Posted on 2026-09-25 20:59:53.757 +0000 UTC
High Prairie Elementary students welcomed ๐๐ค๐ญ๐ข ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ on Thursday, September 24, as they gathered to honour Survivors of residential schools and those children whose lives were lost.
Ekti Margaret shared stories of her life at home, which included checking her trapline each morning before the sun was up and feeding her familyโs horse herd, going down the line and touching each velvety nose one at a time to greet them. At the age of five, she was forcibly taken from her home and sent to Blue Quills Residential School, where her life drastically changed, and she was referred to thereafter as โNumber 40โ.
Throughout the ten years she spent at residential school, though she was not allowed to speak her language out loud, she repeated the Cree stories of her childhood in her head, determined not to lose her language so that when she returned home, she would still be able to communicate with her brother, who had cerebral palsy, and her kokum and mosum.
A longtime instructor in Northern Lakes Collegeโs Aboriginal Arts program, Ekti Margaret achieved a lifelong dream within the last two years when she became an educational partner at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Education.
Ekti Margaret shared a strong message with students: that each one of them has a gift they may not even be aware of yet, and that they should use those gifts, persevere through challenges and hardships, and never give up on their dreams.
Principal Mr. B shared that an important part of reconciliation includes not only honouring and remembering the past, but showing respect and kindness each day and making sure every student in the school feels safe and included.
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