Middle Schools Come Together at Nə́c̓aʔmat Cup

June 24, 2024

Friday was a day of fun, sun and celebration at Willoughby Community Park, as five schools from across the District came together to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day by playing in the Nə́c̓aʔmat Cup.

Nə́c̓aʔmat means ‘one heart, one mind’ in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language, and the day-long tournament was meant to celebrate everyone working together, towards the path of Truth and Reconciliation.

“It’s incredible to have everyone here all together, representing those schools, building connections, building relationships,” said Mike Pue, District Principal for Aboriginal Education. “They’ve all come together through soccer, building connection, building relationship under this idea of ‘one heart, one mind.’

“That ability to play together, to connect, and to enjoy some soccer in this great weather at this great facility, it’s an awesome day,” he added.

This year’s Nə́c̓aʔmat Cup was the third hosted in the District. It was started at Yorkson Creek Middle School by Aboriginal Support Worker Luke Dandurand in collaboration with administrators at Yorkson Creek and Peter Ewart Middle Schools. This year, the event was expanded to include more District middle schools as well as a teams from Langley Fundamental Middle & Secondary and Langley Fine Arts school.

As part of the lead up to the Nə́c̓aʔmat Cup, throughout the year, students at Yorkson Creek and Peter Ewart Middle Schools, learn about Indigenous culture and the matriarchal and matrilineal teachings of Kwantlen First Nations, of which Dandurand is a member. Students also learn about how to live with “one heart, one mind” through stories from elders. The other schools, as is the case with all schools in the District, engage in Indigenous Education throughout the year.

Pue noted that the event would not be successful without the work and cooperation from a number of partner groups, including the Township of Langley, as well as Vancouver FC and Vancouver Whitecaps soccer teams. Former Whitecaps midfielder Russel Teibert was on hand Friday as part of the festivities, and spent time chatting with young players, posing for photographs and signing autographs.

“All of us working in partnership, working together, in what we know as ya:y̓əstəl̕. It’s so vital and so important, you can’t do this without everybody,” Pue said.