A teacher’s decision to hand out an extracurricular activity package for Thanksgiving weekend to some grade 3 students at a Moose Jaw, Sask., elementary school had more than she bargained for.
The assignment that was intended to be a fun after-school activity included a word search that contained the terms, “squaw” and “papoose.”
Both terms are derogatory references towards Indigenous women and children that were used by European settlers in Canada’s early years.
“I would have thought that things like this would have been gone from our building 10, 15 or 20 years ago,” said Tony Baldwin, director of education, Prairie South Schools.
‘I hope the teachers get the message and put it to action’ – Elder Gerry Stonechild
Baldwin said the activity package was on-hand at the school and even though the teacher did hand out the extra curricular work to students who were finished their classroom work, it was an honest mistake.
“This is a good teacher who made a really bad error in judgement on Friday,” said Baldwin.
“She was as horrified as any of the rest of us,” he said.
According to Baldwin, the school division has taken steps to address the issue and the teacher will be sending a letter of apology home to parents today.
A word search in an extracurricular activity package that contained offensive terms to Indigenous peoples was handed out to grade 3 students in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan for Thanksgiving weekend. (Jo Chrona/Twitter)
Baldwin said the school in question is recognized as one of the more progressive schools in the division when it comes to reconciliation.
The school has recently held a Treaty 4 flag raising ceremony and Baldwin said the division’s elder-in-residence works closely with the school division.
In response to the word search, elder Gerry Stonechild said, “It’s not surprising to me.”
“I hope the teachers get the message and put it to action,” he said.
Stonechild, who is the current elder in residence said there is still work that needs to be done and he hopes to meet with more teachers to discuss how to move forward in the spirit of reconciliation.
Baldwin’s hope is that this unfortunate incident can help the division move forward toward a better understanding of reconciliation.
“It can be a good outcome, if we can clean some of this junk out of our schools when things like this happen. That’s another silver lining in what has been a tough day for us.”