Quinte Mohawk School

So this week for our culture and diversity class, we went on a field trip to the Quinte Mohawk School which is located in Shannonville on the reserve. We got to learn a lot about the native community in our area. I had no idea what these children did at their school or what it even looked like before last Friday. It was very interesting to see the kind of language that they use and what they do as a daily routine.
The routine for these children is not too different when it comes to the hours of class and recess. When it comes to what they do in class, it becomes a little interesting. I went around to different classrooms to check out what kind of crafts the children make and they were making medicine bags. These bags could actually be used and were not just any kind of craft to be made.
We also learned how to do the dance in the gymnasium. There were children of different ages from the school joining in to sing and dance. Everyone got up and walked around in a circle and danced and shuffled side to side while going to the beat of the music. Some of them wore what seemed to look like a cape and they were very decorative.
In the morning class, we went and joined in on a class of about the age of 8. They were all speaking mohawk and their teacher was trying to teach us some of their language as well. She had lived there as a child and decided to go back there to work and raise her family. She seemed to be very confident and the children all seemed to enjoy what they were learning. They even had different games that they had showed us how to play.
All around the school there were paintings, crafts and native belongings that we got to see. We got a tour around the school by Lindsay in our class. She used to attend Quinte Mohawk School as a child and showed us as much as she could.
All in all, we got to learn a lot about what goes on at the Quinte Mohawk School and what their daily activities would be. It was very interesting to learn about how they speak to eachother and the different sounds that different letters make in their words. We also found it interesting to learn that one word could mean an entire sentence. She told us about how when they ask to go to the washroom, the entire sentence could be asking if they could sit their bottom down.
At the end of the field trip, we all got to have a lunch which included turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and much more! It was very delicious and we really appreciated having such a beneficial day for our learning. Thank you Quinte Mohawk School!