Catholic schools prioritize indigenous studies as part of reconciliation efforts
The Regina Catholic School Division’s commitment to truth and reconciliation is emblemized in a new logo to be displayed in all of its schools by the end of the month.
A circle outlined by sweetgrass and an eagle feather reads, “Reconciling the past, honouring the future, we are all treaty people.”
While this is an obvious display to spark conversation in schools — along with already-present images of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and an Anishinaabe Jesus — it’s only the latest of several initiatives the school division is undertaking to honour the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) calls to action.
For almost a year, the division has been in discussions with the Ministry of Education to create a mandatory Indigenous studies course for all students in the province.
The school board will present a resolution at next month’s Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) general assembly, seeking support from the province’s other 27 school boards.
The RCSD’s pitch relates directly to call to action No. 62, which calls on educators to create K-to-12 curriculum on Indigenous history,
treaties and residential schools.
“It’s changing that narrative in terms of what students are being taught as history from a very colonialized view, into a very accurate and authentic First Nations view of history,” said Sean Chase, RCSD’s superintendent of education services.
Students must have two social sciences credits to graduate, one from Grade 10 and one from Grade 12, which could include history, social studies or native studies.
But, because there are so many electives in high school, Chase believes Indigenous studies should be mandatory.
“We really need to do something explicit and that’s probably the difference between an elective versus a mandatory course,” said Chase.
He sees it as providing an upto-date education on TRC findings, treaty education and history through a First Nations lens.
The ministry is currently reviewing its social science curricula and, according to a spokesman, will consider RCSD’s proposal.
Without ministry support, Chase said RCSD would look at developing its own course, although he believes a provincial effort would make for a more comprehensive course.
The blanket exercise has been making its way through schools since RCSD began offering it last year.
“We’re going to create Turtle Island today,” Joanna Landry tells 28 grades 7 and 8 students.
They cover the floor of the St. Dominic Savio School library, building a mini North America of black, blue and grey fleece blankets.
Landry wears a black top hat throughout the hour-long exercise. In its brim is a tiny Union Jack flag.
RCSD’s First Nations, Metis and Inuit co-ordinator is playing the part of “the British.” Her helper, Susan Beaudin, narrates the story — packing 500 years of Canadian Indigenous history into one hour.
“It’s everyone’s history,” Landry says, as we all share the land.
Standing on the blanket island, the students represent 20 million First Nations people who lived here when European settlers arrived.
With necklaces, feathers, quills and other items in hand, they migrate, trading and bartering with one another.
“Would you like some ginger?” one boy asks.
“Would you like a harpoon point?” another replies.
Their happiness is short-lived, as Landry the Brit tells the group: King George III said we have to make treaties with you.
The edges of the blankets fold in, first a little, then a lot. The blankets become tiny squares, representing reserves. One boy later remarked, “I was shocked at how fast the land went.”
The blanket exercise explains history in fast-forward, sad fact after sad fact, which is why the children get to ask questions afterward in a talking circle.
Six boys stand on a Hudson Bay Company blanket, representing the people who died of smallpox.
One boy represents the Metis leaders who died in battle, trying to defend their land.
Two girls represent the Inuit people who died after being forced from their traditional hunting grounds.
Three children represent the 150,000 who attended the mostly Catholic Church-run residential schools, where an estimated 6,000 children died.
The students learn about broken treaties; the Indian Act of 1876, which stripped Indigenous people of autonomy; the pass system, which discouraged them from leaving reserves; the ’60s Scoop, which saw thousands of Indigenous children removed from their families and adopted into white homes; and the hundreds upon hundreds of Indigenous women who have gone missing or been murdered.
Kairos, a Canadian charitable organization, created the blanket exercise two decades ago. RCSD has adapted it for students as young as Grade 1. “You only want to teach certain content to certain age levels,” says Landry.
The Grade 7/8 students learn a little bit about the abuse in residential schools, hearing a firsthand account from Beaudin, who attended Marieval in Cowessess.
She tells them about starvation, about being beaten with a strap, about hours of kneeling in prayer.
Younger children wouldn’t hear any of that.
The exercise, said Landry, “plays a big role in the path of reconciliation. It’s got all the history that a lot of us don’t know about.”