Exploring epigenetics and how to change the code at recent education forum
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William First Nation’s Corinne Bannon recently highlighted the Anishinaabemowin and hand-drumming programs she does at Algonquin Avenue Public School in Thunder Bay during a Best Practices in First Nations Education Forum. Bannon, Native language teacher at Algonquin Avenue Public School, and Orville Councillor, a Knowledge Keeper at Algonquin Avenue Public School, delivered an Epigenetics and How We Can Change the Code presentation during the forum, which was held by Nishnawbe Aski Nation on Feb. 18-19 at the Superior Inn Hotel and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay.
“We did a presentation on Epigenetics and how our genetics through history have been impacted and reshaped and how we can reverse that by participating and reigniting culture, traditions and language,” Bannon says, noting that Councillor has been teaching the boys how to drum. “Our girls are hand-drumming, they’re speaking their introductions, [learning] how to speak Anishinaabemowin, who are they as Anishinabek people, and then we did hoop dancing.”
Bannon says the students sang O’ Canada in Anishinaabemowin on Feb. 28 at an international wrestling competition at Lakehead University.
“So [we’re] giving our students that opportunity to have positive experiences and have exposure to build their self-esteem,” Bannon says.
Bannon says one of their former students, who is now in Grade 10, Justin O’ Keese, began drumming at Algonquin Avenue Public School when he was in Grade 5.
“So now, he put together his own drum group, which is Charging Thunder,” Bannon says. “They’ve been to B.C., they have gone all over Thunder Bay with pow wows or just opening up ceremony, so they really are engaged in the drumming, dewe’igan, and culture. Epigenetics is turning on those genes or turning off those genes, so when you come back to all your cultural traditions, smudging, nookwezigan, when you come back to Anishinaabemowin, you are triggering those genetics to shine and come through, and that’s from our ancestors.”
Councillor says they talked about how First Nations people are affected by what happened to them in the past, both good and bad.
“Sometimes we get stimulated by certain events or situations or smells or something — we key in on those feelings of, ‘OK, why are we feeling so traumatic about this certain subject?’” Councillor says. “The one I was focusing on was the Residential School and all the happenings there and how we feel about that today. It’s because of that same genetic makeup that we share with our ancestors, which includes memory and which includes happiness, too. It’s just not only trauma, it’s also, our Seven Grandfather Teachings are passed through that.”
Councillor says O’ Keese and the Charging Thunder drum group have received teachings from Knowledge Keepers since they started drumming.
“So everyone plays a crucial role in developing our young kids and to giving them that understanding of all aspects of life,” Councillor says.
Sharon O’ Keese, Justin’s mother, says the drum group has been doing some after-school drumming sessions on Wednesday or Thursday.
“In the city here, they have drum socials,” Sharon says. “They also go to Howl at the Moon — that’s a sober bar in the city, so they’ve been volunteering their time to go drum for the people [at Howl at the Moon].”
Sharon says the drum group has received invites to attend events throughout the summer.
“Every month, they have an invite to go out of town or to different schools in the city,” Sharon says. “And they just got an invite to be present at National Indigenous Peoples Day.”
Algonquin Avenue Public School also held its Biboon (Winter) Powwow on Jan. 28, with the Charging Thunder drum group participating in the drumming along with other drum groups and some of the students participating in a hoop dance and a hand-drumming song.