W
hite whisps of breath from the hundreds of students stream- ing out of Cherrytree Public School twirled
up into the bright blue sky. It was March 22, 2022, World Water Day, and class by class, the Brampton students filed down to a local creek a few blocks away. Clutched in their mittens were handwritten songs containing their words and feelings for the water. Te students were excitedly chatting away. Tey had never taken a walk to the creek with the music and phys. ed teachers; it was a first for us as educators as well. As we walked, I grew uneasy. How would
students react to singing to the water? Would they feel weird or silly for singing to a creek? Would they feel a deep connection, or would they even connect at all? Tat morning, students had a range of
reactions. I saw some connect, closing their eyes for a moment or singing along to the powerful words of the Nibi Water Song with their whole selves. A small group of stu- dents at the back joked around, and others observed and listened, quietly taking in the beauty of our urban outdoor setting. At the end of the short 15-minute walk
and waterside song sharing, I felt a new spark of joy – I had found a tangible way of connecting my music curriculum to the land and Indigenous ways of knowing. Tat morning was the beginning of students and staff building a relationship with the urban landscape, specifically the water, our relative, around our school. I am a Water Walker for the Credit River
and a settler-Anishinaabe educator living and teaching on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. For many years, I have brought Indigenous music, books and ways of knowing and do- ing into my music program. But my Songs for the Water program, which has grown or- ganically since that first walk, is making the biggest impact – for my students, the Earth and myself as a lifelong learner and reflective practitioner.
➔ ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 31
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