Reflecting on our Canadian History - Issue 4

Dear KES Family,

It is not a new or unique idea, but time and time again I have seen that we understand the world through metaphor and learn through story. Ironically, I think I learned the truth about communicating through storytelling through a story. Specifically, while watching a Star Trek episode entitled “Darmok,” a story in which technology and the universal translator were rendered useless. In this story, Captain Picard encounters an alien species that communicates solely through historical references and mythology.

Long before movies or books or schools, we learned about our culture, our values, and our history through stories. Whether told by an elder, or sung by a bard, or presented on stage, stories were much more than entertainment: they were lessons. Be they Greek myths or Aesop’s Fables, or Tales of the Arabian Nights, stories educate…often in profound and culturally significant and distinctive ways.

Without stories, we might not be able to understand or appreciate the world around us, let alone ourselves.

So where am I going with this? Well, in advance of next week’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the students at KES learned the story behind Orange Shirt Day. Through the story told to us by Phyllis Webstad about her experience as a six-year-old girl, we gained an appreciation for the history and horrible impact of the residential school system for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Unlike the inspirational story of Terry Fox, it is not a source of pride for Canadians.

We ran for cancer research on Sunday. We ran to honour Terry Fox. However, this week we also honoured Canada’s First Peoples through various activities: by wearing orange shirts, by walking the land, by playing lacrosse, and by gaining a greater understanding that reconciliation is a process that rebuilds trust and replaces animosity with peace.