Threatened Indigenous education program 'reconciliation in action,' supporters say

Ethan Barclay pinches small morsels of tobacco, sweetgrass, cedar and sage into a tiny tan leather satchel he's making to wear around his neck.

The 16-year-old is taking part in a medicine pouch workshop at the WabanoCentre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa with his classmates from Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School.

"I think that it's really important for students to kind of learn more about Indigenous culture. I mean we're living on their land, so it's the least we could do," Barclay told CBC.

The workshop, however, is in danger: it'spart of theIndigenous Education Program, which is running out of money fast.

'This is reconciliation in action'

5 years ago

Duration 1:08

Allison Fisher, executive director of the Wabano Centre, and high school teacher Valerie Van Sickle spoke to CBC News about what the program means.

Program part of call to action

The Ottawa Community Foundation, which helps connect residentswith a variety of causes, started the program two years ago after receiving an anonymous donation.

But that money, combined with a community grant, will run out duringthe 2019/2020 school year.

"This project is important because it is about children, and children are our future,"said Allison Fisher, the Wabano Centre's executive director.

"And I think if we don't continue to support this particular project, it will be a sad day."

This is reconciliation in action. This is reconciliation where thekids are learning culture.- Valerie Van Sickle, high school teacher

Sincethe program started, Fisher said about 800 Ottawa high school and elementary students have visited the Wabano Centre to immerse themselves in Indigenous culture through tours, workshops and information sessions on residential schools.

Valerie Van Sickle teaches at St. Pius High School and said her experience with the program has been wonderful.

"This is reconciliation in action. This is reconciliation where the kids are learning culture. They're deepening their understanding,and that is an important part of the calls to action," Van Sickle said.

Those calls to action came out of theTruth and Reconciliation Commission,formed as a means of reckoning with the devastating legacy of forced assimilation and abuse left by the residential school system.

• Beyond 94 Truth and Reconciliation in Canada

In June 2015, the commission released a report based onhearings where thousands of residential school survivors told their stories.

From that came 94individual instructions to guide governments, communities and faith groups down the road to reconciliation.

Immersion helps with learning

Most of the funding for the Indigenous Education Program is used to transport studentsto the WabanoCentre, which teachers say is vitally important.

Barclay completely agrees, sayinghe walks by the Wabano Centre often but had noidea what it was or what programs it offered Ottawa's Indigenous community.

"I think it just makes us a little bit more immersed.I think in our classroom there's still a certain feeling of detachment you know, not really being there," he said. "I think it definitely helps learning and knowing what is going on."

Staff at both theWabano Centre and Ottawa CommunityFoundation are now hoping the program becomes a mandated part of the curriculum by school boards, but that will require funding.

It's not clear where the money will come from, but the goal is to keep the interactiveinitiative operating for many years to come.