Grade 12 student Cheyney Chevrier is proud of her Indigenous culture and has made it a point to share her heritage with her fellow students and teachers.
Chevrier is now in her second year as the Indigenous Student Trustee at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall.
“Essentially, the student trustee is to be a voice for the student body, to bring forth any events or issues relating to our school, to the school board staff,” explained Chevrier.
“The Indigenous Student Trustee is more specifically about Indigenous topics. So, I would go to the board meetings once a month to discuss things. For example, at the beginning of November, we held a series of activities related to treaties in Canada, more specifically the Robinson Huron Treaty that we’re settled on. We started with a poster board in the cafeteria that had information, and some facts about it and we talked to students passing by and explained what it was about. We also had a mini presentation in our library in conjunction with our school’s history club and held a trivia contest that was well attended.”
As the Indigenous student trustee, Chevrier is focused on creating an environment where her peers are engaged, wanting to get a better understanding of cultural differences and similarities.
“It’s not just me talking about it. We have students that come together, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous that want to help bring forth current issues and topics to the rest of the students. We also have a dancing and drumming troupe,” Chevrier pointed out.
“We’ve hosted a school-wide powwow near the end of the year and had our dancers and drummers come out onto Cundari Field to perform. We also invite other schools to participate in that; we have students from West Ferris and Chippewa, Nbisiing and Sturgeon Falls come here and celebrate, so it is about coming together to partake in our culture. It’s really great.”
Chevrier was inspired to begin sharing her culture with others during her first year of high school.
“I first started being part of the Indigenous culture at Scollard in my Grade 9 year. I had a mentor who helped me find my voice and learn more about my culture and language. I went on to take Ojibwe here for three years.”
Over the years the teen developed a passion for dance, which she also proudly shares.
“I’ve been doing Jingle Dress dancing since Grade 10. I went on a trip to Manito Ahbee which is a really big powwow in Manitoba. That is when I first started taking Jingle dancing, and I enjoyed competing with other teen Jingle Dress dancers. I really found my passion for dancing, specifically traditional dancing. It really made me want to pursue it further,” she said with a shy grin.
The teen is actively involved in a number of culturally based school projects and programs.
“I am part of an Indigenous group called Mkwa Doodem which means Bear Clan. We run assemblies and presentations for important dates such as Treaty Week, and Orange Shirt Day.”
Orange Shirt Day presented an opportunity to invite a local guest speaker to address the students.
“We brought in a residential school survivor to talk about her history and her experiences when she attended. We gathered in the gym where she talked, and the students could ask questions. I feel having someone in front of you who has experience in such a painful chapter of our history, was really impactful. I feel many students took away from that a lot of her hurt but also a lot of compassion from our speaker. She was extremely brave. She spoke beautifully telling us what happened, and I think that really left an imprint on a lot of people here.”
The teen is pleased with the feedback from both students and staff in response to the various events and educational opportunities she and others have helped to create.
“I think there has been a fairly positive response by a lot of people that are interested in learning about Indigenous culture, the language, and the people who live on Nipissing First Nation. We also have a really strong response from teachers who want to learn. I feel it is a really big learning opportunity having all these presentations and opportunities to learn about the history, about the land that we’re on. There is just so much to learn and with all the stuff we’re doing at the school I feel like it is a huge part of that.”
As she focuses on enlightening others, Chevrier wants their takeaway to be one of inspiration.
“I hope that they leave with feelings of love and compassion, and I hope they come out of this with some new knowledge or with a better understanding of things they might not have understood completely. I just feel our culture is so rich and full of life. I want people to experience it, and I want people to get to know it,” Chevrier proudly stated.
“Especially with the land of the people which we’re on, it is definitely important to know the history of North Bay, of Nipissing. It is really vital to know.”
Moving forward she would like others to feel motivated enough to follow the path she has set for herself and others.
“I really hope so. Hopefully, I will find another Indigenous Student Trustee to take my position, someone I feel cares about Indigenous culture at Scollard and someone that is willing to take the initiative and live up to the legacy of Mkwa Doodem and the students who started this before me. I had to fill their shoes, and I really hope it continues, and that other students see me and the many other people who are a part of Mkwa Doodem and they want to help as much as they can too,” said Chevrier.
“And it is definitely not just me, it is other people too, many of my friends and cousins who are a part of it, and I feel like they inspire other people as well. “
The Grade 12 student realizes there is still much work left to be done.
“I feel that there is. It is early in the school year, and I’m hoping to have more Indigenous-related events and talks about things I feel should be brought up. I would really like to introduce possibly more language to our school. We currently don’t really have a lot of Anishinabek language in our school, at least not as much as I would like to see. I would really like to incorporate more of that possibly this year. I am hoping to work with the rest of Mkwa Doodem and possibly a few teachers to see what path we can take forward to possibly get that going.”
Chevrier acknowledges that sharing her culture has transformed her into a confident young woman.
“I’m hoping to leave an imprint on the school somehow and hopefully motivate other, younger students to take on roles and responsibilities.”
The more she learns, the more she wants to learn, long after graduation.
“I do hope to go forth with my Indigenous language especially. I definitely want to learn more. I want to take my cultural journey throughout my whole life, and I feel like I have a really good head start on it right now. I’m hoping to pursue the arts post-secondary, so I’m hoping to be that representation in that field.”
