SASKATOON – A new bilingual Cree school has opened its doors to up to 700 students in east Saskatoon.
The new awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School held its grand opening on Friday, and it was indeed a grand opening, complete with a grand entrance and many nods to Indigenous culture and traditions.
The school is part of Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, but it is unique as a bilingual Cree school, offering the opportunity for pre-Kindergarten to grade nine students to learn in both English and Cree.
The new school is located on Seventh Street East, replacing what had been a former school building on that location. It will provide a central location for students enrolled in the bilingual Cree program.
The students previously were taught at two separate locations in the city, including at the old St. Francis locations on McPherson Ave. and Bateman Cres.
The name “awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik” stands for "children who dance" in Cree. The speakers at the grand opening acknowledged it was a little difficult to pronounce and had fun teaching the non-Cree speakers how to say it: a-wah-si-suk ga-knee-me-toe-chick.
What the students will experience is a school setting in which they are exposed on a daily basis to the Indigenous language, culture and traditions.
"The kids are going to get what I never got growing up as a kid — my culture, my language, and my identity," said Saskatoon Tribal Council Tribal Chief Mark Arcand.
He noted this was major change from the days of residential schools when their culture was outlawed.
"We are making small strides. When we think about what this means today, I think we’re putting the Indian back in the child and we all need to be proud of that. Because we have a lot of great indigenous and non-indigenous partners that are working together to make that happen.
The Government of Saskatchewan’s contribution to the new build was $45.6 million, with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and community partners providing additional support.
“So it does speak to the level of investment by the government and collaboration that we enjoy with our partners, in this example here today with the Saskatoon Tribal Council and the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools,” Education Minister Everett Hindley said. “And we're so grateful for their partnership to help lead us to where we are today.”
For the provincial government this is the third school grand opening they have attended just in the past couple of weeks, following the grand opening of a joint use school in northeast Regina as well as a new elementary school in La Loche. Both of those new schools also incorporated strong Indigenous elements to them as well.
Premier Scott Moe said this was another step on the path to reconciliation.
“I think it was said very well in Île-à-la-Crosse by some of the elders in the community where, you know, if we truly believe that reconciliation, that we all have a duty to walk the walk of reconciliation, it's important for us to recognize our past.”
“I think today, or whether it be in La Loche a week ago today with the elementary school there, these are true examples of doing just that.”
