Wakaw School Launches Michif Curriculum

WAKAW — In 2018, Métis Nation-Saskatchewan partnered with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) and worked with Elders to integrate awards-based Métis cultural content and perspectives into the classroom.

In 2020, MN-S partnered with five school divisions in three communities in a Michif Early Learning Pilot Project at select schools in Regina, Saskatoon, and the Ile-a-la-Crosse school division. St. Michael’s School and Westmount School in Saskatoon are two schools that have been running the language program since its inception. Westmount School is home to the Mii is taking their place (Autie’s Place) Michif Early Learning program for preschoolers and kindergarteners. MN–S also worked on the development of a Dene Early Learning Pilot Project with the Northern Lights School Division in La Loche.

Subsequently, the Métis Provincial Council voted at its March 2022 meeting to expand the program to include the Living Sky, Northern Lights, Horizon, Good Spirit, and Prairie Valley school divisions. The early learning programs receive funding from Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, which assists with any additional costs of running the program, including professional learning opportunities and the creation and distribution of Métis/Michif resources.

On Friday January 19th^eHorizon School Division’s Superintendent of Indigenous Education Bryan McNabb and Métis Language Coach Lester Gardiner joined the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan for a meeting with other program leaders from across Saskatchewan for a “check-in” on the Early Language and Literacy Plan (ELLP). Director of Education Kevin Gardiner said Horizon SD was fortunate to be involved in this opportunity and that the division was excited to offer the Michif language program at Wakaw School. “Teacher Katelyn Hopkins has stepped into this leadership role,” he shared in his weekly division update.

Wakaw School’s Michif Enhancement Program will begin this fall and is designed to help preschoolers build language skills and knowledge of Métis culture. The program allows enrolled students to spend two additional mornings per week in school to build Michif French language skills. Benefits of the program include language acquisition, increased academic success, socialization with peers, an opportunity to grow in Métis cultural identity, land-based learning opportunities and community connections. “We are excited to see this project get off the ground and look forward to expanding it to some of our other Horizon schools in the near future,” Garinger said.

Michif is the traditional Métis language that combines French and Plains Cree. “Michif” is often used to refer to one of three unique languages ​​that have evolved with Métis culture: Michif French, Heritage Michif, and Northern Michif. Métis have been multilingual since the birth of the Métis Nation, speaking the languages ​​of their neighbors and trading partners in addition to their own. Language remains an important part of Métis identity in the modern day.

This isn’t the first Michif-focused learning project MN-S has undertaken. Similar offerings are available in 17 schools across the province. The MN-S Department of Language is staffed with coordinators, revitalization specialists and resource developers who, with the support of the federal government, are able to fund and support these programs. Some schools have a language custodian a few days a week, while others have it more spread out. Julia McCormick, MN-S Department of Language, is responsible for administering the programs and explained that programs have been developed for delivery in Northern Michif, Heritage Michif (sometimes referred to as Southern Michif), Michif French, Cree and Dene. Each school implementing the program chooses which language to focus on.

Northern Michif is spoken primarily throughout northern Saskatchewan and parts of northern Alberta; particularly in Saskatchewan communities such as Green Lake, Meadow Lake, Beauval, Île-à-la-Crosse, and Buffalo Narrows. Northern Michif is considered by some to be a dialect of Cree, but with a noticeable French influence, and appears to have evolved independently. Elders and speakers of the language say that the French borrowings into Northern Michif were introduced by the clergy and the school system rather than by Michif French.

Heritage Michif is spoken primarily from western Manitoba to central Alberta and northern North Dakota and Montana. It originated among the buffalo-hunting Métis of the plains. In Saskatchewan, it is spoken primarily in the areas of Yorkton, Cypress Hills, Qu’Appelle Valley, and Round Prairie/Saskatoon. The French element of Heritage Michif comes from Michif French, with the Algonquian element coming from dialects of Cree and Western Ojibwe (Saulteaux).

Michif French is spoken in select communities stretching from western Ontario to central Alberta, with St. Louis and the surrounding area being the most widely spoken in Saskatchewan. It may have originated on the eastern edge of the Métis homeland around the Great Lakes, from where many Métis families migrated to the Red River Settlement and beyond.

Language is a living thing that changes and grows over time, but when language develops in isolation, the resemblance to the modern evolution of its origins disappears. Thus, with much of its vocabulary and grammar derived from the old dialects of French spoken among the early voyageurs, Michif French is a very different language from Québec French. Heritage Michif is considered unique among the world’s contact languages. It is often described as a mix of French nouns and Cree verbs, while Northern Michif replaces French nouns, primarily in the domestic domains, while animal names and numbers are all Cree.

The program’s goals include language and cultural revitalization, with an emphasis on preschool and kindergarten-aged youth because, as McCormick said, “they are little sponges with the language.” It is well documented that preschoolers are particularly well-equipped to learn language and that this ripples out into the family and community, leaving the children feeling “great” about their Métis identity.

Hopkins said the school hopes to enroll about eight children in the program, but that depends on the number of families interested. From conversations with Elders and others, it became clear that Michif French is the heritage language of the Métis in the area. St. Louis also offers a Michif French program, and Stobart Community School in Duck Lake offers a Northern Michif language program to complement its Cree language program.

Batoche Homeland Métis Local #51 President Victor Guillet presented teacher Katelyn Hopkins and each of the future kindergarten students in attendance with a Métis sash. Val Gaudet, a citizen of Local #51, prepared Bannock as a treat for the children as they concluded their morning orientation.