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Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute is pleased to offer three programs starting in January 2006 ...

• Aboriginal Community Services Worker Program
• Native Early Childhood Education Diploma Program
• First Nation Business Administration Certificate

1. Aboriginal Community Services Worker Program

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute in partnership with Confederation / Negahneewin College

The ACSWP is a 2 year ((4 semester) program that provides students with a comprehensive and culturally relevant educational experience.

The distance education delivery format of the Aboriginal Community Services worker Program allows students to remain employed in the social service field within their home community throughout the training.  The program is also available to anyone interested in beginning a career in social services.

ACSWP graduates pursue the followin career opportunities:

• Program Coordinators
• Alcohol Workers
• Mental Health Workers
• Community Health Representatives
• Health Liaison Workers

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2. Native Early Childhood Education Diploma Program

The program will be delivered in January 2006 in partnership with Cambrain College

The NECEP is a two year, four semester program that provides a comprehensive and culturally relevant educational experience.

Students will:

• travel to Thunder Bay to participate in two 2-week on-campus sessions per semester
• earn their ECE certification for employment in licensed child care settings
• develop knowledge and skills to organize and maintain a safe, stimulating learning environment to ensure the child's total development.
• examine the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth of the child.

Graduates may be eligible for advanced standings when entering other diploma or degree programs.  The modular delivery provides students with the flexibility of earning a NECE diploma while remaining employed in their home community.  Oshki-Pimache-O-Win provides students with support services to help ensure student success.

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Delivered January 2006 by Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute in partnership with Cambrian College

The First Nation Business Administration Certificate Program is a one-year, two semester program, providing a comprehensive and culturally relevant educational experience that will:

• Increase human resource capacity within the First Nation communities and Aboriginal organizations.
• Increase employment opportunities for graduates through development of up-to-date, marketable skills.
• Offer graduates eligibility for advanced standing when entering diploma or degree programs.
• Allow flexibility and access to employed students through the use of a modular format - two intensive on-campus sessions per semester.
• Student support services to help ensure student success.

Course List

• Introduction to Accounting
• Mathematics of Finance
• Business Communications I
• First Nation Funding Arrangements
• Spreadsheet Management
• Managerial Accounting
• Organizational Behavior
• Writing Fundamentals
• Introduction to Marketing I
• Introduction to Marketing II
• Business Mathematics
• First Nation Human Resource Management I
• Introduction to Computer Competency

For Further Information Contact Admissions at:

Education curriculum in Ontario schools is evolving  

September 20, 2005
MEDIA RELEASE

Anishinabek Grand Chief wants expansion of First Nation perspective in Ontario's new school curriculum

NIPISSING FN - The Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief says that, while it is encouraging to see more First Nation perspectives included in Ontario's new school curriculum, the province should go further and include a significant focus on treaties and treaty rights, the history of residential schools and mandatory Native language instruction for First Nation students.

The province announced that First Nations culture and history would be taught in all classrooms across Ontario with the introduction of an improved curriculum launched this week. Ontario teachers will be required to teach a more detailed Aboriginal perspective in every grade.

"Our history and culture has been excluded from Canada's education system for far too long," said Grand Council Chief John Beaucage. "We've always been simply a token unit in social studies and Canadian history classes. Even that limited curriculum was developed by non-native historians and lacked the perspectives of the First Nations people themselves."

The province has introduced a First Nations perspective as part of revamped social studies and revised history and geography program and in senior grades it will be part of a new Canadian and world studies course.

Many said the previous curriculum overlooked First Nation subjects. After mounting criticism, native educators were brought in to re-write new curriculum guidelines with the First Nation perspective in mind.

"We all remember the Bering Strait theory and how the curriculum classified us as hunter-gatherers, Paleo-Indians or Eastern Woodland people," said Beaucage. "This is not how we see ourselves. We want to see all children learning about us as the Anishinabek Nation, whose contributions to modern society are far-reaching and consequential."

