Edmonton elementary school creates mural to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day

EDMONTON -

In celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day, students from an elementary school in north Edmonton are working on a mural.

Classmates from St. Gerard Catholic Elementary School took the day to create and paint artwork on the Yellowhead wall with Indigenous symbols, recognizing First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures.

“The importance behind every single one of them is to recognize every group,” Michelle St. Jean, a Grade 5 and 6 teacher at St. Gerard, said.

“We want Indigenous peoples to feel important, and today is really important for them to be recognized.”

The City of Edmonton approached the school to take part in the project a while back. After some discussions, the schools faculty collectively decided the best day to execute the project would be on the national day.

“The walls coming down and the kids wanted to commemorate National Indigenous Peoples Day with a little bit of different art,” St. Jean, added.

Following the discovery of the unmarked graves of 215 children at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., Nadine Gunther, the principal of St. Gerard, said every teacher at the school took the time to tell their class what had happened and the history behind it.

• Remains of 215 children found at former residential school in British Columbia

“They are well aware of why we are doing this, and the importance of why we’re doing this,” Gunther commented.

“In order for them to do this, they think it’s quite an honour.”

National Indigenous Peoples Day was first celebrated in 1996.