Several schools recently held special graduation ceremonies to honour their Indigenous graduates. Indigenous graduates from Yellowknife’s high schools took part in an Indigenous Honour Ceremony, where they were gifted stoles made with help from local beaders. In Alberta, some Chinook’s Edge School Division graduates wore Métis sashes or medicine pouches that were smudged by an Indigenous Elder to mark their journeys into adulthood. Indigenous graduates from Red Deer high schools participated in a Grade 12 celebration that recognized their achievements, while the Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society held a ceremony to celebrate students who recently graduated from their after-school program. In British Columbia, Wei Wai Kum First Nation hosted a special ceremony for students from School District 72 where graduates were drummed in and received cedar headbands crafted by an elder and cedar bentwood boxes, while Surrey Schools hosted an honouring ceremony for Indigenous graduates at a venue that was decorated to create a longhouse-style environment.