Contemporary Native people like Inuit hockey star Jordin Tootoo are now included in the Grade 6 social studies curriculum. Study units on pioneer life with references to "Aboriginals" now mention specific Nations such as the Iroquois and the Ojibway.

"We want to see the province take this a step further," said Beaucage. "An expanded First Nations studies curriculum should include a significant focus on cultural awareness, treaties and treaty rights, the history of residential schools and mandatory Native language instruction for our own children in public schools.

"First Nations educators must continue to play a lead role in the development of curriculum and teaching these lessons in our schools. I would recommend that the government continue to revise and expand on these developments by ensuring adequate resources to this curriculum development initiative and include further involvement by Anishinabek, Mushkegowuk (Cree), Haudenasaunee (Iroquois), and Metis teachers."

The Anishinabek Nation incorporated the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 42 member First Nations across Ontario. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

For more information contact:
Jamie Monastyrski, Communications Officer

Union of Ontario Indians
705-497-9127 (2290), monjam@anishinabek.ca

From the First Nations Education Steering Committee website in BC ... announcing the series of workshops being held by INAC across the country. FNESC has some good reference material listed below for everyone to use to prepare for the review of this program.

The Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and, with representatives from the National Association of Indigenous Institutes of Higher Learning (NAIIHL) and the Inuit of Labrador, have begun a formal review of the Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Program for First Nation and Inuit students. This is the first major joint review of the PSE program. This review will look at the two components of the PSE program – student support (Post-secondary Student Support Program, or PSSSP including University and College Entrance Program (UCEP)) and institutional support (Indian Studies Support Program, or ISSP).

This review is an opportunity for the INAC, AFN, NAIIHL and the Inuit of Labrador to take a fresh look at the program and identify ways the PSE program can be improved and enhanced so that it better meets the current and future needs of First Nation and Inuit students and First Nation post-secondary education institutions. The overall objective of the review is to ultimately increase student participation and success in post-secondary education.

As a first step in seeking community-level input, a second consultation meeting, following up on the April meeting, will be held September 22, 2005 in Richmond, BC and consultation will continue at the 2005 FNESC Regional Sessions. First Nation PSE managers, leaders and representatives of First Nation post-secondary institutions will be invited to participate. This will ensure the Joint Working Group is informed by First Nation communities, students and institutions.

We encourage you to contact your local PSE manager and leaders to ensure that your views inform the national PSE program review. The information gathered at the September 22, 2005 National PSE Review Consultation meeting and the FNESC Regional Sessions will form BC region’s input to this important National PSE Review and will shape the future delivery of the PSE program for First Nations students and post-secondary institutes.

For First Nations Post Secondary Managers/Coordinators, FNESC has drafted a Workbook (PDF)which can be completed prior to attending the meeting on September 22nd. To assist in your community consultation process, FNESC has also provided a PowerPoint presentation.

RESEARCH FINDS SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION IN GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON ABORIGINAL EDUCATION

Speaking Notes for Delbert Horton, Past-Chair Aboriginal Institutes Consortium On the Release of the CRRF Report on Aboriginal Institutions of Higher Learning

Click here for the full 87 page report (pdf version)

August 24, 2005

• I am pleased to participate in the announcement of the completion of this report.
• The recommendations are crucial to the stability, growth and development of Aboriginal-controlled post-secondary institutions.
• There are eight in Ontario which deliver a variety of programs including degree, diploma, certificate and skill-trades programs.    Our institutes also deliver a variety of adult education programs, and some operate alternative secondary school programs.  We also conduct community-based research.   In short, we respond to a wide variety of First Nations education needs and are an integral component of a First Nations life-long learning system.
• The first recommendation calls for the federal government to recognize, through legislation, the authority for First Nations institutions to grant degrees, diplomas and certificates. Currently our institutions must work in partnership with mainstream institutions and purchase the right to grant their degrees and their diplomas.   
• The related issue is the need to ensure sustainable funding for First Nations institutions.   Without government policy and legislative recognition, there is no mechanism to ensure adequate access to sustainable resources such as operating grants.
• A variety of models exist to recognize and resource First Nations institutions.  Unless policy change occurs, the successes achieved by First Nations institutions will be limited.   There are increasing demands, such as increasing numbers of students and demands for new education and training programs.  The existing approach is not adequate to allow First Nations institutions to grow and to thrive.
• First Nations post-secondary institutions are an important resource in First Nations education and a potential resource to all governments which deal with First Nations education.   An investment to build our capacity is an investment in enhancing the quality of First Nations education in Ontario.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CRRF SPONSORED RESEARCH FINDS SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION IN GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON ABORIGINAL EDUCATION

