Grand Opening of Sagamok Anishnawbek's New Biidaaban Kinoomaagegamik | September 12, 2024
On Thursday, September 12th, our community of Sagamok Anishnawbek including invited guest speakers, Gimaa Toulouse, Elders, teachers, education department staff and children and family members, gathered in front of the new Biidaaban Kinoomagegamik to celebrate the beautiful new learning space - an impressive and deeply meaningful achievement.
The weather was magnificent – blue skies, sun shining brightly, 27 degrees Celsius – a blessing befitting of a day as momentous as this one. Sagamok Anishnawbek, after several years of planning, discussion, breaking ground and construction (beginning April 2022), achieved its goal of creating and opening a new school within the community. And everyone was here to celebrate this success! Children, dressed in a fantastic array of colourful ribbon skirts and ribbon shirts (lovingly handcrafted by the Grandmas and Aunties Group over the past year), surrounded the guests that had assembled and bore witness to the ceremony in honour of their new school. History was being made right then and there. A new story to tell and retell.
Chief Toulouse expressed personal sentiments that the former Biidaaban Kinoomaagegamik felt like it was a project “never finished”. A new school was needed and important to provide, so that this community would have a place that was all-encompassed, meaning that it would contain all the services/supports for children and their families under one roof and in the same area. Director of Education, Vance McPherson, supported these sentiments by reiterating that the new facility contains everything from a gymnasium for physical health, a cafeteria for fueling the body, and a natural outdoor space for nurturing the mind and spirit, to classrooms that were designed to support every type of learner on their journey. The building is full of colours and styles inspired by nature; students can move freely with close access to the outdoors for land-based learning.
Gimaa also expressed the new Biidaaban will provide the opportunity needed to teach students in the classroom, about the rich history of the Anishnawbek people and the necessity of continued conversations around Treaty Talks, not found in the Ontario public school curriculum. That is the difference between a Public School and a First Nations School he mentioned– we have the ability to share our traditions and rich history within the school system. This Biidaaban Kinoomaagegamik is a brand-new school that is finally “complete” and represents an opportunity for our community and our generations to come to learn about who we are as a people, to be proud of our heritage and to self-identify.
Festivities included the welcoming of guests by host, Councilor Michael Abitong, Opening Prayer by Patricia Trudeau, Honor Song performed by Young Warriors drumming band, Remarks shared by Gimaa Toulouse, Vance McPherson (Director of Sagamok Education), Maria Kamin (Indigenous Services Canada), Stephanie Campbell (J.L. Richards engineering/architecture), Andrea Franceschini (Colliers Project Leaders), a Dedication by Anna Marie Abitong (former Director of Sagamok Education), a solo song by Haven Solomon, Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting (Haven Solomon and his younger brother were invited to cut the ribbon alongside Gimaa), and concluded with commemorative photos and a Grab ‘n Go style lunch enjoyed while perusing the inside of the new school.
Mike Abitong, in his concluding remarks, expressed that it took a long time, but it’s (Biidaaban Kinoomaagegamik) here today and here now. It takes a community to complete the whole project. Thank you to Claudette and her committee for organizing such a grand event. Chi Miigwetch to all for making this vision become a reality and for joining in celebrating the Grand Opening.
