March 7/25
The Grade 8 class, led by Mr. Kevin Maracle and Ms. Jeanette John, are currently making snow snakes!
Students went out to the surrounding bush and selected a young poplar to be cut at about a 6-foot length. During class, they arranged their seating in a large circle so they could face each other and share thoughts and stories more freely while stripping bark from their stick. Peeling away the bark, removing knots and sanding it results in a clean, creamy white, smooth pole – one that each student hopes will go the furthest distance when slid across a snow and ice channel. The channel will also be constructed by the students upon return from March Break. Mr. Maracle ensured that proper safety protocols were in place, and ‘the students demonstrated great responsibility in maintaining them’, he remarked proudly, while being extremely enraptured by this in-class cultural lesson.
The students continue to prepare and decorate their snow snakes, so watch for pictures of them testing them out during a competition at Biidaaban, on the Sagamok Education website. They will carve away the wood to create a pointed, curved end, and a flatter ‘finger hold’ on the other end. ‘It is a sport and art form in one’, said Mr. Aizenburg, who had dropped in to view the progress of the snakes. The traditional, uniquely indigenous, winter sport of snow snakes has teams compete in throwing their wooden ‘snake’ along a trough built of snow and ice, to see whose snow snake will travel the furthest as it ‘snakes’ its way zigzagging along the channel. The sport is fun and competitive on many levels as it requires a balance between the best carved snake, best technique for throwing/guiding the snake effectively, concentration, patience, and practice. As most seasoned members are aware, things may not always happen right the first try. It takes many attempts, extensive practice, and trial and error to help a person learn, grow, and evolve their snow snakes skill.
