At Eke Me-Xi Learning Centre, students are encouraged to express their talents and creativity beyond the classroom by participating in competitions and exploring funding opportunities.
Two of the school's students recently did just that.
Peter Charlie (Grade 8) and Robbin Wallace-Swain (Grade 12) took part in the Imagine a Canada initiative, which invites youth to envision a reconciled Canada. Participants were asked to submit both an art piece and an essay to share their vision of reconciliation and what they hope others will take away from it.
Eke Me-Xi received the following email: “The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation wishes to extend a 'big chi miigwetch' for the incredible submission that you sent into the 2024-2025 Imagine a Canada program. The selection team was profoundly impressed with the quality of the work. With that being said, we would like to congratulate you on your submission which was one of two selected to represent British Columbia.”
Charlie and Wallace-Swain were overjoyed to learn they had been selected to represent British Columbia at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, which is an incredible honour and a unique opportunity to showcase the heart and spirit of their small community to the rest of Canada.
From May 21-25, Wallace-Swain, Charlie, and their teacher, Kristen Dahmer, will travel to Winnipeg to take part in the event. The students will deliver speeches and engage with elders and residential school survivors, creating a powerful space for learning and connection. The entire event will be streamed live for everyone to watch.
“I have lived my life and been surrounded by the hurt that my family has endured being residential survivors," wrote Wallace-Swain in the essay he submitted. "It has torn me up to see my brother pass away, my community turn to drugs and drinking being invited into our lives. Regardless, I still cannot find fault with where I live. Many tend to speak very negative about my reserve and nation, but sometimes I cannot help but see the love and beauty around me! We need to reconcile and realize that we can learn and grow with our trauma, but still see the beauty around me.”
“Reconciliation means that we need to try to work together as a whole in order to grow and bring about change," wrote Charlie in his essay. "When the word reconciliation comes to mind, I think of how people and our nation are trying to make up for the residential schools and all the trauma, all the emotional and psychological pain of what those schools have done to our people. Now, the government are trying to reconcile for the pain they caused and put it behind us but we will never forget what happened at those schools and we will never forget what happened to our elders. The elders can’t forget and are scarred for life and that scare continues to be passed down.”