Toronto, August 24, 2005: A study released by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and prepared by the Aboriginal Institutes’ Consortium, representing eight Aboriginal post-secondary  education and training institutes in Ontario, has found that there is a consistent pattern of systemic discrimination in the way the federal and provincial governments handles the education of Aboriginal students.

The report, Aboriginal Institutions of Higher Education – A Struggle for the Education of Aboriginal Students, Control of Indigenous Knowledge and Recognition of Aboriginal Institutions, was released at the “OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE, OUR WAY” conference sponsored by the Chiefs of Ontario. It examines the evolution of government support for Aboriginal students enrolled in post-secondary institutions and the development of Aboriginal post-secondary institutions, noting that it was only in 1968 the federal government adopted a policy to provide funding support for status Indians enrolled in post-secondary studies.

In 1972, the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations) released a policy document, Indian Control of Indian Education, which reaffirmed the rights gained through treaties for Aboriginal peoples to be in control of their own education. The federal government adopted the policy a year later. Its shortcoming was that it was geared to elementary education.

“One of the excuses governments use to get out of their responsibility of funding Aboriginal higher-learning institutions is to play each off against the other,” observes LuAnn Hill, one of the authors of the report. “The federal government says that education is a provincial responsibility. The provinces say that the federal government is responsible for the education of Aboriginal persons. We are caught in the middle.”

The report makes it clear that First Nations institutions have developed sophisticated programs which meet all the “established” criteria for graduation. Nevertheless, only a few have been granted the right to award their own degrees. It demands that all First Nations post-secondary institutions be given the same recognition.

Additional recommendations include obtaining sustainable funding comparable to mainstream institutions; ability to transfer credits earned in an Aboriginal institution to a mainstream school and vice-versa; increasing the amount of funding available for First Nations’ student; making specialized funding available to address language issues, including language preservation; that the two levels of government and the Aboriginal communities to establish a formal process to develop policy and legislation to support Aboriginal education.

“Governments’ control of Aboriginal education has always been one of the ways they have used to try to assimilate Aboriginal peoples,” observes Paul Winn, Vice Chair of the CRRF. “By not allowing Aboriginal tertiary institutions to grant degrees or certificates is one way they continue to exercise paternalistic control over Aboriginal peoples.”

The conference was also the venue for the release of A New Agenda: A Manifesto for First Nations Education in Ontario, a foundation document adopted and endorsed by the Chief of Ontario.

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The Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s mission is to shed light on the causes and manifestations of racism, provide independent, outspoken national leadership, and act as a resource and facilitator in the pursuit of equity, fairness and social justice for all Canadians. The CRRF is a registered charitable organization and has Special NGO Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. 

Contact:
Dominique Etienne, Communications, CRRF: 416-952-8171

From CRR web site at http://www.crr.ca/Load.do?section=26&subSection=38&type=2

Aboriginal Institutions of Higher Education

A Struggle for the Education of Aboriginal Students, Control of Indigenous Knowledge and Recognition of Aboriginal Institutions ...
An examination of government policy

 Click here for the overview and summary document (pdf version) - included below in html format

By:The Aboriginal Institutes' Consortium
Published by:Canadian Race Relations Foundation

Overview

Aboriginal peoples  continue to reclaim their cultures and languages and require educational programs that are responsive to their worldviews, histories, contemporary circumstances, social systems, and knowledge systems.  Aboriginal-controlled post-secondary institutions have emerged in order to design, develop, and deliver educational programs that respond to the higher learning needs of Aboriginal persons.

