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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A new curriculum officially released earlier this week will make learning the history of residential schools in Canada mandatory for the first time for Yellowknife high school students.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson, left, holds the first copies of the NWT and Nunavut curriculum shortly after they were presented to her by Jackson Lafferty, NWT minister of Education, Culture and Employment and Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, who is also minister of Education. - photo courtesy of Tessa MacIntosh, with permission GNWT/GN

"It's an important subject, but definitely a little intimidating to teach, especially as someone who is not directly connected to residential schools," said Jean-Yves Drouin, who is teaching the course to a French immersion class at St. Patrick High School this semester. "I'm sure it will have a different impact on students who may not have an association in their family with people who have gone through the system versus aboriginal students, where it is more likely that their parents had gone through the system."

The residential schools unit is part of a newly revised Grade 10 Northern studies course, which is one of the only courses whose curriculum is controlled by the territorial government. Most curriculum material comes from Alberta, said John Stewart, the co-ordinator of social studies and Northern studies with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

All NWT students must take Grade 10 Northern studies as a requirement for graduation. When the decision was made to redesign the course two years ago, it became clear that a comprehensive unit on residential school history and legacy should be included, he said.

"This is for all of us," said Stewart. "Some of us have direct involvement with it, some of us don't, but we all need to understand."

Students enrolled in Grade 10 Northern studies this fall have already begun their course work, although the residential schools unit comes later in the semester.

Classes will spend about 25 hours, or roughly one-fifth of the class, learning about the history of government-mandated residential schools, their impact on aboriginal cultures and the legacy they have left behind, said Stewart.

Many aboriginal students suffered mental, physical and sexual abuse at the schools, in addition to being stripped of their traditional culture and language.

Drouin said he hopes this new program will inspire other jurisdictions in the country to include this chapter of Canadian history in their curriculum.

"It's definitely something that, I think, not just Northerners but all Canadians should be aware of it," he said. "Most of us have gone through schooling without ever learning anything about it."

Teachers from around the NWT and Nunavut were in Yellowknife this week for in-service training on the new course. This training focused primarily on teaching the residential school unit, because it can be a controversial topic, said Stewart. While in-service training is often done before rolling out new curriculum material, this training was unique in that representatives from the Healing Drum Society, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Health Canada also attended to lend support to teachers.

All educators involved are aware that information presented in class will also make its way into students' homes, said Stewart. With that in mind, information packages have been developed to send home with all students before the residential school unit begins.

"We recognize that, particularly around the issues of residential schools, these are complex issues and can be highly charged," he said.

A pilot program last spring introduced the new unit in some schools, including the public Sir John Franklin High School and the Catholic St. Patrick High School, said Stewart. Some of the teachers involved reflected afterward that they couldn't believe that they had grown up next to these schools and yet didn't know what was going on.

Groups like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have challenged Canadians to end their ignorance about residential schools, and this starts with teaching young generations about the subject, said Stewart.

In Yellowknife, as well as some of the other larger communities in the territory, some people think that residential schooling has a minimal impact on everyday life. However, that's simply not true, said Stewart. Yellowknife has the largest number of aboriginal residents of any community in the territory, so many Yellowknifers have been directly impacted by the residential school system.

"Those stories are in Yellowknife as much as they are in any other community. They may be somewhat less visible because there are other stories and other demographics of people here," he said. "That doesn't make it any less true that much of our collective NWT present and future is shaped by issues around residential schools. It doesn't mean that how I interact with my neighbour isn't affected by residential schools. We are human beings, this is something that has shaped many many people who are our neighbours, and why would I not want to have a better understanding of that?"

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