Glacier Wolfpack students got a chance on Tuesday to become immersed in Native American customs, songs, stories and games as part of the second annual First People's Day event.
A nationally renowned poet singer says he teaches the Kalispell students that they are an important part of something far larger and greater.
"It's magnificent to sit and to visit with and also share with the freshman that are really the young pups, the young wolves, they will carry hopefully part of the message all through their time here and hopefully it will be resounding and hopefully it will become stronger as the years wear on here," explains Nationally renowned poet singer, Jack Gladstone.
Students also had the chance to learn about traditional dress, native poetry, storytelling and even learned games such as double ball.
"It's supposed to be a very fast, physical game, played with anywhere from 2 to 500 players depending on the size of the field, regulations that cover the size of the field, it could be miles long by football size," said International Games Society, Jeffrey Horn.
"I really enjoyed the games just because it's interesting to see how the Native Americans I guess spend their recreational time, differently than we do, and so it's been interesting to see how they play their games," adds Glacier Wolfpack Freshman, Keckeley Habel.
Glacier Wolfpack freshman Madison Walters said she was very interested in the history lessons being taught.
"They took kids away from their home when they were ages 6 to 16 and brought them to a boarding school where they were forced not to speak their own language, and they had to speak English, and they couldn't like do their own traditions anymore" she told us.
The teacher who started the event two years ago began her teaching career at the Chippewa-Cree Reservation.
"We need to preserve our culture, whether you're Greek or Sioux or Polish, it doesn't matter we need to preserve our cultures, and one of the ways we do that is by preserving language, and by listening to each others story and by appreciating it," added First People's Day main organizer Bonnie Streeter.
