After nearly a year in the making, a special gift was presented to School District 71 Friday morning as part of a cultural presentation – a song by Indigenous singer/songwriter William Wasden Jr (Wak̕analagalis).
The district commissioned the song for all students to use, explained Bruce Carlos, district principal for SD71’s Indigenous Education program.
The song – Am’lala sa Kumuxse (play song of the K’omoux) was officially unveiled during a professional development day at G.P. Vanier Secondary. Fifty students from Ecole Puntledge Park and Queneesh Elementary performed with the Comox Valley Schools Song Keepers during the ceremony to an audience of more than 300 educators and dignitaries.
“When we talked about commissioning the song, we talked back and forth about what we wanted we wanted to be in the song,” said Carlos. “We wanted to make sure to acknowledge K’omoks First Nation, that we acknowledge the environment in which we live in – the glacier, the ocean, the forest. (Wasden Jr.) took that and became inspired with the song to acknowledge that.”
Wasden Jr. is a member of the ‘Namgis Nation Nimpkish Valley Tribe. He has taught most of his adult life in the majority of schools in the unceded Kwakwaka’wakw territories as well as a researcher and cultural advisor for the U’mista Cultural Center at Alert Bay.
Chief Wedlidi Speck of the ‘Namgis First Nation noted the intention driving the song is around reconciliation.
“It’s about community building, it’s about strengthening the relationship with the Indigenous community. It’s a beautiful gesture.”
He explained the song is written in Chinook to celebrate a trade language.
“We’re celebrating the relationship to the land, and what the land offers us, and how we can as people connect up to it that way. It allows the school district to step into a deeper cultural relationship with the K’omoks, and I think that’s fabulous.”
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