The rhythmic beat of drums and the cleansing scent of smouldering sage and sweetgrass filled La Verendrye School (LVS) in Portage la Prairie earlier this week.
The school hosted a heartfelt indigenous ceremony, a special send-off for Grade 12 students graduating from Portage Collegiate Institute (PCI) who began their educational journeys within LVS's walls.
A traditional cultural celebration
It was a vibrant celebration of achievement and a poignant homecoming steeped in cultural tradition.
The ceremony centred around a powwow. Four drummers led powerful songs, their rhythms guiding the event.
Indigenous dancers, joined by flag bearers carrying the Canadian flag, the Treaty 1 flag, and the Manitoba flag, led a small, dignified parade. Current LVS students, from Grades 1 through 8, sat attentively in the audience, witnessing the honouring of their predecessors.
The air was purified with sage and sweetgrass, a traditional practice creating a respectful and focused atmosphere for the celebration.
Retiring Principal Michelle Laidlaw, deeply touched by the event and her own recognition, highlighted the ceremony's purpose.
"This day was about actually honouring our grads," she stated. "We had a group of students who made drums. They were blessed in the ceremony last week, and they have an opportunity to play drums, and we have our dancers who are associated with our school."
Laidlaw herself was surprised with a significant honour – a Star Blanket.
"It's an honour to receive any kind of gift, but this one in particular is something that is given when you have had a great accomplishment, when there is something, a great event that's happened in your life," she shared, connecting it to her upcoming retirement. "I'm overwhelmed with the output of appreciation. It's been wonderful."
Passing the torch and looking ahead
Allan Patterson, stepping into the role of LVS Principal this fall, saw the event as a powerful combination.
"We kind of combined them into a two-part thing today with respect to the drumming and the ceremony," he observes.
He emphasized the significance for the returning graduates, adding, "Obviously getting the opportunity to celebrate some of the grads that came through our school is a fantastic opportunity for them to come back and hopefully see some of the teaching staff that they were connected with here."
Patterson expressed enthusiasm for continuing Laidlaw's impactful legacy, focusing on "trauma-informed practice, poverty-informed practice, and just making sure that kids are the focus of everything that we do."
Grads reflect on achievement and future paths
For the graduating students, the ceremony was a powerful recognition of their resilience and journey. Grade 12 graduate Kaylee felt the weight of their accomplishment. "It's about graduation, about us, what we achieved throughout school, and how we pushed ourselves when times were hard and we were struggling," she says. "This is our congratulations to us and how hard we have worked."
Kaylee looks ahead to potential careers in nursing or carpentry.
Fellow graduate Zuba echoed the sentiment of closure and exciting new beginnings.
"It's about all the graduating kids coming back to the original school to see your old teachers," he notes. "I think it's a really awesome chance to see everybody again." For him, graduation signifies "the end of a chapter, but I'm gonna go and live my life the best I can and really find an awesome future where I can live it happily." Zuba is considering a future with the RCMP.
As the drumbeats faded and the scent of sweetgrass lingered, La Verendrye School celebrated not just the academic success of its former students, but also their enduring connection to community and culture.
From here, they go forward with honour and warm wishes for the paths ahead.