Science fair mixes science with Indigenous culture

Science fair brings Indigenous twist. The File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council held a science fair that mixes science with Indigenous culture. Nathaniel Dove has more.

The File Hills Qu’Appelle (FHQ) Tribal Council Science Fair mixes science with traditional Indigenous culture.

Nearly 100 contestants from nearby First Nations primary schools convened in Lebret to show their fusion of scientific inquiry and tradition.

Aleshia Deegan’s project was a study of teepees and the role the structures play in Indigenous life. Her interest was initially piqued by her uncle, who currently builds teepees as a way of preserving his culture.

“Each pole has a meaning,” she said. “So the meanings are respect, love, honesty (and) care. And when you set up a teepee you need to know all that, you have to care, you have to respect it."

Hayder-Ali Starlight studied how baseball overlaps with traditional customs.

“You have to be focused. You have to have good hand co-ordination and patience to wait for the right pitch.” Starlight said, adding that the same attributes are needed for hunting.

“The Inuit would sit with a harpoon and wait for hours and hours for a seal to pop up.”

The science fair was convened to teach First Nation children more about their culture.

“My education in school didn't incorporate any of the traditional teachings or any of the traditional knowledge that these kids are learning," said Edmund Bellegarde, FHQ Tribal Council Chief.

He said that he hoped the research the students conducted helped give them “that sense of history, the culture (and) the traditional teachings so that they have that sense of identity as a First Nations person."

So when the judges walk the aisles and examine the displays, the focus is on the education that the students demonstrate. No winner will be announced and all participants receive a medal.

“I'm just hoping the kids just had fun, had fun and incorporated any knowledge they could get," Jacinda Bigknife, a science fair judge, said.