London high school students connect with their Indigenous culture through song

A group of teenagers is using music to connect with their Indigenous culture and each other at a southwest London high school.

A handful of graduating girls at Saunders Secondary School started a social singing group at the start of the school year and have spent the past eight months getting in tune with the Haudenosaunee tradition. 

"I'm very grateful that I am part of this," said Grade 12 student Ava Summers. "It makes me very proud to have this group of girls here that want to participate in this, and I'm glad they joined with me so we can show the rest of the school how powerful and meaningful it is to be Haudenosaunee and embrace our culture and traditions."

The group is supervised by Saunders transition coach Trisha Whiteye, who is part of a social singing society herself.

"Songs are the fun part of it, but there's a lot of benevolence that goes along with being part of a singing society," said Whiteye, adding that most groups also spend time giving back to their community through helping elders or feeding those in need.

The school group, which is called the Young Women Singers, say they are currently focused on building their musical skills. So far, they have performed at Saunders' Multicultural Day event and for the school board.

For some of the girls, the singing group is an opportunity to learn more about their Indigenous background. 

"I never grew up super close with my culture," said Gr. 12 student Emma Smith. "I grew up away from the reservation, I went to schools where there were barely any Indigenous people [so] it's just a way for me to connect."

"It's also important for us to embrace our culture anyway because we fought so hard to keep it," Smith said. 

For others, it's a memory of their families and growing up: "I used to sing with my sisters when I was smaller and go to the longhouse, so it makes me think of that," said singer Emma Doxtator. 

Alongside learning singing skills like rhythms and harmonies, the students said it's also been a chance to strengthen their friendships before they graduate. 

"It showed me the friendships that can be created when you have a group, and you do something so big like that for your school," student Taylin Doxtater said. 

Another pair of Saunders students are embracing musical traditions that they learned from their families growing up.

Grade 12 student Liam Peters and Grade 11 student Zaidis Deleary have brought drumming and singing to school performances this year.