Cree improved through McGill program

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A joint project of the Cree School Board and McGill University is giving Cree people in Quebec a chance to improve reading and writing skills in their Aboriginal language.

The board, in partnership with the university's Office of First Nations and Inuit Education, is offering the Certificate in Aboriginal Literacy Education program to Cree-speaking residents. The program allows the students involved to upgrade their skills in reading and writing Cree. The office operates out of the Faculty of Education at McGill University in Montreal.

The Aboriginal Literacy Education certificate is a 30-credit program consisting of 10 courses, with one or two courses offered each year.

Donna-Lee Smith is co-ordinator of the Cree literacy program for the university. About 50 students graduated from the first session in June 1998.

The people taking part in the first program, Smith explained, were those teaching or planning to teach in the Cree as Language of Instruction Program (CLIP) offered by the Cree School Board. With the board beginning to offer CLIP in its kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs there was a need to first teach the teachers, she said.

All nine of the communities in the James Bay area of Quebec served by the Cree School Board currently offer CLIP in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, and, in some, the program goes all the way through to Grade 4.

The newest session of the Cree literacy program began in January 1999, and currently has an enrolment of about 130 students.

For the new session, enrolment wasn't limited to teachers or teachers-in-training, but was open to anyone in the community. The only requirements for enrolment, Smith said, are that students be fluent in speaking Cree, and must be band members.

This time around, Smith said, the students include some teachers, but also daycare workers, administrators, and even parents whose children are enrolled in CLIP and who need to upgrade their reading and writing skills so they can help their children with homework.

The school board serves three main communities - Chisasibi, Waskaganish and Mistissini- and six smaller communities - Kuujjuarapik/Whapmagosstui, Wemindji, Eastmain, Ouje-Bougoumou, Waswanipi and Nemiscau. Smith estimated the total population of the area to be about 9,000.

Three different groups are taking the program in Chisasibi, for a total of 50 students enrolled, while two groups are taking part in Mistissini, with 30 students in total in that community. The remainder of the students are spread out among the remaining seven communities, with one group taking part in each. This means the program has had to find 12 teachers to teach the course. While finding qualified instructors was difficult last time around, this time the course is being taught by graduates from the first offering of the literacy program.

"They are very strong teachers, very good in the language," Smith said.

"I think Cree is one of the three viable Native languages in Canada. I think this program is important in keeping it viable," she said.

"I think to keep a culture vibrant, I think you need the language."

Mary Bear is an education consultant for the department of professional development in the Cree School Board. As part of her duties, she acts as Cree literacy co-ordinator for the board.

Bear said a lot of the people in the communities attended residential schools so, while they could speak the Cree language, they couldn't write or read it. The Cree literacy program not only allows them to develop their Cree literacy skills, it also helps them to build on their vocabulary as they learn the Cree words for terms like computer and disk, which they previously didn't know, Bear explained.

Bear indicated that, because the students involved in the current session are generally younger than those who graduated from the previous session, program organizers are trying to include teaching of some cultural skills as well. And, with a Cree syllabic font now avaiable for computers, the course is also trying to build on participant's computer skills.

Bear explained that much of the Cree literacy program is geared toward learning how to teach the Cree language to the children, with some of the activities and assignments involving preparing materials for use in CLIP. Bear said getting sufficient teaching materials in the schools is a problem, because you can't just order Cree teaching materials, and that preparing the necessary materials is very time consuming for the teachers.

Producing these teaching materials serves a dual purpose, allowing the students to use their new Cree literacy skills, while at the same time creating materials that will be used within CLIP.

She said another project undertaken by the present students is serving a dual purpose. The students are writing to others who are involved in the program in other communities, once again having the opportunity to use and practice their newly acquired skills, while helping them keep in touch with others enrolled in the program.