Winnipeg school that infuses Indigenous language, teachings into curriculum celebrates 25 years

For 25 years, a unique elementary school in Winnipeg's North End has been teaching kids reading, writing and arithmetic, just like any other school but also infusing Indigenous language and teachings into its curriculum.

Niji Mahkwa School held a special pipe ceremony on Tuesday morning to mark its 25th anniversary.

"What makes Niji Mahkwa both special and unique and successful is the fact that we integrate traditional knowledge and ceremony into our day-to-day practices," said Chris Goring, the school's principal.

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The school offers all the traditional subjects but incorporates Indigenous history and tradition in every lesson.

"So not only are our teachers having to teach a robust regular curriculum, just like any other school, [we also]have a cultural continuum, which is a thematic-based cultural guide that the teachers infuse into their regular classroom," said Goring.

Although the school is part of Winnipeg School Division, studentsat the school don't have to live in a particular catchment area to attend and cancome from anywhere in the province.Many of the school's 366 students come from First Nations communities and stay with family in the city.

Grade 7 student Alias (pronounced like "Elias") Sinclair said he enjoys learning both the Cree and Ojibwelanguagesand being offered spiritual teachings.

"We do smudging and pipe ceremonies like no other school does," said Sinclair.

The school was created after people in the Indigenous community pushed for educationthat would represent their cultural identities.

"The First Nations and Mtis people of the community wanted a school that had language, both Cree and Ojibwe introductory language courses, and a cultural program," said Goring.

Students share vision for their future

Students and staff start each day with a smudge ceremony and a sharing circle. There's also a space in the school, called the lodge room, where students are guided through ceremonies by a pipe carrier and traditional knowledge keeper.

To celebrate the school's anniversary, studentsalso wrote letters to be placed in a time capsule-style drum that will be displayed in the school.

Each student shared their vision for where they see themselves in the next 10 years.

Sinclair said he hoped to be a hockey player in the National Hockey League, while another student said she hoped to finish university and get a good job.

Goring said the activity was meant to give the students a connection to the ceremony as well as help them envision their future.

"It's a drum, so the medicine wheel and the circle are embedded into many of our teachings and it represents our journey or our path," said Goring.

"I look forward to, hopefully in 10 years, us looking back and reflecting on the thoughts that were put in there."

The drum was made byhigh school welding students at nearby R.B. Russell Vocational School.

Many of the students at Niji Mahkwa go on to either R.B Russell, or to Children of the Earth High School, which also offers Cree and Ojibwe programming.

Goring says whileNiji Mahkwa is the only elementary school of its kind in the province's public system, his message to other communities is that it can be done elsewhere.

"If you collaborate and work with your stakeholders and listen to the voices of the children and the parents, a school like Niji Mahkwa can happen and thrive anywhere."