As a Stoney Nakoda person, I want to highlight that which is positive in our community. Although I have stated that chief and council are paid too much, that is just my opinion. It does not take away from the positive developments that are taking place in our community. For example, the Chiniki First Nation is in the process of establishing an accredited post-secondary institution.
Chiniki CEO, Lindsay Blackett advised that Chiniki education is developing a post-secondary institution that will receive accreditation by 2017. This new college will offer upgrading and post-secondary courses right here in our community.
This is pretty exciting. Blue Quills College near St. Paul was the first university to be owned and operated by First Nations. Now known as Blue Quills University, the institution is celebrating its 45th anniversary. Programs that respect the culture, traditions, and knowledge systems of First Nations people allow students to learn in environments where they can reinforce their identities as indigenous people while pursuing post-secondary education.
An accredited college located in Morley will not only be convenient but will serve to reinforce the value of education. Education has always been important to First Nations people. Often experiential, oral, yet holistic in nature, education in First Nations cultures is multifaceted. Knowledge is both physical, and metaphysical. Cree professor Willie Ermine defines aboriginal epistemologies as being “incorporeal systems of knowledge” where knowledge is acquired not only through observations and oral teachings, but also through spirituality.
The colonization process is such that indigenous knowledge systems have been denigrated. This has affected our identities as First Nations people. In residential schools, students were subjected to what Mi’kmaq scholar Dr. Marie Battiste refers to as a process of “cognitive imperialism.” Students were taken from their communities and subjected to abuse and curriculum that negated First Nations teachings.
My mother, Tina Fox, a student at the Morley Indian Residential School recalls telling her grandmother that there were no thunderbirds after learning in school that electricity and lightning caused thunder. Her worldview had been affected in a school system that did not leave room for her grandmother’s teachings. Religious education further served to undermine her culture and ultimately her identity as a Nakoda woman.
The Canadian government’s policy of assimilation was clear in its purpose to eradicate indigenous knowledge. However, many indigenous knowledge systems including that of the Stoney Nakoda people have survived even though curriculum in Canadian schools is still very much Eurocentric. This speaks to the resiliency of First Nations people and the value of our cultural teachings.
First Nations people are in a process of deconstructing the colonization process. It is a process that will allow us to understand and appreciate what happened and embrace our indigeneity as First Nations people. Education might have been used as part of the colonization process. However, it can now be part of the decolonization process. In establishing a community college, Chiniki education will play an important role in this process by providing a learning environment that respects the culture, and values of the Stoney Nakoda people. Wathtech!