Federal and provincial governments have not embraced this community-based Aboriginal development.  Both the federal government and the government of Ontario have, to a certain extent, attempted to accommodate the special needs of Aboriginal students attending provincial colleges and universities by making funding available to these institutions to provide Aboriginal-specific programs and services.  However, Aboriginal peoples are not content to remain consumers in the provincial education system.  Ownership of traditional knowledge and application of appropriate methodologies and appropriate content are significant issues, and have driven Aboriginal communities to develop their own post-secondary institutions.  These institutions are not formally recognized in federal or provincial law or policy as educational entities in the same manner as provincial colleges or universities, and operate on the periphery of the established education system in Canada.

This study examines the history and development of Aboriginal-controlled post-secondary institutions and assesses how governments in Canada have responded to their development.  It also examines major consequences of this lack of policy and legislative support by providing a comparison between Aboriginal institutions and provincial colleges and universities.  Finally, because the issue affects Aboriginal institutions across Canada, recommendations for policy and legislative support for Aboriginal institutions are presented.  This study also raises the question: 'Does racism exist with respect to Canadian policy and legislative support for Aboriginal-controlled post-secondary institutions?'

Executive Summary

Education can either be a tool for success or a tool for destruction.  This study examines key events in the recorded history of Aboriginal education that have triggered a concentrated and consistent reaction from Aboriginal peoples to take continuous measures to design and develop an evolving and distinct education system to address the unique needs of Aboriginal peoples. 

Education was one of the earliest means by which the Canadian government attempted to absorb and assimilate Aboriginal peoples into accepting the culture and educational practices of the dominant society.  This study highlights some of the key events in the recorded history of Aboriginal education since European settlement and some of the outcomes resulting from colonial education systems. 

The most notable practice employed for this purpose was the development of residential schools run primarily by various religious orders.  The residential schools removed children from their communities, often leaving them unable to return home for a number of years.  This social experiment inculcated Aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian religious values and social mores, including training in the Euro-Canadian understanding of the roles of men and women.  Until 1951, the Indian Act of Canada forbade Aboriginal persons, defined as "Indian" for the purposes of the Act, from attending university unless they voluntarily relinquished their status as an Indian under a process called enfranchisement (The Indian Act, 1876).

A review of the history of Aboriginal education highlights the actions and involvement of non-Aboriginal peoples in education and the need of Aboriginal peoples to define their own vision and aspirations for education.  It also demonstrates that since 1972, Aboriginal peoples have consistently asserted their determination to regain control of their systems and institutions of education.

In 1969, the government of Canada tabled a White Paper document on the future of Aboriginal peoples in Canada (Ottawa, 1996a).  It essentially called for the assimilation of Aboriginal peoples into the body politic, indistinguishable in law from the Canadian populace.  This led to a massive mobilization of Aboriginal persons and the formation of numerous organizations dedicated to the recognition of Aboriginal rights and identity.  In 1972, First Nations  in Canada joined together to issue a policy document entitled Indian Control of Indian Education, which demanded recognition of the right of Aboriginal people to educate their children (National Indian Brotherhood, 1972).  This call has subsequently been reaffirmed in great detail in numerous documents including, most notably, the Assembly of First Nations' Tradition and Education: Toward a Vision of our Future (1988), the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Ottawa, 1996a and 1996b), and the relatively recent Report of the Minister's National Working Group on Education (Ottawa, 2002).  Aboriginal peoples have been consistent in their demand for recognition of their education authority and control over the education of their children.  

At every level - from early childhood to elementary, secondary, and post-secondary - Aboriginal peoples continue to develop and deliver education programs for their citizens with the understanding that "the Road to Knowledge is Eternal" .  The activities in which Aboriginal peoples have engaged include planning and administering elementary and secondary schools, developing immersion programs, providing early childhood education, partnering with mainstream colleges and universities, and ultimately, developing Aboriginal-controlled post-secondary institutions to deliver adult and post-secondary education programs.  At every level, Aboriginal peoples have had to struggle with federal and provincial laws, policies, and procedures that do not serve their interests.  As Aboriginal communities develop the capacity and the institutions needed to control their own education, government policies and programs have not evolved to recognize the work accomplished and the economic benefit of Aboriginal institutions in Aboriginal communities across Canada.  It is important to note that mainstream institutions across Canada are afforded economic benefits due to the lack of policy support for Aboriginal-controlled institutions. 

By the mid-1970s, the number of Aboriginal persons attending post-secondary institutes began to rise dramatically across Turtle Island (North America).  The response across Turtle Island varied.  In Canada, the federal government (through the Department of Indian Affairs) provided grants to established post-secondary institutes to develop and deliver programs specifically for these students.  Provincial funds were also made available to mainstream, established institutions to develop and deliver culturally sensitive programs for Aboriginal students.  In the United States, post-secondary institutions also began to address the growing number of Aboriginal students and state and federal funds were made available to assist these institutions in meeting the needs of Aboriginal students.

With the growing number of Aboriginal students came the need to control and deliver culturally appropriate programs to Aboriginal students.  In the United States, the Tribal College movement began.  In 1970, the Navajo Institute became one of the first Aboriginal institutions to deliver programs to its students.  In Canada, Blue Quills First Nations College in Alberta, a former residential school, began to deliver programs for its students in 1971, responding to the need for local control of all Aboriginal education programs.

In the United States, there are now thirty-three Tribal Colleges, which are recognized through federal legislation as post-secondary institutions with the authority to grant certificates and two-year diplomas.  In Canada, there are fifty Aboriginal post-secondary institutions; however, these institutions have not been afforded authority similar to that of their southern counterparts.  Instead, current federal and provincial policies force Aboriginal institutions to partner with "recognized" mainstream post-secondary institutions in order to access funding and to ensure the credibility and portability of student credentials.

There are two primary questions that arise from this situation: (1) Why have Aboriginal post-secondary institutions not been recognized as having the right to grant diplomas, degrees, and certificates in their own right? and (2) Why won't governments in Canada provide Aboriginal institutions with equitable access to funding? 

Existing federal and provincial policies and funding programs provide some acknowledgment of the work of Aboriginal institutions, but also entrench them as second-class institutions.  Only in the province of British Columbia has legislation been passed to recognize two Aboriginal institutions as having the authority to grant degrees and diplomas (British Columbia, 1985).  The rest of Canada must move forward and develop legislation to enable all Aboriginal institutions to hold this same authority.

Research into these issues highlights the successes achieved by Aboriginal peoples that have exercised control over their own education systems from the elementary level through to Aboriginal owned and controlled post-secondary institutions.  This study demonstrates some of the unique aspects of Aboriginal post-secondary institutions, which differ significantly from the design and creation of mainstream post-secondary institutions.  The ways in which Aboriginal institutions address the unique cultural, language, social, economic, and political needs of Aboriginal peoples evidences their successes in improving access, retention, and success rates of Aboriginal persons in post-secondary institutions. 

This study demonstrates the extent of policy and legislative support for Aboriginal institutions, discusses policy limitations impacting the stability, growth, and continued development of Aboriginal institutions, and examines the consequences of the lack of policy support.  Provincial and federal policy and legislative support for Aboriginal institutions from other jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan, British Columbia, the United States of America, and New Zealand provides examples of policy change that could occur to increase support for Aboriginal post-secondary institutions in Canada. 

An examination and comparison of policy support for Ontario's mainstream post-secondary institutions in relation to the policy support for Aboriginal post-secondary institutions also operating in the province of Ontario demonstrates inequities in the system.  For example, even when Aboriginal post-secondary institutions deliver mainstream programs, they are not eligible to receive direct operating grants that are available to mainstream post-secondary institutions for the same outcome.  This brief example demonstrates how Aboriginal institutions are clearly disadvantaged by a lack of government support.  This lack of policy support for Aboriginal institutions is discriminatory and creates barriers that have negative impacts on Aboriginal persons, communities, and Nations; ultimately, this impacts upon Canada's economy and labour market.  

