Wab Kinew visits Randerson

Randerson Ridge had the pleasure of hosting Wab Kinew. Wab was named by Post Media News as one of the "9 Aboriginal movers and shakers you should know." He is a dynamic speaker, passionate about issues affecting Indigenous Peoples.  Wab is the Director of Indigenous Inclusion at the University of Winnipeg. He has won numerous awards for Journalism and as a hip-hop artist.
We would like to give a huge thanks to Mr. Pavan and Mrs. Epps for this opportunity.  We would also like to thank the students in Gr. 6/7 who worked hard on creating meaningful questions for Wab. 

Wab with Randerson students

Three students offer their reflections on Wab's visit.


I learned from Wab Kinew that the Aboriginal People’s couldn’t keep doing their trapping and fur trade, so they moved to work in the Oil Sands in Alberta. The Oil Sands are also affecting Aboriginal Peoples up stream, with no clean drinking water, causing them to have rare cancers.  I also learned that Aboriginal Children get less support than other Canadian children if they are going to school on a reserve or if they are in foster care.  We should be more aware of the lack of equity towards Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and fight for Social Justice.  Some things we can do are, write a letter to a politician (1 letter=500 emails), advocate for Social Justice, and attend more Aboriginal ceremonies open to the public.

Emily Gr. 7           

Enjoying a visit with Wab

       

Visiting Wab was a very interesting experience.  Wab is a great advocate for both social justice and sustainability issues.  One of the major things I learned that Aboriginal children get LESS money than non-aboriginal children do in foster care for their care.  This is absurd, as the Aboriginal children NEED more money than non aboriginal children do.  Usually people think of equality as a good start to our future, but equity is the way to go.  

The First Nations peoples have had extremely hard times, and their poor children have to still suffer the consequences of residential school… Dreadful stuff.
Another thing I found interesting was is that there are no black or white answers to the Northern Gateway Pipeline.  Being extremely environmentally minded or industrially minded won’t do the trick.  Many of the Aboriginal people are fighting against the pipelines and the oil sands, when they aren’t doing much to change our Earth either.  We have to mind the common ground in the middle, and it will prove to be one of the toughest decisions to make in our country’s history.

I think that doing smaller things like Wab said could make a difference.  Being an advocate, writing letters to politicians and participating in Aboriginal culture is a very good place to start.  I enjoyed Wab visiting us, and I hope he enjoyed the work put into organizing our artwork and the food.

Ryan Gr. 7               

Gift for Wab created by the Gr. 6/7 students in Mrs Epps and Mr. Pavan's class

 
Wab was very knowledgeable about reconciliation and sustainability.  I enjoyed his sense of humor.  He liked the gift we gave him.  We gave him a drawing of a thunder raven flying over a ridge.  I learned that there are more than 2 sides to the pipeline.  Like some of the Aboriginal leaders starting working for pipeline companies because of the money even though it was bad for the environment and you must meet in the middle.  I also learned that Aboriginal children get less support than other kids if they go to school on a reserve.  Aboriginal kids get less money than other children.  We can write letters to politicians, advocate for social justice and take part in aboriginal events.   

Branden grade 7