Sounds of Learning: Martina & Martin Whelshula perform song to honor youth

This drum chant was performed by Dr. Martina Whelshula and her husband, SPS Native Ed Support Specialist Martin Whelshula, in front of more than 100 community members during a dinner and award ceremony held at Shaw Middle School on Nov. 18, 2022. 

“We are honoring our students who have shown some of the Seven Grandfather Teachings that come from my culture (Anishinaabe),” said Native Education Coordinator Tamika LaMere.

She called individual students up to receive awards for representing one or more of the following attributes: humility, honesty, courage/bravery, respect, wisdom, love, and truth.

Indigenous educator and consultant Dr. Martina Whelshula, a member of Arrow Lakes Nation of the Colville Confederated Tribes, spoke about the importance of holding youth up and providing them with opportunities to know and take part in Native traditions, cultures, and values.

She also shared the words of Pauline Flett, a Spokane Tribe elder who was instrumental in preserving and teaching the Salish language to younger generations before her death in 2020. 

“She told me, ‘The thing that I want most for my grandchildren is for them to get up every day, look in the mirror and like what they see. That sense of strong cultural identity. To feel good about who we are as indigenous people.’ And so that’s what we’re here to do. To celebrate our children and that cultural character they’ve demonstrated in their day-to-day life.”