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Mission schools Cultural Awareness Day shines spotlight on local tribal culture

By B.L. Azure

Francis “Plassie” Stanger leads the grand entry at Cultural Awareness Day. Stanger has spent his entire life aware of his culture and loves sharing it with others. (B.L. Azure photo)

ST. IGNATIUS - Curiosity may have killed the cat but as far as humans go curiosity opens new doors. The curiosity of some Mission High School foreign exchange students a few years back opened the doors to a culture they knew little if anything about: the culture of the local American Indian students they rubbed shoulders with in the halls of high school. In the process of seeking answers their curiosity killed ignorance and planted the seeds of the Mission school system's Cultural Awareness Day. As a result of the school's watering and fertilization, knowledge about the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille tribes' culture has blossomed.

"That's sort of what brought this all together," said Geri Felix, Mission school system educator. "Each year we are getting more and more people involved either by participating or by attending."

Doug Allard and Tony Incashola shoot the breeze at Cultural Awareness Day. (B.L. Azure photo)

It was over all too quickly Friday for many of the hundreds of students, community members, drum groups and dancers whose hearts beat in unison of the drums morning and afternoon. In the morning students partook in various tribal cultural and educational related activities and in the afternoon it was drumming, singing and dancing time and time was fleeting as a fancy dancer's footwork.

These girls adorned in jingle dresses danced the afternoon away during the Cultural Awareness Day at their school. (B.L. Azure photo)

"I wish this could have gone on for a few more hours," Felix said as the end-of-the-day school bell rang in the background. The bell put a stopper on the festivities but not before those gathered in the Dog House got a big dose of the tribes' song, dance and culture.

In the morning well-known Salish elder Johnny Arlee explained the history of some of the traditional dances and songs performed at Cultural Awareness Day. Through the years many of the old traditional songs have gone with the wind as some keepers of the songs did not pass them on for various reasons. However the Salish and Pend d'Oreille Culture Committee made it a mission to help preserve not only the songs but also the spiritual and cultural ways of the people who have called this area home for thousands of years.

The Yamncut drum group was one of three drums that provided the songs for dancers at Cultural Awareness day. (B.L. Azure photo)

"Some of the old songs that a person had back then were not given back to the tribes," Arlee said. But through the concern and intervention by some traditional Salish elders like Mitch Small Salmon and Blind Mose Chouteh serious efforts at preserving the past for the future generations began.

Presently the drum group Yamncut has taken on the task of traditional song preservation and were on hand. "We are preserving the old songs so they will be carried on in the future," Arlee said.

The future was now Friday in the crowed Dog House where both sets of bleachers were pulled out to accommodate the hundreds of students, faculty, staff and members of the general public in attendance.

Mission High School junior Jessica Umphrey said she enjoyed the event and that it is good to know your neighbor.

Used to be you couldn’t drag a boy onto a dance floor but that wasn’t a problem at Mission school system’s Cultural Awareness Day. (B.L. Azure photo)

"We are on an Indian reservation so we should learn about the people that live here," Umphrey said. "One of the best ways to do that is to interact with the tribal people. It leads to the understanding and appreciation of our differences and deep down it shows that we have a lot in common."

Jason Sargent, Mission high and middle schools principal and acting district superintendent agreed that learning about the tribal ways and history leads to better understanding about the people, place, community and the culture that shadows everything on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

It was very touchy-feely at the round dance at the Cultural Awareness Day powwow celebration. (B.L. Azure photo)

"This is a wonderful event. It gives us the opportunity to celebrate where we are and recognize the culture that is here. This is a unique acceptance of the culture of the place we live, the place we call home," Sargent said. "I wish we could do more to that end but because this is such a positive event it will not end."

Sargent said more high school students are in attendance each year of the event. "They are sticking around and enjoying this. Each year I notice more kids sticking around and more community members are showing up," he said. "This provides an opportunity for the community and the school to come together and do something truly enjoyable. It's well worth the time it takes to prepare for this and pull it off."

And pull it off they did.