By Mandy Moraes, NLPS Staff
More than 150 students from across Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools gathered at John Barsby last week for the second annual Lahal Tournament, which celebrates cultural learning and community connections through a traditional guessing game.
This year’s tournament welcomed elders from Snaw-naw-nas and Snuneymuxw who joined high school students to play and support the growing event.
“Our elders are so happy to come and participate,” said Gina Yutustana:t, Hul’q’umin’um language teacher who helped organize the tournament. “Lahal teaches our students to be respectful, to work as one, and to have fun.”
She said traditional games can run for many hours, or even several days, and the school district’s version provides a shorter, more accessible version.
“It’s just a taste of it,” she said. “Here, elders can come, play for a bit, and leave when they need to.”
Lahal players rely on intuition and perception; they use two carved bones, a male and a female, which they hide in their hands while opponents try to guess which fist holds the bone. Songs and drumming accompany the game to distract the guessers.
After last year’s smaller tournament left many students hoping to attend, this year’s event expanded to include more schools.
Grade 12 John Barsby student Samuel Hunt added that the game is mostly about connection and having fun, but it can get pretty competitive.
“I’m not good at Lahal,” he laughed. “My friends were excited leading up to it, though. Most of the time it’s about getting together.”