November 27, 2024

The Near North District School Board (NNDSB) has announced that it will be offering online Ojibwe language courses for students at schools from 56 different school boards that are part of the Ontario eLearning Consortium. The course is designed so that students who have no knowledge of Ojibwe will be able to learn to speak the language. “Upon entering the online classes and following along attentively with the materials I share, students can go from no awareness of the Nipissing dialect to being able to express conservatively hundreds of thousands of sentences in Ojibwe with one out of four types of the verb classes,” said instructor Falcon McLeod. Students who complete the course will receive credit for it.

Québec’s auditor general Guylaine Leclerc says that the Government of Québec Education Department has done “little” to support Indigenous academic success. According to CTV News, Leclerc’s latest report has found a lack of funding and no guiding strategy for schools. The report states that “nearly 20 years after noting a success gap among Indigenous students, the Education Department is still taking little action to promote their success.” Students who transition from schools in First Nations communities to schools in QC’s education system are not properly supported and professionals working with these students do not have sufficient training. The report outlines how the language barrier further undermines student success, as many Indigenous students have a first language other than English or French but that language support for Indigenous students is “miniscule.” “[The Education Ministry] is not doing enough,” said Report Audit Director Sébastien Simard. “They must do more. They must do better. They must do differently.” The report includes nine recommendations, including defining and implementing indicators to improve success rates for Indigenous students.

Several postsecondary institutions have launched Indigenous-focused courses recently. Brock University launched a new course focused on research methods that respect Indigenous knowledges, cultures, and communities. Dalhousie University is launching a new course on natural resources in which five knowledge keepers will introduce students to Indigenous practices of caring for the land. The University of Calgary’s Faculty of Nursing is offering a new Indigenous Health Studies course, offering in which students the opportunity to learn directly from Lakota Dakota Elder Evelyn Good Striker about how health has been impacted by colonialism. Wilfrid Laurier University and the City of Brandford have collaborated to offer the Introduction to Indigenous Matters course, which is a free, online course that will teach community members about the experiences, history, and culture of Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous master carver, artist, and knowledge keeper Peter B George and his daughter and apprentice Hailey George are working together to restore the carved sign for School District 57. SD57 first commissioned George to create the sign over two decades ago; he originally worked with students to carve and paint the sign. The sign—which stands outside the school district’s office—depicts the Indigenous clans within the SD57: The Bear Clan, Caribou Clan, Frog Clan, and Grouse Clan, as well as an Eagle. SD57 Superintendent Jameel Aziz reached out to George to discuss the sign after noticing that it was deteriorating. George told the Prince George Citizen that he was honoured by Aziz’s request: “He wanted to [restore the sign] respectfully. As you show respect to the culture and the traditions, you’re showing respect to not just me […] but to a whole group of people.” The PG Citizen describes the process that the carvers are following to restore the sign, including removing rot and glue before re-carving the sign.

Vanier College and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq—the School Board of Nunavik—have partnered to offer an Integrated Support Technician Attestation of Collegial Studies (ACS) program for education workers. The 450-hour program is tailored to the needs of the school board and includes prior learning recognition for learners who are already working in schools as Behaviour Technicians or Special Education Technicians. Kativik Ilisarniliriniq Assistant Director of Complementary Services Liza Cotnoir stated that some of the school board’s employees have been filling related roles for over a decade: this program will serve to recognize that work and “empower them to feel more confident coming into work.” Vanier is flying an instructor from the college’s continuing education department into Nunavik to teach the program. “This is the kind of work that has lasting and enduring positive effects on society, and we look forward to graduating many Integrated Support Technicians in Nunavik over the years to come,” said Vanier Continuing Education and Community Services Director Gregory De Luca.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the KPU Communities Trust, and the Seyem Qwantlen Resources Limited Partnership are working together to conduct archeological assessments of university-owned sites. Cordillera Archaeology Archaeologist Brendan Gray explained that the team is “surveying areas of the campus […] looking for surface exposures of fire altered rock, artifacts, pit features, or any interesting rock formations which might show that there was previous land use here before the university, before our settlers were here.” The university hopes that understanding the land’s past use and historical significance will promote informed stewardship of the campus environment. “Undertaking an overview assessment shows KPU is taking responsibility for its land stewardship into the future,” stated KPU Instructor Brian Pegg. This project is a component of KPU and the KPU Communities Trust’s ongoing partnership with the xwməθkwəyə̓ m (Musqueam), qi̓ cə̓ y̓ (Katzie), SEMYOME (Semiahmoo), scə̓ waθən (Tsawwassen), kwikwəƛə̓ m (Kwikwetlem), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), and qw̓ ɑ:nƛ̓ ə̓ n̓ (Kwantlen) First Nations.

The Government of Québec and Government of Manitoba have each recently announced funding to support Indigenous learning.QC is providing $2M in funding to support 48 projects for Indigenous media, Indigenous languages, and Indigenous youth across the province. The funding will help grow initiatives, increase services, and develop goods that help strengthen and disseminate Indigenous cultures and languages. MB increased the Manitoba Scholarship and Bursary Initiative (MSBI) by $500K this year and bolstered a donation-matching program supporting the Indigenous Education Awards. The Winnipeg Free Press reports that this year’s increase to MB’s donation-matching program will enable the province to double the number of awards it hands out in 2025 to a total of 400 awards. “I’m thrilled that increased funding for the Indigenous Education Awards program means more students in Manitoba are able to pursue postsecondary education,” said MB Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable.

A school in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan is fostering reconciliation by inviting Corinne Severight, who is from Cote First Nation and is known as “grandma” or “kokum” to students, to visit students and teach about topics such as residential schools, First Nations history, and the Saulteaux language. Severight is helping with a program called A Loss of Language, which covers the history of residential schools. “I always tell them this — you can’t have a reconciliation unless you know the whole story,” said Severight. Severight also teaches students about foraging, clean water, and the impact that climate change has. “I want a better understanding between the people in our community,” said Severight, who noted that teaching children how to get along is important because “older people are already pretty much set in their ways.”

McGill University has removed a symbolic white pine tree that was planted by the Traditional Longhouse Women—a group of Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) women—as part of a tree planting ceremony on campus. The tree was planted on the former site of the pro-Palestinian encampment that was held on McGill’s campus over the summer. It was surrounded by white and purple stones and marked with a wooden placard that read: “The Great White Pine tree is a symbol of peace for the Haudenosaunee peoples upon whose homeland McGill University sits. This tree of peace is a symbol of the solidarity of the Kanien’kehá:ka peoples with the students of McGill and Concordia who established a peaceful encampment here in 2024 in the name of justice for Palestine and all the peoples of Mother Earth.” McGill stated that it did not permit the group to plant the tree on campus. While security reportedly did not intervene in the tree planting ceremony, following the ceremony, the university removed the sapling and rocks, which were picked up by two students on behalf of the organizers. The Traditional Longhouse Women have condemned the removal as a “desecration of the Haudenosaunee symbol of peace.”

Collège Boréal has officially opened its Shkode “Heart of Fire” Pavilion. The pavilion—which was designed to serve as a gathering space for Boréal’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Educational Centre activities—includes workspaces, meeting rooms, and a circle for smudging ceremonies and traditional events. The space features artwork such as a mural by Indigenous artist Jessica Somers and a collection dedicated to the memory of Louis Riel. Outside the pavilion, there is a traditionally constructed canoe and an Indigenous medicine garden. “These facilities, along with their services, are part of a humble yet concrete effort to encourage future generations to gain a deeper understanding of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures in the spirit of collaboration and reconciliation,” said Boréal President Daniel Giroux.