School District 58 celebrates education agreement

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On Sept. 23 the First Nations within School District No. 58 attended a signing ceremony and feast marking a new Aboriginal education enhancement agreement (EA).

The gymnasium at the Coquihalla Middle School in Merritt was set up to accommodate approximately 80 school district staff and several Aboriginal groups.

The EA involves all five local bands and the Metis association, as well as the Upper Similkameen First Nation from Princeton.

Signatories were Vice-chief Austin Sterling (Lower Nicola First Nation), Chief Dewey Shackelly (Nooaitch First Nation), Councillor Laura Antoine (Coldwater First Nation), Chief Percy Joe (Shackan First Nation), Chief Fred Holmes (Upper Nicola First Nation), Chief Richard Holmes (Upper Similkameen First Nation), Peter Hourie (president, Merritt District Metis Association), Trish Rosborough (director, Aboriginal education enhancements branch, Ministry of Education), and Gordon Comeau (chairman, School District No. 58).

School District No. 58 is the 13th out of 60 districts in the province to reach this type of agreement. It replaces a local education agreement (LEA) that was in place since the early 1990s.

Bob Peacock, district superintendent, said "We began developing the Aboriginal education enhancement agreement over a year ago. It took this long because we kept taking it out to the Aboriginal communities to ensure we got it right."

He told Raven's Eye, "There were well over 10 drafts of the enhancement agreement."

The development of the EA was within the mandate of the Ministry of Education. Peacock added, "If you look at the academic data you will observe that the success of Aboriginal students were well behind that of non-Aboriginal learners. The ministry wanted the districts to focus on their Aboriginal students, so hence the enhancement agreements.

"For SD No. 58 the shift was smaller because we were one of the few districts that had a local education agreement already signed off with the local bands.

"The LEA contained much of the information as the new EA but without targets.

"In short, the EA requires us to examine where our Aboriginal students are currently, where we want them to be in five years and how we will get there. Although we have five-year targets, the intent is to re-examine the progress and adjust targets annually."

Rosborough, a member of the Kwaguilth First Nation at Fort Rupert said, "The heart of my work is improving the education for our kids and this is an exciting agreement. The core of the agreement is about community, relationship, bringing people together and setting goals for the kids. Also, it is about providing education for the children but not giving up language and culture."

The cover of the agreement includes artwork that was copied from a pictograph at nearby Nicola Lake.

Opal Charters is a member of the Upper Nicola First Nation and has assumed the new position of First Nations Education District principal. She said, "It is very significant to include the pictograph on the education agreement because it is in the heart of our traditional territory. It is very appropriate."

Chief Sterling told the audience that the whole history of Canada must be rewritten.

He spoke of Thompson Indian customs where (male) visitors had to marry Indian women before they were allowed to live in the Nicola Valley.

He further spoke about the beheading of men who came from California during the gold rush years. Sterling's point was that history being taught in the school system is skewed because it doesn't take much of the Aboriginal perspective into consideration.

One of the goals of the EA is to have 33 Aboriginal teachers in the district.

Chief Joe said, "They tell me that there are not enough Aboriginal teachers. I say to those prospective teachers to give me a call, because we will find those teachers."

The XK Rodeo Club from the Upper Nicola First Nation catered the food, which included salmon, rice, corn an bannock.

In Merritt, there are more than 250 Metis association members and more than 2,000 First Nation members.