Another First Nation has joined the ranks of Manitoba’s Indigenous-run school board as the education hub in charge of it marks 25 years of operations.
The Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre celebrated its anniversary and ongoing efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages and cultures at a conference in Winnipeg last week.
Members of Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation — the 12th First Nation to enter into a partnership with the centre to deliver education — were among the hundreds in attendance.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Charles Cochrane is the executive Director of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, which has grown to have a staff of more than 250 people.
Principal Adeline Travers said the change has resulted in more funding per student, a fully-stocked computer lab, and new desks and maintenance equipment.
“We’re a small school so every penny counts,” said the leader of a kindergarten-to-Grade 10 school located on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg, roughly 250 kilometres north of the Manitoba capital.
“It’s important that we have our own people to teach our own values, our own languages, our own histories and our own teachings,” said Charles Cochrane, executive director of the centre that just wrapped up a two-day event looking ahead to its next quarter century of programming.
Those beliefs were behind the 1998 launch of the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre and more recently, the creation of a school division supported by the umbrella organization’s consultants and clinicians.
Shared frustrations related to limited funding and resources led independent education directors — including Cochrane, who oversaw a band-run school in Ebb and Flow First Nation in the 1990s — to pitch a formal support network.
The centre has become a go-to hub for First Nations education with curricular resources and professional development opportunities.
What began as a small operation with a handful of staff now boasts a workforce of more than 250 people, the majority of whom are Indigenous.
Cochrane said, historically, it has been incredibly difficult to find and pay for experts willing to travel and provide training and services to First Nations students and keep their teachers in-the-know about best practices.
The education centre, which runs on federal funding and proposal-based grants, has streamlined that process and ensured greater access to specialists and program facilitators, he noted.
Chief Tony Travers said the promise of clinical resources prompted Kinonjeoshtegon to enter the school system for 2024-25.
More than 80 clinicians, including occupational therapists, speech language pathologists and school psychologists, are dispatched to rural and remote schools via the centre throughout the year.
“Ten years ago, there were no clinical services other than the odd speech language pathologist. Now, we have pretty well all the services that provincial schools are able to access,” Cochrane said, noting the recent addition of a clinical department at the centre.
The making of Wapaska Virtual Collegiate and Manitoba First Nations School System are highlights from the organization’s short history.
Starting in 2009, centre consultants began developing the former to give teenagers more flexibility to obtain credits in their home communities. The grade 9-12 alternative school was up and running with accreditation in place within five years.
The First Nations-built school board — the first of its kind in Canada — officially launched in 2017-18, following a pilot involving Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation, Ottawa and the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre.
The trio deemed the initial collaboration, during which the centre created a strategic plan for Roseau River’s formerly independent school, a success. An education governance agreement was reached in 2016.
The school board currently includes Bloodvein, Brokenhead, Dakota Plains, Dakota Tipi, Fox Lake, Keeseekoowenin, Lake Manitoba, Lake St. Martin, Pinaymootang, Roseau River, York Factory and Kinonjeoshtegon.
The announcement of a 13th partnership is imminent, Cochrane said, adding he’s waiting on the community’s leaders to publicize the move.
The centre helps its member schools plan budgets, establish policies and deliver programs. An additional 29 First Nations access its general education services.
A breakdown of graduation data was not made available, but communications director Michael Hutchinson said figures have been “steadily rising” since the school system’s inception.
“We have done a lot of work in expanding our own language and cultural programming in schools. Land-based education is big,” Cochrane said.
Sessions during the Oct. 3-4 Circle of Knowledge conference covered topics ranging from beginner Ojibwa to the Dakota 13 moon calendar.
The executive director said promoting outdoor education will remain a priority, as well as undertaking efforts to retain professionals and lobbying for more say in teacher certification.
Asked about what’s in store for the future of the centre, he said: “We want our own council or a body to certify teachers.”
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., Maggie was an intern at the Free Press twice while earning her degree at Ryerson’s School of Journalism (now Toronto Metropolitan University) before joining the newsroom as a reporter in 2019. Read more about Maggie.
Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
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