First Nations culture promotes literacy

Page 10

It is always a challenge to integrate First Nations culture and education into a school curriculum without segregating it at the same time.

But Sherree Nicholas, an Aboriginal support worker in the Columbia Valley, has found a way to do that.

Nicholas has been a support worker for nine years, and part of her job is to bring the culture from two bands-Columbia Lake and Shuswap-to the students at J. A. Laird Elementary School and Eileen Madson Primary School.

"Now I've got my own classroom and I thought, well all the other classrooms in the school have bear mascots of some sort, I need something," she said. "But I didn't want it to just sit there and do nothing. I'd have to have a reason for it. And since I work for both local First Nations bands, I decided I would get two bears."

And so fuzzy, stuffed Nupqu, (the word for bear in Ktunaxa, the traditional language of the Columbia Lake Band) and Skwlaqs (the word for bear in Shuswap) were born. Both bear mascots are dressed in traditional clothing.

"The bears and I go on adventures and (I) write stories about them, and in the stories are bits of First Nations culture," Nicholas explained.

"In one adventure we went on a fishing trip, and I have photos of the bears looking at the salmon spawning, etc., and throughout the book there are flip-up pieces that have 'did you know' facts about our local bands.

"The whole idea is we want our children to read, and this promotes reading as well as teaching some of the local culture."

Nicholas said she has children coming into the classroom that head straight for the bear cave she and her daughter constructed to see what the bears are up to.

Then she tells them she has a new book and shares it with them.

"They are really keen on it," she said. "They always want to know where we are going next."

Nicholas is careful about what she includes in the books, acknowledging that some traditions are still regarded as private.

"I only print things that are already in print," she said. "I know how important it is to be careful.

"The big thing is the reading. At the end of every book, Nupqu and Skwlaqs are reading a book before bedtime, and that last line of each one is, 'have you read your story today?'"

Nupqu and Skwlaqs recently had a "visitor" when Nicholas' mother's bear, Sas (Chipewyan for bear), came to visit.

Nicholas is of Chippewyan descent.

The staff at Eileen Madson Primary School, where Nicholas' bears make their appearances, have been very supportive, she said, and are always wondering what's coming up next for the bears too.

Teacher Eileen Weir said Nicholas' bears have been a brilliant hit.

"All the kids are really into the bears' adventures," said Weir. "So it is not a Native thing: it's a whole school thing."

Nicholas said Weir was really helpful in offering feedback for the books, which she finds helpful as she has never done this sort of thing before.

"I really need and appreciate that support," she said.

Nicholas has done five books so far, and is thinking about publishing them one day.

But she stressed that as much as they are based in First Nations culture, they are not strictly for First Nations people.

Nicholas also makes a point of including a few non-Aboriginal children. "When I go into a classroom," she said, "there are always hands that go up and they want to come as well."