W.A. Fraser Middle School students are hoping that a random fence in a parking lot will now become a beacon of hope and resiliency.
Fraser students completed the final phase of their art project designed to raise awareness about the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Last month saw Vice-Principal Nerlap Sidhu's Grade 8 classes and Fraser Equity League members invite community members inside the school to hear words from students and local Indigenous people on the meaning of the project and then gathered in classrooms to paint an Indigenous hummingbird on a carved piece of wood.
For many Indigenous cultures, the hummingbird symbolizes joy, beauty and a resilient spirit and those involved with the art project hope the final phase exhibits those characteristics.
All those involved with the initial event in May gathered again on Monday (June 16) morning to hear more about the goals of the project, retrieve their completed art piece and then attach it to a fence in the Fraser parking lot. School officials stated that they had originally thought to keep the pieces inside, but believe that it can be more powerful outside and more visible to the public. They added that the creations will be maintained so they can be enjoyed for years to come.
According to statistics from the Assembly of First Nations, Indigenous women make up 16 per cent of all female homicide victims, and 11 per cent of missing women, yet Indigenous people make up only 4.3 per cent of the population of Canada. They are also twice as likely to experience violence from a partner and more likely to experience physical and sexual assault than non-Indigenous women.
"More than 57 equity league members from Grades 6 to 8 organized this important project," students said prior to going outside and attaching art to the fence. "This community project gives us students a voice and fosters compassion, courage and empathy in us as middle schoolers."
Sidhu said Equity League students, who are made up of Grade 6, 7 and 8's, suggested highlighting the MMIWG crisis.
"We all spoke about what types of projects or ways can we give back to the community and this was the one that resonated the most with the kids," Sidhu said. "I think it was mainly about the violence against women and girls and it was something many hadn't heard about before."
Fraser principal Ian Levings said that a project like this is exactly the type of learning environment he wants for students at his school.
"We always want to connect all of our activities," he said. "This isn't held in isolation, it's not just turn to page 12 of the textbook. These are things we're creating as we go in order to make learning opportunities for our students to be relevant and challenging. And we always want to connect our learning to a first people's principle – holistic, reflective – and learning involves recognizing consequences of one's actions."
The hummingbird art display can be seen near the east side of Fraser close to the visitor parking lot. For more on the school, visit frasermiddle.abbyschools.ca.
