Yellowknife educators gear up for school year with Indigenous education day

Teachers, education assistants, and support staff of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 gathered by the Yellowknife River on Thursday to take part in an Indigenous language education day.

The goal of the day was to teach the approximately 300 new and returning school staff the importance of language and culture, so that they can better engage with the Dene Kede curriculum, according to coordinator Andrea Harding. 

"It really is just an opportunity for us to respect and engage in the cultural learnings of the area and have people come together so that they feel that we are supporting their professional learning in a way that's relevant for them," said Jameel Aziz, superintendent for the Yellowknife school district.

Aziz says he hopes educators will be able to take the skills and resources from this education day to break down cultural barriers in their classrooms and keep Indigenous languages alive.

The day started with a chief welcome and a feeding-the-fire ceremony, followed by a keynote speech and performance from Juno award winning Canadian singer Susan Aglukark, who graduated herself from Yellowknife's Sir John Franklin high school. 

Staff then spent the afternoon developing skills in Indigenous cultural practices such as soapstone carving, moose hide tanning, canoeing, beadworking and more. 

There were also many opportunities for attendees to gain familiarity with the Willideh language.

"As a young Indigenous lady, I feel that it's needed more and more," said Crystal Catholique, who is a new education assistant at Sir John Franklin. "The teachers being able to experience what we have been doing since I've been growing up — that they're able to take the language with them, being able to show the students this is what is done in this area of the Northwest Territories."

This was also the first time educators were able to gather en mass since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event took place at the Yellowknives Dene's Wiiliideh Site by the Yellowknife River. 

Yellowknife students return to the classroom on Aug. 29.