Fiddling and a jig mark ceremony to rename Wolseley-area school

Beckoned by a fiddle, students broke out into a jig behind Little Bluestem School on Thursday evening to mark the end of a multi-year renaming process.

“I couldn’t help myself. I just had to dance,” eight-year-old Stevie Morrison said at a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the new signage at 511 Clifton St., formerly known as Wolseley School.

Stevie and Fallon Lovelace Sharkey, 7, were out of breath after bouncing up and down to the beat, attempting to execute the Red River Métis dance moves they were taught at school.

There were cheers and tears as adults watched jigging on school grounds once named after a man who did not believe in Métis peoples’ right to self-determination.

Students took part in a buildingwide project, beginning about three years ago, that involved learning about everything from Métis dot art to Louis Riel’s campaign to protect his peoples’ land, rights and culture.

The initiative was sparked in 2024 after community members vocalized concerns about the nursery-to-Grade 6 site being named after one of Riel’s adversaries. Col. Garnet Wolseley, a well-known military commander in the 19th century, oversaw the 1870 expedition to invade the Red River Colony.

Kim Lawrence Kellner, a learning support teacher, told the renaming event she learned she’s not only related to Riel’s wife, Marguerite Monet dit Bellehumeur Riel, but also a descendant of Wolseley’s, through the inquiry project.

Lawrence Kellner burst into tears as she described how proud she is to have been part of “such a meaningful and momentous moment,” as a Métis woman. “And I’m especially proud of our student leaders who have shown us that learning about the past is not simply about remembering what happened. It is about asking questions, listening to voices that have too often been left unheard and thinking about how we can shape a better future together,” she said.

Two graduates of the N-5 school, both of whom sat on the renaming committee, shared a pair of scissors to snip a strand of burlap Thursday. The symbolic act was followed up with live fiddle music.

For Fallon, a Grade 1 student, learning about sash-weaving and one of Riel’s rivals have both proven to be memorable moments — for opposite reasons — in her early schooling career.

Every student and staff member was invited last year to help weave a community sash, using a traditional Métis finger-weaving technique, that’s now hung up in the library.

Fallon said taking part in the activity made her happy and so does her school’s new name. Other history lessons have left her wondering why her neighbourhood continues to honour a well-known military commander from the 19th century.

“I don’t want to be living inside Wolseley’s house,” the seven-year-old said.

Multiple parents on the Little Bluestem playground expressed hesitation about renaming the wider community.

Some cited logistical challenges. Others cited its well-known reputation as a friendly community whose values contradicts those held by Wolseley and other colonists.

The Manitoba Métis Foundation initially spoke out against removing Wolseley’s name from 511 Clifton St., concerned about how his anti-Indigenous actions would be remembered. The national government of the Red River Métis has since donated a flag to the school.

“The kids could be a catalyst for change,” principal Brian Rogowsky said. “I don’t know where this could go — that’s the beauty of inquiry.”

The Winnipeg School Division distributed merch to all current students and hoisted a blue flag with a white infinity symbol on a flagpole on the grounds ahead of the event.

Parent council president Ryan Smith said caregivers are now turning their attention to revitalizing the school’s garden.

“We believe that a very important act of reconciliation is taking care of our land and those trees are going to be here long after we’re gone,” said Smith, father to a kindergartner and Grade 4 student.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca