“Our voices are powerful”: Students at Tsuma’as elementary school prepare for Spring Fest

By Alexandra Mehl  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Every Thursday and Friday, for the last six weeks, students of Tsuma’as Elementary School have been gathering during lunch to learn and perform two songs for SD70’s and Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal council’s Spring Festival. The first class had roughly sixty students, and six weeks later there are around thirty students that attend the drumming and singing practice consistently, shared Jean Thomas, Nuu-chah-nulth Education Worker (NEW). She said that some students are so dedicated they will run directly from track practice in order to make it in time and will arrive out of breath. As the class prepared to drum their first song, The Equality Song, composed by Patrick Aleck of Stz’uminus First Nation and Penelakut Island, Martin Watts, lead singer and drummer, asked them,…

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, and Print Subscription Only members only.
Log In Register

Add Your Voice

Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Contribute your voice on our contribute page.