Our school has adopted the medicine wheel, a symbol of the Lakota people and integrated it with the symbols of the Northwest coastal tribes to represent unity among all tribes in Indian Country. Our school has used this sacred symbol in a slightly different manner from the original Lakota symbol.
In our logo, the color yellow represents youth or the elementary and the color black
represents older youth such as the middle and high school. To honor this, our school is
built with the elementary building on the east side and the high/middle school on the
west.
The Lakota representation of the four colors is as follows: The four colors of the medicine wheel represents the four quarters of the universe. Quoting the words of the Lakota medicine man, Black Elk, "The black one is for the west, where the thunder beings live to send us rain; the white one for the north, whence comes the great white cleansing wind; the red one for the east, whence springs the light and where the morning star lives to give men wisdom; the yellow for the south, whence comes the summer and the power to grow." Quote from Black Elk Speaks – John G. Neihardt
The meanings of the Northwest Coastal designs.
---This is the man beginning his tranformation into a salmon.
---This is the man transformed into a salmon.
---This is the Salmon beginning to transform into a man.
This is the salmon turning into a man.
These designs represents the circle of life, of how the Northwest People and the salmon are connected. This connection influences the life of the other.
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