A 2-part Elder engagement session was held during the month of February. Elders from each community were invited to discuss our seasonal activities and what they remember doing for recreation as children, our traditional L'nu rules and beliefs, and what advice they would give our youth today.
The sessions were held via zoom sessions, with our 1st one held on Feb 18th and the 2nd on Feb 28th. We asked a series a questions giving each Elder the opportunity to voice their answer to each question.
Sarah Doucette from the Help Desk kindly offered her assistance to the Elders and they were provided with her email and phone number along with the link if they required any assistance.
During our first session, Terry and Bubblo had a group chat with the Visual Note taker for translation purposes and we also realized that some of our participants weren’t fluent in Mi’kmaq as well so Giselle offered to translate on the group chat.
Questions we asked during our 1st session:
- When you were younger, what were some sports played in the community?
- Do you have any lessons or traditions that you were taught as a child from elders related to sports or competition?
- A lot of Ln’u rules have been lost, with the new generation of kids nowadays such as giving an elder a seat, helping serve tea and snacks at wakes, and even some youth don’t know not to swim until the water has been shot. Are there any L’nu rules that you’ve grown up with that you would like to see returned. For us to teach, can you help us explain to the youth the importance behind each rule.
- They once had rules (oral traditions) to scare us, but it was really to keep us safe. Such as Alipqumite’w (ghost that skates fast). What are some that you were taught?
Questions we asked for our 2nd session:
- (Continued….) A lot of Ln’u rules have been lost, with the new generation of kids nowadays such as giving an elder a seat, helping serve tea and snacks at wakes, and even some youth don’t know not to swim until the water has been shot. Are there any L’nu rules that you’ve grown up with that you would like to see returned. For us to teach, can you help us explain to the youth the importance behind each rule.
- (Continued….) They once had rules (oral traditions) to scare us, but it was really to keep us safe. Such as Alipqumite’w (ghost that skates fast). What are some that you were taught?
- We’ve had games played by the community during different seasons, what are some games per season?
- If you could give advice to our young teens today what advice would you give them? (or say you had the chance to go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?)
- Do you have any comments or things you would like to add?
It was such an educational experience for our Sports and Rec team. They had a graphic recording done of the session and the results are beautiful!
