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Increasing support to youth member of the drum group Youngscouts, the students learned about the history of the Plains Cree hand drum and the Round Dance.
Dream Brokers: Creative programs popular for handling COVID
“The students were able to identify the parts of the drum and their meaning. Marc talked about how songs are composed and the similarities between songmaking and poetry. In the writing portion of the class, they blended the teachings of the drum with journaling and creative writing.” Dyck notes that the students all enjoyed the journaling portion of the drum program. “The entries we saw were very powerful. Our students are dealing with a lot of emotions around the pandemic and having the journal program teach them about using journaling as a positive outlet was very valuable.”
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tudents from two Saskatoon schools are getting opportunities to participate in several arts programs while connecting to their culture and history thanks to Dream Brokers and support from Creative Kids.
Dream Broker Laura Dyck from St. Frances Cree Bilingual School and St. Michael Community School in Saskatoon, says, “Most of our students couldn’t participate in any activities during COVID due to programs being paused or shut down. It was important to us to offer a variety of programming to spark our students’ interests and keep them connected.” While the students were engaged in poetry, journaling, drumming, beading and fiddle playing, they were also connected to the traditions and cultural heritage behind these practices. Dyck says that some students connected to their Métis heritage, roots and background during the fiddle classes. In the poetry and drum programs, facilitated by Marc Okihcihitaw, a
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SASKCULTURE A YEAR IN REVIEW / 2021-2022
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