Posts from — October 2011

This article from Chatham Daily News Online, October 7, 2011 features information about Trent University’s, Aboriginal Post-Secondary Recruitment Program. Adam Hopkins from Moraviantown FN (Southwestern Ontario) is an Aboriginal Enrolment Advisor.

“We go to nearly every part of the province to recruit students in high schools and friendship centres and on reserves,” Hopkins said.  The official mandate is to increase the number of aboriginal learners in post secondary institutions.

The local story led me to Trent U’s website where I found a similar article showcasing Adam as the university’s first aboriginal, Aboriginal Enrollment Advisor (Feb. 22, 2010).

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3327112

http://www.trentu.ca/newsevents/newsreleases_100222indigenous.php

My research interests have taken me to Southwestern Ontario’s Bkejwanong – Walpole Island #46 education practises.   I came across Councillor Rex Isaac presenting to Senate in Ottawa and posted a link to such. In that webcast he discusses a need for monies toward FN resources for education.

Today I came across this article where Councillor Rex Isaac feels that his job may be in jeopardy as he questions financial practises and decisions made by the band and Chief Joseph Gilbert.  It has been made known that the band had lost more than $670,000 through bad investments – money never recovered.

It will be with much interest that I continue to follow this story regarding Councillor Rex Isaac and the response of the Band Council toward him.  In Isaac’s own words, “There are just certain things I don’t agree with, and I’m not ashamed or embarrassed, or even hesitant to voice my opposition.”

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3336433

Aaron Huey: America’s Native Prisoners of War (TED Talk)

Aaron Huey set out to photograph poverty in the United States to put a face on this social issue. It led him to the Lakota people, historically known as Sioux, living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The deplorable conditions he found people living in there prompted him to shift his focus more specifically towards understanding how their urgent need for social justice can be predominately ignored by the majority of the population. As a result of his photographs and developing relationships with the people at Pine Ridge, he felt compelled to investigate the link between their current situation and the historical events and government decisions that have directly or indirectly involved the Lakota nation. Our first step towards a remedy, he suggests, is acknowledging the timeline of impact and tumultuous relationship between indigenous people and dominant culture that was built on misunderstanding and misrepresentation that seems to give permission to others to ignore the destitute conditions he has been photographing at Pine Ridge over the last five years.

Portal for the Bkekwanong FN Public Libraryresources, borrowing, catalogue, e-resources.  Bkejwanong FN Public Library began in 1967.   With respect to technology, there are 11 public computers that are available at no charge. Computers have Internet access, word processing, and are all networked to a printer.   Free wireless internet is also provided for individuals who wish to bring in their own laptop computer.

Home

This is an article from Chatham Daily News showcasing the 5 year project partnership focusing on numeracy between Hon. Paul Martin, Aboriginal Educational Initiative, a charitable organization and Walpole Island First Nation School.  Paul Martin announced that Walpole Island will become a flagship school for numeracy among First Nation schools across Canada. It is hoped that the numeracy program will eventually spread across Canada.  The project will be based on the curriculum and teaching strategies that came from Ontario’s at-risk elementary schools.  Programs will include providing professional development to assist teachers, fund lead teachers who have training about the best practices and most effective techniques, developing a school improvement team that meets regularly to review school data and plan next steps, hire external experts to visit the school for a few days a month to assist the principal and teachers and plan for parent involvement and community engagement.

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2628110&archive=true

The Promising Practices website is an online resource for educators and others to promote and share successful practices to enhance the classroom experience for Aboriginal students. The site is part of an umbrella of resources sponsored by the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI). The site includes a variety of curricula from Canada and around the world, including classroom practices, childhood development methods and guides to promote interaction between educators and the Aboriginal communities they serve.

On The Agenda with Steve Paikin, discusses Aboriginal education. They start off by looking at three graphs that examine the population growth in Canada, unemployment rates and education achievement and compare the differences between non-aboriginal population in Canada to the Aboriginal population in Canada. The graph on “education achieved” looks at young people ages 20-24 who have received a diploma for high school, trades, college, and/or university. It also compares the educational difference between aboriginals who live on a reserve verses those who live off a reserve.  They then look in-depth into the numbers and discuss how to get aboriginal young people to graduate high school and ultimately go on to post-secondary education.

Aboriginal education in Timmins looks at urban education for aboriginal students, specifically raising awareness to the needs of the aboriginal children transitioning from reserves to places like Timmins, Ontario and how important it is to get them engaged with the classroom. They also discuss the alarming number of aboriginal students that have not graduated from high school.

Aboriginal Education’s presents Ogden Public school in Thunder Bay; a successful school that balances both the aboriginal culture and teachings alongside the standard Ontario education. This program also discusses what needs to be done to bring about change in the education system for aboriginal students. Asking questions like: do schools need more money and resources? Do they need more culture in the curriculum? Can the present system meet the needs of Aboriginal children or do we need something completely different? They also discuss specific things that aboriginal students need to make sure they succeed.