By Tchilaqs7tchila (Gordon Dick), Indigenous Support Worker

Hello! I am Gordon Dick. I am from Tsleil-Waututh Nation, and my ancestral name is Tchilaqs7tchila, which translates to “Five Surprises."

The logo process took a couple of years and consisted of meeting with the school's Indigenous Learning Committee and most importantly, my work with Braemar students.

I worked with students and introduced our Indigenous ways of living, song, and dance. I shared one of my favourite sayings, “All my relations," which gives respect to the land, sea and air animals, and also includes the water, trees and Mother Earth.

I demonstrated and taught students basic shapes we use in our art. We did guided lessons exploring different animals and focused on the how these animals are representative and align with the core competencies in the curriculum. Students also explored local animal habitats and what land, sea, and air animals they connect to locally.

From student contributions that were put on the mural (see photo below) and a pictorial graph that was created last spring, my inspiration for the logo came to light based on students' drawings - and so began the creative process!

The logo consists of a bear, representing the land; an orca, representing the water; and the eagle, representing the air. The bear is a protector and represents strength and responsibility. The orca represents strength of community (family, teaching strong values such as listening, and respecting each other, and to be playful and creative). The eagle represents our ancestors who walked before us, and strength, honour and leadership. The eagle challenges all of us to educate and explore our inner self.

These three animals beautifully align with Braemar's ethos of “I belong, you belong, we belong." The school was also gifted with the following saying in sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish): nch'u7mut psi skwalwencht which means “One Heart, One Mind."