A blend of culture and language made for the perfect morning for French Immersion students at a local South Surrey high school, who had the pleasure of hearing the music, poetry and stories of a French-Algonquin rapper from the Abitibiwinni First Nation.
Now better known by his stage name Samian, the Pikogan, Que.-born Samuel Tremblay is a French and Algonquin rapper. His once-a-year West Coast presence delighted a couple hundred students in Grades 9 to 12 at Earl Marriott Secondary, who spent 90 minutes listening to Samian share stories of his upbringing and give them a taste of his music.
Presenting his speech in French, Samian shared stories about his upbringing and his mixed culture on Thursday (Oct. 19) morning. Growing up on a reserve, Samian actually attended a Catholic school off-reserve, which presented unique experiences and challenges.
“He really connects with students because he raps, he’s young and we started to listen to his songs but also read his poetry,” said Nathalie La Roche, French Immersion teacher at Earl Marriott.
Integrating reconciliation into every subject taught in school is an ongoing goal, La Roche added, so having Samian speak to her students was a treat.
“It can really tell you how his message is important with the First Nations being recognized and (we’re) seeing hope and uniting ourselves. That’s when came the idea that I’m just going to fire him an email and say if maybe he were available. It took not even 10 minutes. Right away, he replied, he said ‘I would be honoured to come and present and meet your students.’”
Samian performs his rap in both the French and Algonquin languages. The 40-year-old musician engaged the high school crowd with personal anecdotes, funny moments from his life and chatted with the crowd, moving around the Wheelhouse Theatre from the front rows to the very back.
La Roche uses many resources originating from Quebec in her classrooms and even noticed that some of Samian’s words are used in newly-published social studies books, which helps her incorporate First Nation history and topics of reconciliation in her French teaching.
“Maybe next time he’s on the West Coast and he rings the door bell and he would like to come again to the school, it would be fantastic to have him and the students really appreciate him,” the teacher said.
