drains: How we impact water.

The car wash The clean creek Today we explored where water goes when it enters a storm drain and the impact we have on what flows into these drains. The children experimented with different types of utensils at the water table. The children were able to see how water passes freely through the different openings and how other items can also pass through.  We used these utensils to recreate how storm drains work. We created a creek and watched what happened to the creek when different types of pollutants pass through the storm drain. We also simulated washing cars.  The children noted that the soap goes down the drain with the water. "Oh no, are fish will be sick!" commented Sofia.  Simone thought we could give the fish medicine to get better. This started a conversation on how difficult it would be to give medicine to all of the fish in all of the creeks!! The children noticed how dirty the water was and that living things would not survive in our p...
3 comments
Read more

Helping Hands

Through different stories, we have been discussing the qualities of a friend.  The one quality that the children unanimously agreed upon is that friends help one another.  In the story, The Little Red Hen, the Hen did all of the work by herself.  The children thought that the Dog, Cat and Goose were not good friends because every time the Hen asked for help, they refused.  Before we reached the end of the story, I asked the children if Hen should share her bread.  There were mixed responses however, the majority of the children thought Hen should share.  Louis' first response was to not share but he quickly changed his mind and said "sharing is caring!" This coming week, the children have asked to make bread and share it with the entire class. "I hug my friend when he is sad." "I blow up a balloon for my friend, Amalia, when she pops her." "I help my friends when they fall." "I help carry stuff for my friends." ...
3 comments
Read more