Hundreds of students from across southern Vancouver Island gathered at Spectrum Community School in Saanich this week for the first-ever Tri-District Lahal Tournament.

On May 14, 26 teams of eight students from the Greater Victoria, Sooke and Saanich school districts and W瘫S脕NE膯 School Board competed in the ancient game that has been played by Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest for centuries.

According to a news release from SD61, traditionally, the game was created to settle disputes and was played with animal bones, but in more recent times, the game is played for entertainment and uses wooden sticks which range from natural wood to expertly carved or painted game pieces.

The game is played between two teams using two sets of 含羞草研究社渂ones,含羞草研究社� one striped pair and one unstriped pair, scoring sticks, and a 含羞草研究社渒ing含羞草研究社� stick, which is an extra stick for the team that begins the game. One team conceals sets of bones within their hands, while the other team tries to win, scoring sticks by guessing the location of the unstriped bones.

Throughout the game, the team that has the bones is accompanied by drummers and singers that try to distract the team that is guessing.

含羞草研究社淭he students and children in our community give me a lot of hope,含羞草研究社� Cowichan Tribes Elder Raymond Jones Peter said in the release. 含羞草研究社淭hey have such respect for each other and for Indigenous ways. They are eager to learn and to teach each other. Because that含羞草研究社檚 how we all learn. All of us, no matter our age, are all learners.含羞草研究社�

There are already plans for next year to make the Lahal Tournament even bigger.

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