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
Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with Maple Leafs, dead at 79
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.
Fort Nelson, B.C., wildfire doubles in size as 3,000-plus ordered to evacuate
The wildfire that sparked Friday and caused evacuation orders for more than 3,000 people in Fort Nelson, B.C., and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has grown to nearly 1,700 hectares in size, according to a Saturday morning update from the BC Wildfire Service.
Dutch contestant kicked out of Eurovision hours before tension-plagued song contest final
Hours before the final, Dutch contestant Joost Klein was dramatically booted out by organizers over a backstage incident. He had failed to perform at two dress rehearsals on Friday, and contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union said it was investigating an "incident."
IN PICTURES Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Grand Bend, Collingwood and Guelph, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
Haitians demand the resignation and arrest of the country's police chief after a new gang attack
A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti's police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
opinion How to use your credit card as a powerful wealth-building tool
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'We have no judge for you': Man's assault charges dropped weeks before trial due to lack of judges in Toronto
A man who was accused of sexually and physically assaulting a woman had his charges dropped in April, just weeks before he was set to stand trial in Toronto, due to a lack of judges in the region.