About 125 Winnipeg parents gathered on Tuesday evening to learn more about a proposal to create an indigenous school division in the city.
The group behind the idea has identified 29 existing schools where the majority of students are aboriginal.
Those schools could potentially become part of a Winnipeg Indigenous School Division, says local educator Bill Anderson, who is a member of the group.
“They’re very highly populated with indigenous students, and it’s time that we govern ourselves educationally,” he said at a public meeting at the Winnipeg Indian & Métis Friendship Centre on Tuesday evening.
If established, the indigenous school division would be open to students and teachers of all backgrounds, and it would have the same academic programming that’s offered in other divisions.
But Sanderson said its schools would also focus on aboriginal languages, traditions and cultures.
“To strongly identify ourselves for who we are, and our rich history, it’ll make them stronger,” he said.
Cultural understanding
The Winnipeg School Division already has two schools with an indigenous focus: Children of the Earth High School and, for nursery to Grade 8, Niji Mahkwa School.
Claudette Lavallee, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, says her 12-year-old daughter just started at Niji Mahkwa School.
“She smudges every morning, so it’s a prayer,” Lavallee said. “I find her more patient; more, I guess, somewhat humble.”
Sanderson was involved in the creation of both schools, but he said Winnipeg is home to more indigenous people than any other major city in Canada and can easily sustain many more.
Educator Tasha Spillett said the proposed school division could help raise aboriginal graduation rates and bridge gaps between cultures.
“If we look at developing a cultural understanding in young people, as well as supporting young people to have better … relations with one other, that’s truly an investment in our community as a whole as Winnipeg and, as an extension, as a province and our country,” she said.
The organizers are forming a committee that will pitch the idea to the provincial government.
