Roots in Ceremony: Semiahmoo First Nation leads cedar-planting ceremony at Xw’epiteng Elementary

November 26, 2025

The Semiahmoo First Nation (SFN) and Xw’epiteng Elementary students, staff and families recently gathered for a cedar tree planting ceremony that marked the completion of one chapter – and the start of the next – in the school’s land-based learning journey.

On Oct. 23, the South Surrey school held a joyful and deeply moving cedar tree planting ceremony, symbolizing the work between the Semiahmoo Peoples and the school that began last year with the gifting of the name Xw’epiteng by SFN Chief Harley Chappell. The tree carries the name Xw’epiteng (pronounced “wha-pea-tung”) so that generations to come will recognize the work that was done, including wisdom-sharing, deep relationship-building, gatherings and teachings.

The planting of a cedar was chosen in consultation with community knowledge keepers and tended by the school’s grounds team. For those present at the ceremony, it felt like progress in meaningful work and the start of a way of learning and being grounded in Indigenous principles.

“We worked hard to establish trust between the school and the community,” said principal Kristy Crnkovich. “The ceremony was curriculum for our kids. It taught listening, respect, gifting and belonging.”

Throughout the past year, the school has woven ceremony, teachings and hands-on experiences into everyday learning. Staff described the approach as curriculum “done through action,” paced by community guidance rather than a rigid schedule. The naming and planting processes were intentionally unhurried, aligned to season, readiness and relationships.

“That tree is in the soil and connecting to everything,” explained SFN member Roxanne Charles. “It’s going to provide a lot of medicine to the space. When we complete the work, the ancestors are happy, the work flows more safely and smoothly.”

Students at the school have already built a relationship with the land: noticing the first frost, engineering small waterways after learning about beavers and asking questions that show an emerging “deep listening” to wind, water, and land.

“Logically it should feel like a happy moment,” said Charles. “But you’re also picking up gratitude and ancestral emotions. It’s all connected.”

The school’s outdoor land-based learning program has grown through steady partnership, including gatherings, drumming, weaving and shared stewardship projects with knowledge keepers and community. The process has emphasized humility, consent and the responsibilities that come with learning cultural practices.

“We wanted to avoid rushing or extracting culture,” said Crnkovich. “Instead, we followed community guidance – open heart, open mind – and made space to learn from mistakes.”

Planning for such ceremonies can take several years. Therefore, it was decided by the SFN to start with gift giving, with students learning how to make drums, use traditional print making tools and weave with felt and cedar for gifts.

In Coast Salish culture, when someone makes something for the first time, they give it away. Gifting has become a powerful teaching at the school, and while some students initially found it hard to part with items they made, over time, they began to understand the joy of offering their best work to honour others.

“The good feeling comes when you put your hard work and love around someone else,” said Charles. “That’s good medicine.”

The ceremony has also renewed a focus on environmental care in the school community. With the cedar now rooted, staff and students plan to rewild the area, adding native plants like Oregon grape and creating shade and habitat along the Ta’talu watershed.

“We’re helping students see that salmon, forest and river are part of a larger web, and that they have a role in caring for it,” said Crnkovich. “It’s not a special lesson block, it’s woven through everything.”

Crnkovich and Charles described the planting not as an ending, but as a turning of the page. With foundations set – relationship, rhythm and responsibility – the next chapter includes more song, language, weaving circles and place-based science.

The cedar will stand at the centre of it all: a reminder to listen closely, move carefully, and keep learning together.

Special thank you to Chief Chappell who facilitated the tree planning ceremony where every child, staff member and community partner put a handful of soil into the ground. “All their little hands got to love and put good energy into the tree.”

NT4