Cadmus Delorme speaks Friday Medicine Hat College to Catholic division teachers and staff about the importance of humour and wellness.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Cadmus Delorme, former chief of Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, explained the important role of humour in the Indigenous worldview during an address to Catholic school staff and educators as the division held its fourth annual staff Health and Wellness Day.
During his keynote address, Delorme spoke about the need for Canadians to understand and support Indigenous perspectives, and used humour as an example of building relationships and fostering reconciliation.
Dulorme told a story during a time long ago when humans could communicate with animals and spoke about a day when all dogs decided they were having a private meeting in a large teepee, and humans were forbidden to attend.
The story continues as all the dogs arrive for the meeting and remove their tails before entering the teepee, hanging them outside. During the meeting humans decide to light the teepee on fire, causing all the dogs to flee from the flames, grabbing any tail they could find before running away from the flames.
“That’s why today, when two dogs meet each other, they sniff each other’s tail, because they’re still looking for their original tail,” said Dulorme, drawing laughter from the audience.
Although the story is fictional, Dulorme challenged school divisions to adapt Indigenous stories, like this one, to their curriculum to promote Indigenous perspectives and make them more commonplace as the country continues its efforts for reconciliation.
He also shared stories about his own intergenerational trauma related to Canadian police, and explained the importance of understanding and addressing that trauma.
“We’re just in a moment in our country, reconciliation is only nine years old,” said Dulorme. “So please, we just need a little bit of understanding and patience, and remember Indigenous people, we don’t want pity, we don’t want anybody to feel sorry for us, we just want to thrive in that Indigenous worldview and that Canadian worldview at the same time.”
The annual Health and Wellness Day is held each year during a teacher professional development day and provides staff tools and information on related health and wellness activities and features local organizations, including Medicine Hat Family Services, Saamis Immigration Service and Medicine Hat Community Housing.
“To really focus on the health and wellness of our staff,” explains deputy superintendent Nick Gale. “This is a great way to come together and focus as a community as well.”
Gale said the division asked Dulorme to speak to its staff and share his message of hope.
“Just acknowledging that, yes, we’ve got some real challenges in front of us, all of us have our own challenges, and he has a way to talk through those things and have hope for the future and moving forward in our own lives in a positive way.
The division-wide portion of the day was held at Medicine Hat College in the morning and followed with staff returning to their schools for an afternoon of activities.
Teachers also completed AI training and K-6 curriculum collaboration training throughout their professional development period.
