On October 12th, the Great Works School held its first Indigenous Peoples’ Day Assembly. It started off by gathering classes in the auditorium to talk about what “Indigenous” means and to share the different Indigenous tribes, including those in Maine. Students learned that the 4 main tribes in Maine, collectively known as the Wabanaki, are the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy tribes.
Students were then read a story about Indigenous Peoples’ by Mr. Burnell. Students even got to view a video that taught them some of the languages of an Indigenous tribe. The committee also shared a video of a young girl singing a song by The Beatles in her tribe’s native language. It was quite remarkable!
The assembly concluded with all students going to the upper soccer field in silence to appreciate and thank the Indigenous Peoples’ for the land that we occupy.
It was a beautiful way to end the assembly, and it was very touching to see the students’ all taking it so seriously.
The teachers, students, and staff are all looking forward to this becoming a new Great Works Tradition.