Today, we walked to Mohkinstsis, the meeting of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. This is also called the confluence of the rivers. On the way, we stopped at the excavation site at the Alexandria Society Centre and Ms Elder explained that while digging, excavators came across old artifacts in the ground. All digging had to stop while the city investigated the artifacts. They found fire-cracked stones dating back over 3000 years ago.
Next, we visited a Métis cabin that is over 150 years old beside the Deanne House. It was first lived in by someone from the Hudson's Bay Company, then from someone working on the railroad. Now it has been restored to look like it originally did.
Then, we walked down to the river. Ms Elder talked about why Mohkinstsis is important to the First Nations people in this area. It was traditionally a gathering place between the different groups in the area. For the Blackfoot people, it is also where they believe people first stepped on to land. Mohkinstsis means "elbow" in Blackfoot and Cree.
We had time to journal about our connection with the river. We thought of personal experiences that we have to this place. Back at school, we created a "Memory Web" where we physically connected ourselves by our memories. Our stories tell who we are and they connect us to each other.
Here are some student reflections on the purpose of the walk and what they enjoyed:
"We did the walk so that we could bring back a past memory from when we were younger." ~ Owen
"I think the purpose of the Community Walk was to learn something about First Nations people because we're learning about people this year. We walked to Mohkinstsis so I think that means it has something to do with First Nations people." ~ Abigail
"The purpose of the walk was to connect to the river." ~ Jorja
"I think the purpose was to see how different life was back then and how different it is now." ~ Bianca
"The purpose was to learn about each other's past." ~ Ina
"The purpose was to get some physical education. We were walking and learning about the past." ~ Jaxton
"The purpose of today was to learn how special the river is to Calgary." ~ Jasper
"The Bridge artwork can be build a sense of community. They are very unique and new and I like to l learn more about new things." ~ Desiree
"The purpose of the walk was to learn about Calgary's history." ~ D
"It was my first time going there and I liked the river." ~ Bianca
"I enjoyed how we got to walk around and get some fresh air. It was nice to walk along the river." ~ Sophia
"The East Village playground was nice because there is climbing equipment and it's very different from our playground and I like to try different playground." ~ Charlotte
"One of the things the East Village playground has that ours doesn't is the rope jungle gym and the climbing area with the pieces of wood and I liked that." ~ Abigail
"I liked the park because it's unique with the roller slide." ~ Owen
"It was different because when you go to the playground you expect it to have a slide and other normal stuff but they added a slide with wheels and rope obstacle courses." ~ Bianca
We also walked to the Bridge artwork by Katie Green in East Village. This was Desiree's public art piece and it fits perfectly with our discussions around creating a sense of belonging through art. To read more about the artwork and how it ties with our upcoming work with Calgary's homeless population, click here.
