B.C. preschool apologizes over headdress craft for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
An Indigenous mother from B.C.'s Lower Mainland is speaking out after her son’s preschool sent students home with a culturally insensitive craft ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
In a TikTok video posted Thursday, a gobsmacked Samantha Sinclair holds up an orange “headdress” made out of construction paper and feathers.
"This is what all the kids came marching out wearing," Sinclair says while sitting in a car, shortly after arriving at her son’s preschool to pick him up. "This was their craft for Reconciliation Day, a headdress."
Speaking to CTV News, Sinclair said there were several other parents who immediately felt uncomfortable after seeing their children leaving the preschool with their crafts.
"They were like, is this not wildly inappropriate?" Sinclair said. "And I was like, yes, it is."
She described headdresses as one of the most common pieces of Indigenous culture to be appropriated, noting that headdresses are still routinely sold as Halloween costumes.
"It's always something we have issues with," Sinclair said. "Then to normalize it and perpetuate that in a younger generation … we're trying to break those cycles, we're not trying to continue them."
As she explained to her son about headdresses after they got home, "This is not for everybody to wear."
The mother, who is the owner and designer of S & K Collective, told CTV News she wanted to raise awareness, but was not interested in naming the preschool or damaging its reputation. A number of people emailed the school after she posted her TikTok, and Sinclair said the teacher reached out to personally apologize.
Linc Kesler, an associate professor at UBC's Institute of Critical Indigenous Studies, said the incident mirrored one he experienced picking his own daughters up from school in the United States roughly 40 years ago, around the time of American Thanksgiving.
“I pulled the teacher aside for a little chat, and she was very surprised that I had a problem with it,” said Kesler, whose ancestry is Oglala Lakota. "I've been having exactly these kinds of conversations for most of my life.”
Kesler told CTV News he appreciates there was a well-meaning attempt to acknowledge Canada’s residential school history in the craft headdresses made this week – the words “Every Child Matters” were written on each – but said activities like these still miss the mark.
The associate professor suggested that speaking with an Indigenous person beforehand could help teachers avoid accidentally causing offense.
"The impulse to do something is positive," he said. "The failure to engage with Indigenous communities about what that thing should be leaves room for some significant improvement."
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Tahmina Aziz
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
BREAKING London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.