Cree speakers nurtured

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This fall one school in the Edmonton Catholic School District is going to be offering a Cree bilingual program. It will start in kindergarten at St. Francis of Assisi school and, if successful, will be expanded to other grades in the coming years.

Joe Naccarato, principal of St. Francis of Assisi, is excited about the program. While the enrollment hasn't been in the numbers the school had expected, things should pick up once the new school year starts and people hear about the program, he said.

"I think it's great. Once we get started in kindergarten, the children will stay with us and hopefully we can carry it on to Grade 1 and then Grade 2 a year after," said Naccarato.

Doug Nelson, district principal for Aboriginal Learning Services, said the program is "a dream come true for him and many others" in the Edmonton Catholic School District. There has been a need for a program like this, he said, and the community has been very supportive of the idea, even though it could eat up some school dollars.

"A kindergarten classroom is a very expensive classroom. It's got all kinds of learning materials that are not typical kinds that you would normally see in an ordinary classroom," said Nelson. "When you go into a kindergarten classroom, it's all demonstration. If you want to talk about the word 'plant' you have to have plants, not just pictures of plants, but you have to have plants. Well, when you're talking about a Cree program and all those things, culture, tradition and all those kinds of things being so [crucial] in what it's about, the materials list was very extensive."

Nelson said the cultural aspects of the language will play a key role. "It can't be an English version with a Cree name tacked on the door. This is an opportunity to really stake a claim on what we believe is the right thing to do and that's to make sure the language is not lost and the cultural components and the spiritual components that are so engrained in the language are able to flourish."

Maskwachees Cultural College of Hobbema has been developing its Cree instructor program for some time. John Crier is dean of cultural affairs there and couldn't agree more with Nelson.

"Understanding the language also means understanding the philosophy of the people, because so much of the philosophy is embedded in the language, therefore, people who understand and know how to teach the language essentially become the instructors and teach about the philosophy of the Cree people," Crier said.

"I think this is one of those things where the community is, and the stake holders of the community are really, really looking to make sure that this thing is successful," said Nelson, "and when you got that kind of positive energy going into something, it's going to be. I don't have any doubt about it."