{"id":109674,"date":"2026-10-15T15:17:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=109674"},"modified":"2026-10-15T15:17:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:17:33","slug":"haahuupayak-school-students-sparkle-at-50th-year-milestone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/15\/haahuupayak-school-students-sparkle-at-50th-year-milestone\/","title":{"rendered":"Haahuupayak School students sparkle at 50th year milestone"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Port Alberni, B.C. \u2013 Wearing little light-up sneakers and shawls trimmed with silver and gold sequins, Haahuupayak Elementary School students sparkled with the spirits of their Ancestors as they performed the War Song on Oct. 8 for the 50th anniversary celebrations. Event co-emcee and cultural educator Trevor Little told the audience that nowadays, the War Song is preparing the children for another battlefield. \u201cIt\u2019s for your education; it\u2019s for your life,\u201d said Little. \u201cAnd we want to acknowledge the battles that got us to where we are today.\u201d Founded in 1976, Haahuupayak, of the root haahuupa, which means \u201cteaching with love\u201d is a Nuu-chah-nulth school located in the Alberni Valley on Tseshaht First Nation reserve land. Today, the independent school has an… <\/p>\n

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By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Port Alberni, B.C. \u2013 Wearing little light-up sneakers and shawls trimmed with silver and gold sequins, Haahuupayak Elementary School students sparkled with the spirits of their Ancestors as they performed the War Song on Oct. 8 for the 50th anniversary celebrations. Event co-emcee and cultural educator Trevor Little told the audience that nowadays, the War Song is preparing the children for another battlefield. \u201cIt\u2019s for your education; it\u2019s for your life,\u201d said Little. \u201cAnd we want to acknowledge the battles that got us to where we are today.\u201d Founded in 1976, Haahuupayak, of the root haahuupa, which means \u201cteaching with love\u201d is a Nuu-chah-nulth school located in the Alberni Valley on Tseshaht First Nation reserve land. Today, the independent school has an... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nHaahuupayak School students sparkle at 50th year milestone - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/15\/haahuupayak-school-students-sparkle-at-50th-year-milestone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Haahuupayak School students sparkle at 50th year milestone - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Port Alberni, B.C. \u2013 Wearing little light-up sneakers and shawls trimmed with silver and gold sequins, Haahuupayak Elementary School students sparkled with the spirits of their Ancestors as they performed the War Song on Oct. 8 for the 50th anniversary celebrations. Event co-emcee and cultural educator Trevor Little told the audience that nowadays, the War Song is preparing the children for another battlefield. \u201cIt\u2019s for your education; it\u2019s for your life,\u201d said Little. \u201cAnd we want to acknowledge the battles that got us to where we are today.\u201d Founded in 1976, Haahuupayak, of the root haahuupa, which means \u201cteaching with love\u201d is a Nuu-chah-nulth school located in the Alberni Valley on Tseshaht First Nation reserve land. 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