Hi! My name is Geet Garcha. I am in grade 4 and in Mrs. Petley-Kerr’s class. I would like to tell you how my teacher, my class, and I met Randy Bottle. I’m sure most of you have heard of him. He has come to our school a few times. When he came to my classroom, I did the land acknowledgement before we began. After that, Mrs. Petley-Kerr presented him with tobacco, to show kindness, respect, friendship, and to thank him for sharing his knowledge with us. We all sat down on the carpet, and first he told us his indigenous name, Saa’kokoto, which means clear water or clear ice. Then he told us stories because he is a story teller and he shares folktales and stories about indigenous cultures.
Weeks later, we went to Nose Hill Park with Saa’kokoto. When we were there, we had to hike up a very tall hill. We had cushions to sit on when we arrived at the top. Saa’kokoto told us that we are so lucky to have Mother Earth as our home. In Blackfoot, they call Mother Earth Na’a. We also saw the medicine wheel at the top of the hill. The rocks that created the medicine wheel were covered in sacred colours.
I’ve learned a lot from these experiences. We should learn more about Indigenous culture because it shares a lot of history with Canada. They have a lot of different tribes, food, beliefs, and ideas that are important to know. We should also learn about Indigenous culture because kids in our generation should learn from the past. We can learn how Canada started, and that animals and other items from nature are important.
I hope you liked learning about how my teacher, my class, and I met Saa’kokoto.
