Board proposes new Cree language program

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Will it be the 'Y' dialect or the 'TH' dialect? Which school would host it?

These and other questions were bounced around as educators, parents and Elders met to shape the future of a Cree Language program being proposed by the Saskatoon School Board aimed at children in kindergarten to Grade 3.

About 25 people, including representatives from the school board, the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) and the community met at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge on Feb. 23 to discuss the proposal, which would see Cree instruction begin in kindergarten and continue until Grade 3.

Children would begin with more Cree in the lower grades and then, as they progress from year to year, will take less Cree and more English so that they are prepared to transition to the English track by the time they reach Grade 4.

Brenda Ahenakew, director of education for the STC, spoke about the importance of the new program.

"We need to teach people our language. We need to preserve what we have and revitalize what we've lost," she said.

"It's a community engagement model that will bring us all together," said Cort Dogniez, First Nation and Metis co-ordinator with the Saskatoon School Board. "We'll have a common goal and it's going to be exciting."

The school board hopes that parents of children in the program will be involved in keeping the language alive at home and perhaps even learning it themselves as they help out in the classroom.

"How sustainable is a language if it's not reinforced at home?" asked one teacher.

A request from the STC initially started the language ball rolling. The council asked the Saskatoon School Board, with which it is in partnership, to investigate the possibility of further Cree language instruction in Saskatoon schools. Although Cree is taught as a second language in four elementary schools in Saskatoon already, this new option would see kindergarten children receiving classroom instruction in 100 per cent Cree.

"Brain research shows an increased capacity to learn in young children," said Dogniez, speaking at the meeting. "No one knows the limits to their learning."

Dogniez is hesitant to use the term Cree immersion because he's concerned parents will expect that the Cree pilot will deliver all the same perks-like busing-as are available with the French immersion program.

"That is federally funded," he pointed out. The Cree language pilot, on the other hand, will not be.

Almost 400 students are presently studying Cree in Saskatoon right now. In three of the schools, children begin this second language instruction in Grade 5. Not one of these schools has a situation where Cree is the dominant language of instruction within the classroom.

At least two other communities in the province already have a similar program in place. Both Onion Lake First Nation and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have Cree immersion. But rather than copy what those groups are doing, the school board is hoping that a model suited specifically to an urban centre can be developed because the needs and realities of students in the urban setting are different than those living on a reserve.

The idea was originally tried out in 1980 at Westmount school in Saskatoon but failed. Now, believes Dogniez, with the increase in the number of Aboriginal people in the community there is a greater chance of having it succeed. And, he admits, community involvement in the shaping of the program is crucial to its success.

During small group discussions held to gather ideas for the language pilot, people talked about what they wanted to see happen in the program in the areas of language and culture.

Nita McAdam, a university student originally from Big River First Nation, was quick to point out that Cree people learn differently than others.

"We have an oral tradition," she said. "I learned everything orally first."

"We need to get outside of the classroom," suggested one educator. She maintained the imortance of teaching cultural skills along with the language.

"We don't just want a language program," agreed Dogniez. "Language and culture go hand-in-hand."

"We were the first people on this land," said McAdam. "We have to give it back to our youth."