For the first time, children in this Mi'kmaw community can go to their own school

Wed., October 13, 2021, 2:17 p.m.·2 min read

The official opening for the Paqtnkek Education Centre building is scheduled for Oct. 15 (Tanya Francis - image credit)

It's taken years of planning and hard work, but Paqtnkek Mi'kmaw Nation students in grades primary to three are now able to get a culturally relevant education in their own community.

Construction on the new Paqtnkek Education Centre building is almost complete. Since the school year started, students have been attending classes in the elders centre in the community, which is about 25 kilometres east of Antigonish, N.S.

But moving day is nearing for the students, with the official opening ceremony for the new school scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Tanya Francis, the community's education director, said Paqtnkek's past and current leadership has worked diligently to make the school a reality.

Dennis Pictou

Five years ago, the community of 600 members held a vote about building their own school, Francis said. The majority voted no, fearing children would not get the same type of education as the provincial system offers.

"We had more meetings with parents and elders and we stressed that no, of course, we're going to follow the curriculum," she said.

"But we're going to do it more in a culturally relevant way for our students."

Racism in schools

Francis said Mi'kmaw students have endured racism in provincial schools over the years and, although it is "getting better," Mi'kmaw students are still disproportionately suspended from school and more likely to dropout.

She said the Paqtnkek Education Centre provides a welcoming and empathetic environment and staff that want the best for the children.

Danielle Gloade, the school's first principal, said the children are enjoying their new school experience close to home.

Gloade said the 22 students stand every morning in a big circle and honour themselves and their ancestors by singing the Mi'kmaq Honour Song.

"We do a smudge as a prayer to give thanks for the beautiful day and this opportunity for these kids to grow in an environment that really is going to nourish them as Indigenous people and really connect to who they are as people and to uplift them," she said.

Tanya Francis/Danielle Gloade

Speaking their own language

Gloade's grandmother, Nora Bernard, was a Mi'kmaw activist who led the first class-action lawsuit calling for compensation for residential school survivors. She was never allowed to speak her native language in the residential school.

Hearing the children at the Paqtnkek school using their own language is incredible, Gloade said.

The legacy of residential schools led many Indigenous people to feel that they "were not good enough," she said. Gloade hopes that will change once they see how good children are feeling in their own school system.

Francis, whose father was also a residential school survivor, said Indigenous people have endured a great deal of trauma.

"To be taught the way we learn and by Mi'kmaw teachers is the best medicine for our students to move forward and be successful and be proud," Francis said.

Nunavut Inuit sue territorial government over right to education in Inuktut

Wed., October 13, 2021

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) president Aluki Kotierk, centre, enters the Nunavut Court of Justice to file a lawsuit against the territorial government. NTI claims the Nunavut government is discriminating against Inuit by not offering education in Inuktut to the same degree as English and French. (Nick Murray/CBC News - image credit)

The organization that represents Inuit in Nunavut is suing the government of Nunavut over the right for students to be educated in Inuktut.

In a statement of claim filed Wednesday in Iqaluit, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) claims the Nunavut government is discriminating against Inuit by not offering education in Inuktut to the same degree as English and French — despite Inuktitut being the territory's dominant language.

"So the message to us as Inuktut-speaking Inuit in Nunavut when we're the public majority is our language doesn't mean anything, it's not important, and certainly it's not as important as English or French," NTI president Aluki Kotierk told CBC News on courthouse steps.

"We're tried very hard to work with the government to express how it has an impact on who we are and how crucial it is. But consistently, the message has been that the Inuit language is not as important as other languages."

Claudiane Samson/Radio-Canada

NTI, which represents Inuit who were party to the Nunavut Agreement, is asking the Nunavut Court of Justice to step in and force the territorial government to offer a full slate of subjects and classes in Inuktut, across all grade levels, and to do it within five years of the end of the litigation.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the passing of Bill 25 in Nunavut's Legislature last year, which NTI argues "further diminished Inuit language education in Nunavut schools."

Right now, education in Inuktut is mostly only available up to Grade 4, with subject matter taught primarily in English and French after then.

Language lesson: Inuktitut is the dialect of the Inuit language spoken by the vast majority of Inuit across Nunavut. Inuktut is a term encompassing all dialects, including Inuinnaqtun, which is predominantly spoken in the Kitikmeot in Western Nunavut. NTI's lawsuit refers to Inuktut education.

The Government of Nunavut passed legislation in 2008 to require Inuktut education for all grades by 2019-2020, but never achieved its legally-binding commitment.

Instead, NTI alleges, the government passed Bill 25 in 2020, which changed the law to only require the government to offer an Inuit language course, rather than full grade material in Inuktut. It also pushed the implementation of the course to as early as 2026 for Grade 4, and as late as 2039 for Grade 12.

And while the territorial government has argued publicly it's developing curriculum to have Inuktut courses offered across different subjects, NTI's lawsuit alleges the passing of Bill 25 "harms Inuit students by causing [their] loss of the Inuit language and culture, and undermining [their] ability to achieve their educational potential."

'This claim is all about discrimination'

The lawsuit includes two individual plaintiffs: Bernice Clarke, 46, and Lily Maniapik, 33.

Both are Inuit with children in Nunavut's education system, who want their kids to be able to have access to education in Inuktut. Clarke is also an NTI employee.

"This claim is all about discrimination," said Kotierk in a news conference Wednesday. "The discrimination based on race and ethnicity and the fact that we are Inuit."

The lawsuit raises a constitutional challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing Nunavut's education system is discriminating against Inuit by not providing education in Inuktut, despite it being the dominant language in Nunavut.

"The expectation here in Nunavut is when we're the public majority, who speak Inuktut, we expect that the public education system would be available in Inuktut language of instruction in all grade levels in all subject areas," Kotierk said.

"To date, that is not what is occurring."

The government of Nunavut has not yet filed a statement of defence. Nunavut's department of education did not respond to a request for comment.