UPDATE 3:53 PM
The school board has issued a public apology for the assignment, with Assistant Superintendent Kap Manhas claiming the district will be working to ensure similar incidents don’t happen in the future.
“We are deeply sorry for any harm that this has caused to the students, parents, families and the Indigenous communities,” said Manhas, “This assignment is not a reflection of our teachers or our commitment to truth and reconciliation. We are working through a restorative process with the parents, the teacher, the principal, and our resource staff to apply safeguards to ensure this does not happen again.”
According to the Board, the intent of the assignment was to spark a conversation about the negative impacts and enduring effects of colonization.
“I also realize that saying ‘We’re sorry’ isn’t enough. We need to put action behind those words,” added Acting Superintendent Cindy Heitman.
SD57 has implemented a new five-year strategic plan to ensure Indigenous voices are heard, the following is a list of some of the strategies they plan to utilize:
- Reviewing resources to ensure they are culturally sensitive
- Increasing Elders and Knowledge Holders in schools to support and mentor staff in the education
of Residential Schools, Indigenous culture and indigenous languages - Reviewing curriculum to indigenize with local content and decolonize to allow academics to be
learned through a cultural and inclusive lens - Providing – and emphasizing – professional learning to staff about Truth and Reconciliation Calls
to Action and Trauma Informed approaches. - Developing an Education Council of First Nations leaders, Elders and the K-12 system leaders to
discuss education within learning communities. In short ‘Nothing about us without us.”
11:27 AM
A class of grade nine students at Prince George Secondary School were asked to list the positive and negative impacts that colonialism had on Indigenous students for a social studies assignment.
Candace Aksidan, who is a local Nisga’a woman, says her son came home visibly upset last Thursday after being asked to complete the assignment because there are obviously no positives, and it has lead to years of intergenerational trauma for Indigenous Canadians.
“There are no positive impacts of colonization and our son knows that as well. He was very uncomfortable even just looking at it and he told us he had only filled out the negative impacts of colonization for Indigenous people,” she explained.
Aksidan’s father is a residential school survivor, and her husband is an Indian Day school survivor.
She says nobody else in her son’s class said anything about it, and he felt uncomfortable bringing up the issue with the assignment out of fear that he might get in trouble with either the school or his parents.
“It is extremely frustrating and it’s triggering to me even though I didn’t attend either institute whether it be residential school or Indian Day School. The effects of intergenerational trauma are still very present in our Indigenous people today,” Aksidan added.
This assignment was handed out only weeks after a report from Special Advisors Kory Wilson and Catherine McGregor was published that found many examples of behaviors and practices that are clearly discriminatory and systemically racist within School District 57.
“The curriculum needs to change. The education plans of teachers need to change. There should be no excuses, especially if they have had an Indigenous person come in and help with designing both,” she said, “so many people have this mentality that there’s nothing wrong with the school system because it doesn’t affect them and that’s pretty much what privilege is and this privileged mentality that is taught in schools usually gives non-Indigenous students this false narrative and it can also lead to willful ignorance, prejudice, and racism.”
Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan addressed the issue and said she was confused by the assignment because there is clearly no positive impact of colonization on Indigenous people.
“Why would you ask that? We’re trying to stop racism in schools and this is just feeding into it. My granddaughter had the same assignment and refused to do it at the same school, PGSS,” Chief Logan said.
However, Chief Logan adds she is very proud of Aksidan for having the courage to speak out, adding, “she’s doing it as a concerned parent and that is what we need, for parents to help the kids.”
Aksidan wants it to be known that she isn’t trying to tarnish the teacher’s reputation by speaking publically, she just wants the issue to be known.
“I used to feel like I didn’t have a voice and I know my son felt that way sitting in his class and I’m not only speaking on behalf of him, I’m speaking for my entire family, I’m speaking for those that can’t and those that go unheard.”
The Principal of PGSS and assistant Superintendent were both contacted by Aksidan about the assignment and apologized.