How 5 Alberta First Nations are helping shape the future of Indigenous education in Canada

A new northern Alberta school district is blazing a trail for Indigenous-led educationin Alberta and the rest ofCanada.

The Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authoritywas formed for the current school year by five First Nations which are home tosix schools.

Up to this year, the nations involved Loon River First Nation, Lubicon Lake Band, Peerless Trout First Nation, Whitefish Lake First Nation and Woodland Cree First Nation each had their own curriculum in their schools.

Under the new framework, the schools have the same land-based learning program for students, with the goal thatconsistency will help educators learn from each other and lead tobetterattendance and graduation rates.

Land-based learning includes teachings on Cree culture, finding and harvesting medicinal plantsand teaching survival skills.

Alan Rollins,CEO of the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council, said he's thrilled the education authority is finally operational after more than 20 years of trying to get it up and running.

"This has been a long, long process," Rollins said. "This was a coming together of a number of First Nations to work co-operatively."

A single board for First Nations schools may seem long overdue, Rollins said.

But many communities sawtheir culture and language taken from them duringthe residential school system and only gained control of their education 30 years ago.

Things are moving quickly now with the introduction of theeducation authority, Rollinssaid.

"They have done in 30-odd years what took the province over a century to do," he said. "I think that's kind of like, greased-lightning speed."

Isolation challenges

As their first year wraps up, there are already signs of success.

Attendance and graduation rates in the schools have improved, according to DavidEggen, Alberta's education minister.

But there have also beenchallenges. The authority was desperate forteachers in early September.

The isolation can make it difficult for schoolsto recruit and retainteachers, said superintendent DaphneMai'Stoina.

"The isolation factor is big," Mai'Stoinasaid."It's huge."

Eggen, who attended one of the education authority's winter camps, said teaching in the communities is a unique opportunity.

"It's a wonderful place to teach," he said. "There's notwo ways about it.

"Many people thrive in that environment, but they need to have those supports every step of the way."

Funding gap

Those supports are harder to come by at on-reserve schools as theyare funded federally, not by the province.

Federally-funded schools receive far less money, Eggen said.

"With that funding gap, students are just naturally not getting as good of a quality education," he said.

In 2016, the Alberta government gave the authority$2.1 million in funding as akick start.

"We're trying to bridge that gap and also encourage the federal government to pay their fair share, too," Eggen said.

Eggensaid he watched theauthority closely to see what worked and what didn't, lessons the province will apply to the Maskwacs education authority, set to be formally announced Wednesday.

Maskwacs will be able to take lessons from KeeTasKeeNow in dealing with isolation,communication and recruiting teachers and apply them to its education authority, Eggen said.

For Rollins, the lessons learned were to be expected.

"We are talking about five First Nations operating six schools in semi-isolation in north-central Alberta, so there's no urban environment to lean on," he said. "We're just out there, in the pine trees, trying to do the right thing.

"It's been one heck of a lot of fun, and I think these communities are starting to get there."

Mai'Stoina said joining an education authoritymay not be for every First Nation. A much larger nation, like Siksika Nation in southern Alberta, might want to keep its education separate from other First Nations, she said.

"A lot of First Nations want their autonomy, and that's perfectly fine," she said.

But for smaller nations, pooling resources can help improve education outcomes, Mai'Stoinasaid.

KeeTasKeeNow is already accepting three more schools from Northlands School Division next year.

And though the education authority is currentlyCree only, all parties are open to accepting nearby nations that speak other Indigenous languages.

It's a partnership Mai'Stoina said she's happy to build, if there's interest.

"Ultimately, all of this is for the children," she said. "There is so much room for improvement, but at least we know where we're going and we have a good, strong organization to be able to move forward."

@kylemuzyka
kyle.muzyka@cbc.ca