Grade 7 and 8 students from Rideau Heights are trying to better understand Indigenous cultures and traditions.
They are involved in a year-long project focused on truth and reconciliation.
As part of this project, Hannah Roth, a teacher at Rideau Heights, wanted her students to ask questions like, “Whose voices are missing in Canadian historical records?”
Roth also wanted her students to be “examining bias, and looking at the importance of telling your own story.”
What came from these concepts was the idea to create songs that would help the students connect to the Indigenous experience and their relationship to Indigenous communities.
With the help of Indigenous Elder Helena Neveau, and singer-songwriter Sarah Baetz, the students wrote, performed and recorded three songs, which are now on CD. They are selling the CD, named “Together,” and the proceeds will be going into the students’ music program.
Madison Young is 14 years old, and she sang as part of the project, which she says hit close to home.
“I’m actually Indigenous. My grandparents, they are indigenous too, so they kind of like helped me through some of it.”
Taryn Grillet is also 14, and he played the drums for the CD. He said the collaborative work helped the kids to talk through difficult subjects.
“We all got to work on songs together but when you start learning about something you’re all interested in, you definitely get better conversations going and better bonds.”
The CDs are being sold for $10 and can be bought at Novel Idea and Brian’s Record Option.
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