First Nations Students Follow Their Heritage to Vimy Ridge

For many Canadian students the battlefields of Europe can seem distant.

For the students at Oscar Lathlin Collegiate in the small Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba the battlefields could seem even more remote.

It was a space, both physical and emotional, that their teacher Connie Wyatt Anderson set out to overcome when she set her sights on organizing a class trip to attend the ceremonies marking the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 2012.

Throughout the school year her students saved and fundraised for their incredible journey. Wyatt signed up with EF Educational Tours to organize the travel and tour details so that she could focus on the education aspects. Once a week students attended an extra history class after school to learn about Vimy Ridge to fully understand the context of Canadians at Vimy Ridge and in particular the role of First Nations on the frontlines.

Living in remote area of Manitoba adds two extra days of travelling and attending a major anniversary celebration with a large group of high school students could be enough to convince a group to stay home.

“Sharing the trip details with parents was simple because EF Educational Tours stuck to the original itinerary they shared with me,” Wyatt explained. “There was no back and forth or last minute changes and that makes it easier for me and the parents.”

“I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” said Wyatt “this was their first chance to identify as Canadian, and they were beaming with pride. Living on a First Nations Reserve they are usually perceived as the native kid in Canada, but when they wore their red and white jackets and joined the thousands of Canadians in the parade they were part of our nationalism and proud to be.”

The trip provided unique opportunities for her students to connect with their own First Nations past. “One of our students was asked to represent First Nations at the anniversary event” Wyatt explains.

And while students may have a backpack of mementoes from the trip, it’s something much more personal that Wyatt hopes they will keep close.

Each day students were asked to spend time keeping a journal about their experience and also to relate it back to their classroom studies. “Keeping the journal allows them to think critically about their experiences, but it also serves as a gift for themselves when they return home” said Wyatt when discussing the requirements of the students on the tour.

Wyatt knows this is a trip that students will take the journal and the memories with them wherever they go. “We met a man who was just a boy when Canadians liberated the small village where he lived in Netherlands and he thanked us. This wasn’t just a history tour for these students, it was a defining moment in their lives.”

Connie Wyatt Anderson has taught at Oscar Lathlin Collegiate on Opaskwayak Cree Nation Reserve near The Pas, Manitoba since 1992. In 2014 her outstanding contributions to her community were recognized with the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching.