Members of New Southern Plains Métis (NSPM) Local #160, Moose Jaw’s Métis organization, organized Métis teaching workshops at the Moose Jaw Public Library on May 17 for students visiting from Winnipeg for the Band & Choral Festival.
The 75 students were from École Seven Oaks Middle School. The Battle of Seven Oaks was one of the defining events in Métis history, and the school places a strong emphasis on Indigenous knowledge.
“Our school division is very vocal about the importance of Indigenous education,” said Katy Abraham. Abraham is a music educator at Seven Oaks Middle School and accompanied students on the trip. “Lots of teachings are shared in their daily classroom experiences, so getting to know others and getting to know the communities that we travel to is important to us. As often as we can, we try and incorporate Indigenous teachings in our trips.”
Darrell Hawman, president of the NSPM, arranged 20-minute workshops at the Moose Jaw Public Library (MJPL) which included elements of the Michif language taught by Al Chaisson, Métis history and storytelling by Hawman, and a Red River cart activity by Rick Pickering.
Chaisson is a member of the New Southern Plains Métis chapter and a Michif language instructor. His first language is French, which made learning Michif easy, he said.
“This is a lost language,” Chaisson explained, “and I want to revitalize it so that everybody speaks it. There’s only about 685 people in Canada who speak it right now. I want to encourage them to learn, as young as they are, because if you don’t, you’re missing the culture. You’re missing a lot of things, if you don’t know the language.”
Many of the Seven Oaks students are in French immersion and were pleased with how much they understood.
“I got to go around with the groups to the three stations that were set up and it was really interesting to see, with so many of our students understanding French, how close Michif is to French and how much we were able to understand, even though it’s a different language,” said Elizabeth LaRue, a teacher at Seven Oaks.
“That was really neat, and we were able to learn about the Red River carts and how they were made, and the students got to touch it and play with it. … To actually meet someone of that culture and speaking that language, I think meant something more than just reading it in a book.”
“We’re trying to educate people and bring up the general awareness of Métis culture, for everyone,” Hawman said before the students arrived. “The story that hasn’t been told is a couple hundred years older than Confederation. It started in about 1670 and continues today. And that’s the story we’ll cover, and how we came about and developed as a people.
“Through the different areas of the fur trade, and the buffalo hunt, the transition to colonialism, and how we’re affected today.”
As president of NSPM, Hawman has led the way over the last few years to signing Memorandums of Understanding with Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Prairie South School Division, and Holy Trinity Catholic School Division. The MOUs promise communication and co-operation on Truth and Reconciliation efforts and Indigenous teachings at the educational institutions.
Some useful Michif phrases include:
- Taanshi = Hello
- Taanshi keeya = How are you?
- Kiiya maaka = How about you?
- Boon matayn = Good morning
- Boon apray mijii = Good afternoon
