Nicola Valley school opens

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This fall the Lower Nicola Indian Band will send their children to a brand new school that was constructed with First Nations sensibilities in mind. As of the Dec. 5 opening, young people in kindergarten to Grade 6 will learn about their Nlekepemx culture within regular study programs in the classroom.

Later, if the demand is there, the band will expand the curricula to accommodate students up to Grade 12.

When First Nations students arrive in the public school system, the subjects they are taught are familiar to everyone-math, science, English, history, and others. However, they are learning someone else's history, someone else's traditions, and someone else's language.

Increasingly, bands have been moving towards providing culturally based programs at their own schools. The Lower Nicola Indian Band is the most recent example.

Their school replaces an older building that was serviceable, but not truly up to the task of serving First Nations programs; now, the band will join both the Upper Nicola and Coldwater people in offering classes in a school designed and built for them.

Lower Nicola Indian Band school principal Shirley Sterling explained that the growth in Aboriginal education has come from governments and people realizing that culture plays a large part in the communities.

"Part of it has to do with the Royal Commission of Aboriginal People [Report] which came out in around 1996-that demonstrated that Aboriginal people and children were not doing well, and recognized that part of the problem was being cut off from cultural knowledge and pride in ourselves," said Sterling, who holds a PhD in education.

"Social scientists and Aboriginal people started realizing that cultural tradition took care of the people-we have a need for our healing curriculum. A lot of people had their languages taken and their cultural traditions disrupted by the residential schools; they didn't learn how to live successfully and happily in their own culture. We're all realizing the benefits of learning within our own cultures and traditions."

Knowledge of the tragedy that was residential schools has likely spurred many people to consider the needs of Aboriginal students specifically, Sterling added, along with the realization that with a more environmental view needed to protect natural resources, Aboriginal viewpoints may provide future benefits.

"I think educators are looking for answers about our traditions and the cultures that took care of the land for seven generations," she noted. "There is a growing interest in all cultures -people are looking for answers, looking for ways to take care of the land and the people."

Students in the Nicola Valley have a variety of educational options; three Native schools serve kindergarten up to Grade 6; the Coldwater school has had some students complete Grade 12. Those schools focus on meeting the British Columbia Ministry of Education curriculum, but add a Nlekepemx viewpoint.

"Most parents want a bicultural education-they want children to know about their own culture and be proud of it, but they also want them to be competent in contemporary settings, in both societies," Shirley Sterling explained. "How we propose to do that is to follow the B.C. curriculum guide, but use First Nations content.

"Children need to develop, for instance, their skills for speaking in public by a certain age-there's nothing to say they have to use stories presented in the packages. They can instead use a coyote story, for example, to achieve the same purpose. It's a very practical way to meet the standards and also present children with that knowledge and skill in cultural traditions."

The school curriculum is influenced by community members. Parents and Elders are often brought in to provide a different viewpoint or to demonstrate skills to students, as well as to pass down oral history.

"We take the philosophy that everyone in the community is responsible for the education of every child," Stering said. "We want parents to be very much part of the decision-making process, the advisory committee, and as role models."

The Lower Nicola Indian Band's school is not limited only to band members; Sterling said that a large number registering are children of students at the nearby Nicola Valley Institute of Technology.

"Any status or non-status child is welcome. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to include non-Aboriginal children as well," Sterling said. "It's really quite fun to have a multicultural First Nations group; in Canada, we have a multicultural society, and within the First Nations we also have a multicultural society."

Area bands also work with the Nicola-Similkameen School Board to ensure that students attending public schools have opportunities to explore their cultures as well. Federal funding supports efforts to increase graduation among First Nations students in the public system, as well as to provide language instruction. The province has set numerous goals to improve success among Aboriginal students, as well as to promote language, culture and history knowledge wherever possible.

The nearby Nicola Valley Institute of Technology has introduced many new programs over the years focusing on support for Aboriginal peoples, in areas like social work, home care, natural resources and community development. Efforts are underway to start an Aboriginal wellness program, and this year a new course has been added that takes First Nations education full-circle-the first Aboriginal Early Childhood Education program in British Columbia.

"The communities asked for it-they wanted trained people to work with their children, and it needed to be relevant to the needs of Aboriginal children and Aboriginal communities," explained public relations officer Kylie Cavaliere. "It's designed to meet the provincial licensing requirements as well as taking those needs into consideration."

Graduates of that certificate program will provide perhaps the last lnk in the chain, providing young people with a cultural base from childhood to adulthood.

"It's quite an exciting time-Nlekepemx people have an inherent love of their culture, and I think this will be transmitted to the children," Sterling said. "Along with learning their ABCs, they will learn about this beautiful and unique culture that our ancestors followed-that really does take care of us."