A tipi on the front of the property at William McDonald School was erected this past weekend to remind people about the origins of the city.
The idea of setting up the cultural symbol was spearheaded by the school's vice-principal Monique Marinier and principal Jeff Seabrook a couple years ago.
“The tipi went up on Saturday and we've received nothing but good feedback from it so far,” said Marinier. “This is something we've thought about for a while and it's nice to see it standing in front of the school.”
A 30-foot tipi structure was put up outside William McDonald School on Saturday in preparation for today's local accessibility awareness event at the school. Vice principal Monique Marinier said the tipi is symbolic to the history of the community.
(June 19, 2018)
The wood for the tipi was harvested in the area and stained by students at the school. The plan is to keep the 30-foot symbol on the property for the foreseeable future – except for next month of July, as a section of the property gets upgraded.
“It represents a lot of our culture here in Yellowknife,” said principal Jeff Seabrook. “It also represents what we want to teach in our school in terms of inclusive, Indigenous education.”
Seabrook added the tipi was a part of the school's recent renovations which include accessibility upgrades to the front of the school for a more inclusive environment.
The tipi will be presented to the public today during at a community event celebrating accessibility awareness in the city.
Notably, the tipi is a reminder to city residents that all Yellowknifers are situated in Chief Drygeese territory on the land of the Yellowknives Dene First Nations.
At the turn of the 20th century, Chief Drygeese was responsible for signing what was the biggest land-agreement in Canadian history at Fort Resolution. Treaty No.8 was responsible for giving 840,000 squared kilometres to the Dene and Tlicho people, allowing for settlements of people to Gameti, Wekweeti, Whati, Dettah, Ndilo and Behchoko.
Before many public events, people are reminded about being on Chief Drygeese land.
Randy Freeman is a traditional knowledge specialist with the Yellowknives Dene. He has been compiling records to document the history of the Dene people for 30 years,
He told Yellowknifer that most of the Indigenous people don't understand the full scale of their ancestry.
Freeman said using symbols like the tipi should be a good way for Indigenous youth to learn more about the heritage.
“It's extremely important,” said Freeman. “Many of the elders speak the language and it's important for the Yellowknives Dene youth to continue learning and growing the traditions of their ancestors.”