CCL Home > Reports & Data > State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada
Onion Lake, Saskatchewan—Straddling the border between Saskatchewan and Alberta the Onion Lake Cree Nation is well-known for its unique location; but it’s anything but divided when it comes to how they approach the education of their young people.
Since assuming responsibility for their education system in 1981, band leaders, parents, teachers and Elders in the First Nations community have worked to develop innovative ways to improve literacy rates, attendance rates and student confidence.
Story #1 Measuring what matters
Story #2 Case Study: Kihew Waciston Cree Immersion School
Story #3 Case Study: Partnering With Parents and Communities in Education
Over the next 22 years the Onion Lake Board of Education established three schools; Pewasenakwan Primary School (Pre-school to Grade 3), Chief Taylor Elementary (Grade 4 to 7) and Eagleview Comprehensive High School (Grade 8 to 12), each boasting unique aspects, such as on-staff Elders and Cree-language courses.
Then in 2003 the board introduced the Kihew Waciston Cree Immersion School; the first school of its kind in Saskatchewan (and one of the few in Canada) to offer Cree-language immersion from nursery school to Grade 9.
Walking through the halls of the state-of-the-art school, Terry Clarke, Onion Lake’s Director of Education, is careful to explain that the school is about more than just bilingualism. Its mission is to boost self-esteem and instil pride in students by immersing them in Cree culture and language.
“The uniqueness of [this] immersion is that it’s not just about language,” Clarke says.
The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) appears to agree. Their new report, The State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada: A Holistic Approach to Measuring Success, describes how knowledge of ancestral languages is key to how Aboriginal people view learning—a process that is lifelong and extends well beyond the classroom. As the report describes, ancestral language is considered a key source of knowledge for First Nations learners as it helps “transmit knowledge and values from one generation to another.”
The report includes research that shows cultural identity and ancestral language-fluency are strongly linked to higher rates of academic achievement in Inuit youth. Further, it shows that First Nations communities with higher degrees of ancestral-language fluency experience significantly fewer suicides per capita: 13 suicides per 100,000 compared to 97 per 100,000 in communities with less language fluency. Teachers at the Kihew Waciston Cree Immersion School use various methods to impart culture and language to their students, including ceremonies, cultural activities and experiential learning. Brian MacDonald, the head of curriculum development, firmly believes the most effective way to learn is through direct experience. “We didn’t learn our language sitting in a classroom,” MacDonald says, referring to how his generation learned. “If we want to teach the kids about water safety, we take them to the pond.”
A recent day at the school begins with an assembly during which a traditional sweet-grass ceremony is held to help cleanse the spirit and open oneself to the Creator. The students are seated not in rows of chairs, but on the floor in a circle—a traditional sign of inclusion.
Principal Sandy Chocan enters the circle and shares his message of the day, which can range from themes of respect and thankfulness, reflecting the moral and ethical values taught by Cree Elders.
Cultural Advisor and Resident Elder Leonard Fox then leads the group in a prayer, before ending the assembly by asking the students to shake hands and say miyo kisikanisi (“have a good day”) to each other. Once in their classroom, students resume their studies which follow the curriculum set out in the Gift of Language immersion framework, a custom-built program that meets all of the objectives set out by the provincial government and expands upon it.
“At the centre of our curriculum is Indigenous knowledge,” says Clarke. “It isn’t simply a verbatim translation of the Saskatchewan curriculum.”
The Gift of Language framework is being developed by the Onion Lake Cree Nation as part of a joint language and culture initiative involving the Lac La Ronge First Nation, Prince Albert Grand Council and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. The framework is intended to provide the resources necessary for other Aboriginal educators to teach their First Nations language in an immersion setting.
According to the program’s coordinator, Irene Carter, there are daily requests for the resources and materials being developed there.
It is anticipated that the curriculum will eventually be available on the Saskatchewan Learning website. Perhaps making these tools readily available to schools across the province will pave the way to reversing a troubling trend—the slow decline of many Aboriginal languages in Canada.
According to CCL’s report, more than one-quarter—or 27%—of First Nations youth aged 14 and under living on-reserve speak their ancestral language at home. While this is more than double the rate for Aboriginal youth (12%), it can’t hide the fact that the use of Aboriginal languages both on- and off-reserve has been declining steadily for the past 60 years.
Clarke believes the answer lies in immersion, but the proof may not be immediately evident. He says the immersion program will have to run its course and once a full cycle is complete, only then will the full benefits to the community be realized. Carter agrees it may take “a lifetime” to get it back. She says it was lost over the span of many generations and it will take many generations before it is fully regained. While there are numerous other partners in the Gift of Language project, the lion’s share of funding comes from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. With federal government funding for the project coming to an end next spring, the risk of some First Nations languages being lost forever remains a distinct possibility.
Regardless of whether or not the Gift of Language program continues, the Onion Lake Cree Nation has no intention of winding down their own immersion program. “It’s too important not to continue,” says Clarke. “We are giving back a sense of identity to our young people through language and culture, and identity is the key to success.”