Northern Lights College honours Indigenous students with graduation ceremony

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — For one convocation ceremony in Fort St. John, colonialism was replaced with pan-Indigenous culture.

Caps and gowns were replaced with Métis sashes and commemorative feather carvings, as Northern Lights College (NLC) honoured its First Nations and Métis students with a graduation celebration and dinner at the Fort St. John Curling Club.

It was a special moment for graduate Destiny Laprete. Laprete completed the Adult Dogwood, the B.C. certification for high school equivalency.  

A member of Enoch Cree Nation, Laprete was the valedictorian of her class at NLC’s Dawson Creek campus.

“I got to participate in a lot of Indigenous cultural events throughout the year. I think [it] really made me get back in touch with myself and my family,” Laprete said. “It was the first time that I’ve ever been in school and actually been honoured and given the chance to embrace who I am.”

Honourees from as many as 13 First Nations were among the graduates, including some from Doig River First Nation (DRFN), the Métis Nation, the Enoch Cree Nation and the Tahltan First Nation.

Michael Calvert, the director of Indigenous education at NLC, conceived the event and felt the celebration was a great success.

“When we talk about graduation, we always think about convocation,” said Calvert. “It’s very colonized, very formal.

“It’s important for Indigenous people to be able to celebrate in a way that is about their culture, their identity and their lived experiences, and this is the opportunity for them to do that.”

Calvert said a big part of the success in the event came from Karen Tom. Tom is the Indigenous project facilitator for NLC.

Tom said watching the event unfold as it did “brings pride back” to First Nations culture, adding it makes Indigenous students “stand a little taller.”

“It’s a great honour that we could come together and do this,” said Tom. “You feel the strength of each other and just honour our ancestors by doing this.”

An opening prayer from Doig River First Nation Elder Gerry Attachie and a performance from DRFN drummers began the evening.

After dinner, additional performances included powwow dancing from School District 60 Indigenous education students, along with drummers from Kehewin Cree Nation and dancers from Driftpile Cree Nation of Northern Alberta.

The night was topped off by a performance from Penny Goulet, a fiddler who played several numbers.

Several graduates were also awarded scholarships through Peace Country Petroleum, a two-year commitment from the company for $25,000 towards Indigenous students.

The NLC Indigenous graduation ceremony took place on Thursday, June 5th.