Treaty Relations

30 trcm.ca TREATY RELATIoNs CoMMIssIoN oF MANIToBA treaty education initiative inspires sTudenTs By jenniFeR mCFee FoR tHe FRee PRess Education is key to building a brighter future for all Manitobans. With that in mind, the Treaty Education Initiative (TEI) aims to foster an understanding of Treaties and the relationships that surround them. Project lead Cynthia Bird explained that the goal is to provide all students with an understanding of treaties by the time they finish high school. "We try to balance perspectives when we look at relationships between the Crown and the First Nations. there are definitely areas where they are in agreement and there are definitely areas where they don't agree," Bird said. "if you are educating students to become critical thinkers, they need to know that there are many different perspectives on the subject. then they need to find out what those are and decide for themselves what is their perspective." through the initiative, teachers attend regional in-services held across the prov- ince. they receive a resource kit that includes a teaching guide, maps, DVDs, post- ers, a Canadian treaty book and much more. students then learn about the information through social studies classes and other areas, such as language arts. "i think we'll have much better informed leaders and citizens. When they come upon an issue that's contentious, they'll have some frame of reference and background on these complex subjects that are part of this treaty relationship," Bird said. "they'll be able to engage in a dialogue in an informed way and have some sense of where to go to do more research and to be able to broaden their sources. they'll know that it's not only books or media that they draw information from. it's individuals, and in terms of First Nations, it's the oral traditions. they need to seek out the Elders' perspectives too." that's exactly what happened for a group of students from teulon Collegiate institute who travelled to thompson and worked with Elders in the Mystery lake division. siobhan Faulkner, who provides program support for Aboriginal education in the interlake school Division, could see the impact firsthand. "these kids had a passion. some of them are from First Nations communities, and they wanted to change how people view Aboriginal students in particular. We're very big on social justice in our division, so they were able to connect the treaties as a social justice issue. the connecting piece was about why some First Nations communities don't have water," Faulkner said. "the Commission has been so supportive of these kids. they sponsored us to go up to thompson to work with Elders. there have been some really powerful connections. As a secondary spin-off, all of the hutterite colony schools are doing a massive social justice project, and they were able to support one of the kids doing the water project through their social justice initiative." the treaty Education initiative, which launched as a Grade 5 and 6 pilot program in 2011, has now trained 752 educators in 122 schools from 22 divisions across Manitoba. the goal in 2014 is to distribute another 200 tEi teacher kits and to host four regional training sessions. "We do the traditional classroom delivery of the program but we also are using it with disengaged students as a framework. they actually started speaking to divi- sional schools, and they are now going out to other school divisions and speaking to teachers and adults about how to engage kids back into schools," Faulkner said. "it is spectacular to watch kids who were non-attenders now be successful." Faulkner has been working to get the initiative into as many classrooms as pos- sible, and she recommended that other school divisions get involved. "the treaty Relations kit is so well written that teachers are comfortable doing it, and it's got all the supports. the Commission is so supportive. they will bring out speakers and information and everything you need to feel comfortable to deliver the program," she said. "We've had a fantastic response from students. We're finding it one of the most valuable tools that we have come across in a very long time. it's incredible. We're hoping this is going to change the next generation." ❚ thE trEaty EduCation initiativE haS bEEn implEmEntEd aS part of thE GradE 5 and 6 proGram aCroSS thE intErlakE SChool diviSion, and it iS alSo runninG aS a pilot projECt in two hiGh SChoolS in thE diviSion. submitted photo "These kids had a passion. Some of them are from First Nations communities, and they wanted to change how people view Aboriginal students, in particular."

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