‘Our Sacred Home’: St. Francis Jr. High receives Blackfoot name
By Lethbridge Herald on April 13, 2022.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
St. Francis Junior High School associate principal Jackie Kraemer, principal Devon Dempsey and First Nations Metis Inuit worker Billy Woitte join Elders Sherry Cross Child, Tom Little Bear and Shane Little Bear in a ceremony giving the school a Blackfoot name Wednesday at the school’s gymnasium.Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – Lethbridge Herald
St. Francis Junior High School has become the second Lethbridge school in the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division to receive a Blackfoot name.
The naming ceremony took place at the school gymnasium Wednesday where school officials, Elders, board members of the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division and students witnessed Elder Tom Little Bear bestow upon the school the Blackfoot name of Naatowapoomahpis, which translates to Our Sacred Home.
Little Bear said it was an honour to be asked to name the school and he never would have imagined as a youngster who attended St. Francis Junior High School, that he would one day be in front of everyone giving the school its Blackfoot name.
“I came upon the name as a result of hearing our elders through their prayers asking that they gracefully return each year to their campsite to their home,” said Little Bear.
He said he chose that name as St. Francis is the home for many students both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
“This was our territory, this area, my people roamed this area and each year they returned and they all just pray that they come back safely and return safely to their home site, to their campsites,” said Little Bear.
During the ceremony Elders Tom and Shane Little Bear performed a face painting ceremony upon school officials, before announcing the school’s Blackfoot name.
“Face painting, it’s been with our people as part of our culture for many years and the significance of the face painting is a means of protection. You asked for prayers to be safe and no harm to be bestowed upon your family and to all the people that are sick in the hospitals,” said Tom.
After the name was bestowed upon the school, elder Shane Little Bear sang a holy song.
“The song will stay with the school. It’s in our culture when a name is given to a person or to a certain place like here at Saint Francis, upon the name being given the song goes with that,” said Tom.
He said that having one more school receive a Blackfoot name is very important for their community.
“This process of having our culture being shared with the schools and to be a part of the school curriculum is very important as our language is the utmost importance of maintaining our culture and our identity,” said Little Bear.
For St. Francis Junior High School’s principal Devon Dempsey the ceremony brought an array of emotions, from nervousness to excitement, to tears in her eyes.
“I felt like our staff and our students felt the solemnity of this situation and felt the importance of this name,” said Dempsey.
She said she felt the face painting ceremony was a holy moment that brought stillness.
“As the elders were saying that when you are in a situation of grave importance how everything is in slow motion, that’s how I felt everything slowed down it was just silence and it was beauty and it was stillness all around me,” said Dempsey.
She said she is very happy and honoured to receive the Blackfoot name they received as it is very appropriate for the type of community they have as a school.
“I think having a Blackfoot name is something that is so honourable, but having the one that we were given is even more important. We are a family here at Saint Francis, this is home to 525 students who every single day come to us, we grow together, we learn together, we experience life together, and so for this to be named the ‘sacred home’ is beyond words,” said Dempsey.
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And our kids are supposed to be able to pronounce that?? Our Sacred Home… i thought they hated the Catholic church run schools. What was wrong with the Saint Francis name, anyhow??
I’m sorry, but your concern is misguided. As an educator (now retired) with over 40 experience, I have every confidence that those young brains will learn how to pronounce the new name of their school. And wouldn’t it be a wonderful teaching moment if Blackfoot Elders came to the school to help the students in that regard?