Native culture studied in non-Native school

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In the corridor of Dovercourt Public School, a Grade 4 student bent in concentration over his bead loom. The bracelet he tried to create was snarled and tangled, and he looked upset.

His young teacher, Cassandra Alviani, came up and examined his work.

"You know, I think you should start over," she suggested. Then she took the few beads off the string, careful not to let any roll away. "Let's try to save all these spirits," she said.

It was the evening marking the end of a Native studies program at the elementary school. Parents were invited to a ceremony to hear drumming, and have a look at the Native arts and crafts, paintings and jewelry their children had made over the last few months. There is not one Aboriginal student in the school, but principal Jackie Alloul insisted on starting the program, even though her staff was a little puzzled.

"I said, how about going back to our roots, to find out about the first people in our country?" With the staff convinced, she forged ahead. Members of the Native community were brought in to teach students beading, to put on plays related to Aboriginal history and culture, and to teach some basic Aboriginal words.

Vern Douglas, a Native education adviser with the Toronto Board of Education, was consulted on the project. His job as an adviser is to work with teachers and principals to help design class lessons to teach students about Native people.

"The approach we're taking in the Toronto board is that the introduction of the study of Native people should be contemporary," he said. Douglas brought in the Red Hawk Drummers to sing for the children, and to tell stories about the powwow and its origins.

More than 200 parents and children gathered in the gymnasium to hear the drummers. The crowd was a multicultural mix, but all seemed entranced by the vivid display of traditional outfits and the pulsating drum. Alloul invited the parents to wander through the various exhibitions in the corridor.

One table was stacked with totem poles. Another was draped with dream catchers. Dozens of Native bead bracelets were displayed in glass cases. At the end of the hall, a teacher showed students how to play traditional games, while a group of girls wove birch-bark baskets at the next table. Native books were available and the walls were pasted with art.

Printed at the bottom of one child's painting were the words, "Native people believe the earth is our mother. I believe that the earth is our mother too." Another student wrote, "We should respect the earth, treat it nice." Children and adults tried sand-painting and were offered fresh bannock and corn bread.

"We wanted not so much to eradicate, but correct the cinema image [of Natives]," Alloul said. "I really wanted to make it a long-lasting learning experience. . . and bring the First Nations to all of us," she remarked. "I think we achieved that."

Douglas said he has worked for two years as an adviser, and even though progress is slow, he is glad more schools are getting involved. He also worked on a similar project in Edmonton in the early 1980s, called the Sacred Circle Project.

He said next year the curriculum will be extended down to the primary schools to teach even younger children about contemporary Native culture.