The Indigenous Studies class at Bert Church High School has created a four-year plan for an Indigenous reconciliation garden that will be featured near the front of the school.
The plan was unveiled on June 15 during a presentation by the east Airdrie school’s Indigenous Studies teacher Jennifer Williams. The presentation was attended by Mayor Peter Brown, City of Airdrie staff, Indigenous Studies students, and Bert Church High School staff.
Feeling grief over the discovery of the thousands of graves of Indigenous children in residential schools, Bert Church High School teacher Amy Stachniak came up with the idea to create a reconciliation garden to show remorse and recognise Indigenous peoples. Stachniak shared her idea with Williams, and the two were able to sow their seeds of creativity and start work on the project.
“We want to show our commitment to reconciliation by building and taking care of the garden, we want to inform the community about the cultures and the need for reconciliation and a place for people to find peace and reflect,” Williams said.
The Indigenous Studies teacher then enlisted the help of her grade 10 to 12 students. The class brainstormed design ideas and conducted research to choose the appropriate plants for the garden.
Williams contacted an Indigenous knowledge keeper to assist the class in creating the garden in a way that was respectful to the Indigenous community.
“It was pointed out to us by Indigenous knowledge keepers [that] tulips and daffodils are colonizer plants,” Williams said, after explaining how the garden was originally supposed to feature flowers that bloom in the spring.
The students instead chose to include four sacred Indigenous plants – cedar, tobacco, sweetgrass, and sage.
Recognizing that sweetgrass does not grow well in the Airdrie area, Williams committed to “reconcili-action,” by planting the garden each year.
“We [can’t] just make a garden [and leave it]. Every year we have to do something,” Williams added.
The reconciliation garden will be shaped like a turtle, with a medicine wheel featuring the sacred plants in the centre. The sacred circle in the centre, which will be home to the medicine wheel, will also have orange painted rocks with inspirational messages that were crafted by the leadership students at Bert Church High School.
The turtle shape pays homage to Turtle Island, which is the moniker given to Earth or North America by many Indigenous communities.
One of the turtle fins will feature edible plants, while the other will have medical plants. The bottom of the garden will host blue flowers to symbolize water for the turtle.
Two benches will be available for guests to sit on and reflect as they look at the garden, according to Williams. The benches have been gifted to the school by FortisAlberta and will feature Indigenous phrases.
Constructing and maintaining the garden will be a school-wide effort, Williams said. Biology students at the high school will learn about the different characteristics of the plants; foods classes will learn how to cook with the edible plants; construction students have volunteered to make signs for the garden; and art students have agreed to paint the signs, labelling the plants in the Métis, Siksika, Tsuut’ina, and Stoney Nakoda First Nations languages.
The completion of the garden will span four years, which allows next year's incoming students to be involved with the project throughout their time at the grade 9-12 school.
Originally, Williams wanted the garden to be completed by September 30, 2021, to mark the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – a new federal holiday in Canada. However, Williams could not find an Indigenous knowledge keeper until March of this year and having that voice and guidance was essential for Williams and the Indigenous Studies class.
Bert Church High School is hoping to break ground on the garden in the fall, but an official timeline for the project is not yet available, according to Williams.
Funding for the garden is coming from community donations as well as fundraisers. Williams will begin working with the Bert Church parent council next school year to plan fundraisers. While the garden website is still being built, Williams said donors to the project will be recognized on the website.
Those interested in donating or wanting to help with the garden can contact Williams by email: [email protected].
Mayor Brown believes the garden is a step in the right direction toward reconciliation.
“I hope [Airdrie] is becoming a leader in Indigenous relations and traditions,” he said at the June 15 presentation. “I’m really proud of [the staff and students] for coming up with this initiative.”
