Immersed in their culture (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Immersed in their culture
Kihew Waciston

Christopher Heffernan
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Lloydminster, Alberta
http://www.meridianbooster.com/News/339687.html

Language and culture cannot be separated – that is the underlying mantra for
an Onion Lake Cree immersion school which has become a model for other
native communities across the country.

While there are still a few glitches in the brand new school of Kihew
Waciston – Cree for Eagle Nest – 80 students from pre-school to Grade 3
have entered their first year at the $3.2 million school. For principal
Brian Macdonald, it marks the end of one journey and the beginning of a new
one.

“This is a project I’ve been wishing about for the last 10 years,” said
Macdonald, who formerly headed the Cree immersion program which was offered
alongside English at the Chief Taylor elementary school.

Macdonald always believed it was important to have an environment where
children could be completely immersed in the language. At the school, the
children study from an entirely Cree-based curriculum developed by
Macdonald and other teachers. They emphasize activity-based learning which
teaches the language in the context of traditional activities such as
hunting, storytelling and the making of arts and crafts. Macdonald recently
returned from a hunting trip with his students where he taught them many of
the place names that have been used by his tribe for centuries.

While provincial curriculum standards are incorporated, he says, they are
done so in a way that fits in with traditional teachings of the tribe. He
doesn’t like the way subjects are taught in provincial schools.

“It has to be math, it has to be numbers, it has to be science, it has to be
all that,” he said. “And everything I’ve talked about is in our language, is
in our beliefs.”

Environmental awareness, knowledge of the sun, moon and planets,
understanding the processes of nature and the changing of the seasons, is
all incapsulated in traditional Native American teachings, he said.

This style of teaching – emphasizing the unity of language, land and culture
– is becoming more common as native communities across North America seek to
re-establish their sense of community, said Regna Darnell, professor of
anthropology at the University of Western Ontario and known for her
linguistic fieldwork with the Plains Cree of Northern Alberta.

“Land and language are often linked as ways of defining community and
individual identity in relation to community,” said Darnell.

That definition of community – and the traditions and values that go with it
– is something Macdonald fears is being lost. With each generation the
knowledge and use of Cree becomes less and less, being overtaken by English
as the primary language of the youth. This loss of identity does not only
apply to the community, but to every person in it, he said.

“We need to change in the whole system,” he said, noting his observations of
alcoholism and suicide among the community's youth. “We need to teach our
kids the values that have been lost ... we have to get them to have that
self-respect, that pride again.”

These sentiments are not exclusive to Onion Lake. Across the country, First
Nations are attempting to stem the loss of language and culture by
instituting education programs among their youth.

“Although there are a lot of communities where there’s been a great deal of
loss, there are also a lot of communities that are trying very actively,”
said Darnell. “There are a lot of collaborations that are helping to
produce kids who speak.”

N’Amerind Friendship centre in London, Ont. has a lot of experience with
aboriginal education, having offered native-language education since 1990.
They offer secondary education in native languages and would like to expand
their programming to post-secondary and elementary. Yet, funding continues
to be their major stumbling block.

“We were actually shocked to find out we weren’t one of the approved sites,”
said Chester Langille, N’Amerind executive director, of their attempts to
get funding for a pre-school program.

The inconsistency of government funding is a problem Kihew Waciston may face
as it tries to expand. They are nearing the end of their five-year funding
from the federal government and Macdonald worries about how they will
manage if the funding is not renewed.

“I have no idea at the moment,” he said. “We’ll probably just plug away and
do what we can the best way we can.”

Despite the problems they face in terms of funding, aboriginal communities
across the country continue to develop their programs. Kihew Waciston is
visited regularly by tribal representatives from across the country who
look to the school as a model for programs in their own communities.

“People have come to visit our program from across Canada to look at what
we’re trying to do, what our vision is, and the curriculum that’s being
developed here,” said Macdonald.

While curriculums may be adapted for each community, the common thread is
simple yet profound.

“The value of having respect for oneself and respect for others around
them,” he said. “At home, to be humble, to give thanks everyday that we’re
given a new day to walk amongst our relatives.”