Upper School Boys Enrich Indigenous Learning

When Ethan Basil ’24 read Waubgeshig Rice’s Moon of the Crusted Snow in Grade 10 English class, the book stayed with him long after he finished it. It tells the story of an isolated Indigenous community struggling to survive an apocalypse, and it opened Basil’s eyes to some of the real-world struggles faced by Indigenous peoples in North America.

Inspired to make a positive change, Basil spearheaded a winter coat and boot drive for the Mikinakoos Children's Fund in Thunder Bay in 2023. Through this initiative, he learned about the Honouring Indigenous Peoples organization and their Youth to Youth program. He was fortunate to be one of 50 participants in a four-day ceremonial gathering held at Turtle Lodge near Winnipeg in March of 2023.

“My biggest takeaway from the program was that city life makes it seem like Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are worlds away, and we're not,” says Basil. “I’ve adopted the spiritual teachings, especially the seven grandfather teachings, more and more into my life. I thought it was interesting that some of those teachings overlap with Crescent’s core values.”

Basil brought his newfound knowledge back to Crescent and shared it with Middle School students. “I think it's really important to have these things taught to you before you're in high school,” he says. “And I felt that they would take more away from it if it came from a student like myself that they can relate to a little bit more.”

With his graduation just around the corner, he has recruited Charlie Curry ’25 to carry on the work. This year, they both attended the Youth to Youth program, which only accepts 25 non-Indigenous participants each year. Curry learned about the importance of storytelling in Indigenous cultures and intergenerational trauma. “We heard from many Indigenous speakers, and a huge part of their lives were residential schools,” he says. “As you can imagine, the schools definitely hurt them and damaged them.” He also created his own land acknowledgment and presented it in front of the founder of Orange Shirt Day, Phyllis Webstad. “When I was working on my land acknowledgment, the leaders recommended that I mention something specific from the land; I said the vibrant green trees and the crisp air,” he says. “What I hope to do is critique and change Crescent's land acknowledgment and make it more personal to our community.”

Both boys are part of Crescent’s Indigenous Awareness and Action (IAA) Team, a student-led club formed in 2020 to educate students on issues affecting Indigenous communities, forge pathways for students to become advocates for Indigenous affairs, and connect Crescent students with their Indigenous peers. While their participation in the Youth to Youth program has been self-led, they have used their learning from the program to enrich their initiatives with the IAA. 

Curry looks forward to sharing what he learned during his first Youth to Youth program with his peers. He also wants to involve more students in the IAA and encourage them to apply to future Youth to Youth programs so that they can continue to have an impact on Indigenous learning at Crescent.

Pictured: Charlie Curry '25, left, and Ethan Basil '24, right at the 2024 Youth to Youth program in British Columbia