School Board brings students together from city and reserve

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Learning about Native culture in the classroom is lots of fun but making a little bit of history of your own can be even more exciting.

It all started with a pile of pen pal letters sent between two "sister" Grade 3 classes - one from the city and one from the reserve. They also exchanged video tapes of themselves and their families. Then came a special invitation to attend the 1999 Interschool Pow Wow at the Onion Lake First Nation Reserve.

Spending a day out at an Interschool Pow Wow with kids from Little Pine, Frog Lake, Kehewin, Onion Lake and Joseph Bighead Reserves turned out to be "pretty amazing" say the students from Father Gorman Catholic School in Lloydminster.

"We've never seen anything like it, the dancing, drumming and singing and we got to make paper moccasins and eat bannock!" said one student.

The exchange was part of the Indian and Metis Education program (IMED), funded equally by the provincial government and the local school division.

"The visit was a real first for the Grade 3 program in Lloydminster, the first time we've taken our city kids out to a reserve," said Teresa Rowland, the home and school Aboriginal liaison worker who coordinates the division's IMED program. "The kids from the reserves come into the city with their families, but there isn't much chance for the kids from the city to come out to a reserve and see what it's all about. It's just not something they do until we bring them here. It's very much an exchange. The kids from the reserve get to see the kids from the city and the kids from the city get to see the kids from the reserve, a real eye opener for both Native and non-Native students, many who have never been to a Pow Wow."

The classroom visit at Chief Taylor Elementary School included story telling with an Elder and a traditional lunch. The visit helped students to "break the ice, get past misconceptions and reach out to each other," explained Rowland.

The afternoon program tied it all together at the Interschool Pow Wow, held in the impressive new Onion Lake arena facility.

"Grade 3 students are up to new experiences, they're really open. We need to reach these kids before they get to the age where they're saying, this is different and it's not OK. Our city students come and see the Native kids in their classroom, at their pow wow, hear the music, see the regalia and then they can go home and tell their buddies and parents about it, it's not so scary, not so different," she said.

The visit out to Onion Lake First Nation is also very beneficial for the Aboriginal kids from the city, even if they aren't traditional dancers. It gives them a chance to feel good about their own culture, to feel proud, she said.

The IMED program, which helps bring Native cultural awareness into the mainstream school system, works hand-in-hand with the liaison program coordinated by Rowland, a Metis raised in Chitek, who acts as a support and advocate for Aboriginal families.

"There are a lot of cultural misunderstandings and my job is to take the Aboriginal family's point of view to the school and help them to understand the school's point of view, with me being the voice for the school or the voice for the families, ironing out bugs like making sure permission slips for trips like the Interschool Pow Wow get home to the parents and come back signed," she said.

Rowland said the positive spin-offs of the liaison program include improved attendance for Native students and more parents coming to the school to iron out problems.

Rowland also brings Elders and cultural resource people into the classrooms within the Catholic school Division of Lloydminster.

The Grade 4 class recently took a trip into Edmonton to visit the new Syncrude Gallery at Alberta's Provincial Museum as part of their ongoing studies of the history of the Canadian fur trade.

"The IMED program targets Aboriginal and Metis development," said Doug Robertson, superintendent of education. "There is an importance on our societ for all children to learn about Aboriginal culture. Overall, it is having an impact in validating Indian and Metis culture in our larger culture."

After getting a taste of dancing, drumming and singing at the Interschool, some of the students from Lloydminster are now looking forward to coming out with their families to the spectacular Onion Lake Pow Wow this summer.