1. Creating Passages to Education for Indigenous Youth
Diane Sugars, MBA

2. Disclaimer: While understanding the history, education and perspectives of Indigenous peoples are important, it is beyond the scope of this workshop to properly elaborate on this topic to the degree that is required.

3. To move forward we need to understand the past.
Learning that was rooted in the community and the natural environment
Knowledge was transmitted by elders and community members
Indigenous peoples have a spiritual connection to the land

4. Kill the Indian in the child
Over 130 residential schools were located across Canada

5. They took away the children
More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children attended residential school

6. Residential School Statistics
Indian Residential Schools date back to the 1870s
90% - 100% abuse
Over 130 residential schools across the country
More than 150,000 children
Mortality rates at some schools were as high as 60%
6000 children died

7. Don’t belong to either culture

8. The ongoing impact of this multigenerational trauma
Alcohol and drug abuse
Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse
Dysfunctional families
Toxic communication skills
Educational blocks
Suicide

9. Reconciliation

10. 7 generations to heal

11. Why don’t you people just get over it
Watch the video 8th Fire – Part 1 on Youtube

12. How are the children doing?
The last residential school  was located in Saskatchewan, and was closed in 1996.

13. Canada mirroring Australia
Canada saw 150,000 kids put into residential schools.
Australia saw 10,500 children forcibly removed
Canada Indigenous peoples make up 4% of the population and 25% of its prison population.
Australia Indigenous peoples make up 3% of the population and 27% of its prison population.
In both countries Indigenous women make up a third of the female prison population.
In the child welfare system, almost 50% of Canadian children are Indigenous. The Australian rate is 51%.

14. Be like the buffalo

15. This is a Canadian problem

16. Breaking the cycle

17. Sharing history with our children

18. Inclusive in Education
BC is one of the top education systems in the world.
Canada, led by British Columbia, is the fourth-ranked country in the world for students’ performance in science and is ranked seventh overall.

19. So what’s the good news.
Academic skills, employment and training, and the work to address poverty and social conditions are being done separate and apart from one another
This work needs to be connected in order to truly achieve success for the Indigenous learner.

20. Break Time – see you in 15

21. Stats

22. Moving Forward
“Reconciliation requires constructive action on addressing the ongoing legacies of colonialism that have had destructive impacts on Aboriginal peoples’ education, cultures and languages, health, child welfare, the administration of justice, and economic opportunities and prosperity.”

23. Dogwood ‘25
“A collaboration of key players in Indigenous education dedicated to increasing the academic success of Indigenous students. The organization was established to support the educational achievement and social-emotional growth of all Indigenous learners in BC, from kindergarten to Grade 12, in order to increase their graduation rates to equal to or better than provincial graduation rates by the year 2025.”

24. Dogwood ’25 Founders
Mike Harcourt
Sid Katz

25. Holistic learner-centred approach
Dogwood is taking constructive action towards reconciliation, by partnering with Indigenous peoples, school boards, educators, post-secondary institutions, and businesses that share the same vision.

26. Will you hire me if I go to school?
Daring to dream of a future…

27. Connecting the dots

28. Wise practices Assessment services such as psycho-educational testing
Assisting the family in advocating for the Indigenous learner in the school system
Advocating for improvements in Indigenous education at the local, provincial and national level
Employment and Training Opportunities

29. It takes a Village…
For this approach to be a success, we need partners who are equally concerned with the persistent education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners and who want to do something about it.

30. Paddling the canoe together resulting in change

31. Q and A Time

32. Kukwstsétselp (Thank you)