The Greater Victoria School District (SD61) recently organized a traditional Indigenous Lahal tournament that brought together hundreds of students from across the southern parts of Vancouver Island. Students from four school districts—SD 61, Saanich School District, Sooke School District, and the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board—gathered at Spectrum Community School in Saanich to compete in the tournament. Saanich News explains that the traditional Coast Salish game is played with two teams, sets of “bones,” and scoring sticks: One team conceals the bones in their hands, while the other team tries to win scoring sticks by guessing the location of unstriped bones. “When we start to normalize this as part of a curriculum, we start to bring forward the understanding of history and culture and really great pride,” explained SD61 Director of Indigenous Education Shelly Wilton. The top four teams took home prizes such as custom-made hoodies, and the winning team will steward a handcrafted drum until next year’s tournament.