This study exposes the current situation; government policies have relegated Aboriginal institutions as second class institutions, reliant on "mainstream" institutions to validate their programs and grant diplomas and certificates. The potential for Aboriginal institutions to be in an equitable position where government funding is available, where the transfer of credits is honoured, where faculty and infrastructure are established, is not available within current legislation or policy. This is systemic racism, and this must change. Change must occur or Aboriginal post-secondary institutions will remain in a subservient position, responding to government policies and brokering programs that are recognized only by the established institutions. It is time to recognize the work that has been accomplished by Aboriginal post-secondary institutions in providing quality, cultural-based programming for their communities. Government policy and support must honour this work, and support the future equitable developmentof Aboriginal-controlled post-secondary institutions.

From http://chiefs-of-ontario.org/news/aug24-05.html

Chiefs of Ontario Releases Education Manifesto, a Comprehensive Declaration of First Nations Jurisdiction over Education 

TORONTO, Aug. 23 /CNW/ - The Chiefs of Ontario are proud to announce the release of "The New Agenda: A Manifesto for First Nations Education in Ontario". The Manifesto consists of eighteen research and discussion papers on key areas of First Nations education in Ontario.

The Manifesto was envisioned by the Ontario First Nations Chiefs-in-Assembly as a means of providing a foundation for change in First Nations education. It provides a comprehensive overview of what exists in First Nations education in Ontario, as well as providing a direction for building upon the successes of First Nations education.

Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse is attending the "Our Children, Our Future, Our Way" Education Conference in Toronto at the Delta Chelsea Hotel, Churchill Room. At 11:45 am on Thursday August 24th the Regional Chief will formally announce the completion of the Manifesto, and will be available to respond to questions. The Manifesto announcement will follow the release of a report commissioned by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation entitled "Aboriginal Institutions of Higher Education - A Struggle for the Education of Aboriginal Students, Control of Indigenous Knowledge and Recognition of Aboriginal Institutions".

Background

First Nations in Ontario

There are 134 First Nations communities in Ontario. These communities comprise thirteen distinct Nations of people, each with their own languages, customs and territories. These Nations are the Algonquin, Mississauga, Ojibway, Mohawk, Onoyota'a:ka, Tuscarora, Cree, Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Odawa, Pottowatomi and Delaware. Although the focus of political activity by First Nations communities is primarily centred within provincial boundaries, the traditional territories and activities of the nations extend beyond provincial and international boundaries.

The Manifesto - Background

The New Agenda - A Manifesto for First Nations Education in Ontario was envisioned by the Ontario First Nations Chiefs-in-Assembly as a means of providing a foundation for change in First Nations education. The project was mandated by AOCC Resolution 03/18.

First Nations in Ontario are seeking a return to the full recognition and respect for the jurisdiction of their governments over education. First Nations require the capacity to protect and advance their societies' values, traditions and cultures. Education is recognized as a fundamental means to pass on cultural norms and values and the continuation of societies. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples noted that the destiny of a people is intricately bound to how its children are educated. The revitalization and use of First Nations languages is fundamental to this goal.

First Nations view education as a lifelong holistic process. First Nations have a right to comprehensive education programming and First Nations controlled institutions at all levels which includes, but is not limited to, daycare, pre-school/early learning programs, elementary, secondary, language immersion, special education, teacher education post-secondary, upgrading, vocational, training, and adult education; that right is not externally circumscribed. The greatest concern of First Nations is that they are only operating their schools and administering programs: control is still attached to the federal government.

What First Nations Desire in Education:

First Nations rightfully seek adequate resources to be able to operate effective education systems which will meet the dual goals stated in Indian Control of Indian Education of preserving their identities while preparing their citizens to live and work in a modern world. The federal government has a fiduciary responsibility to provide adequate funding for education based on need. First Nations structures, institutions and governance in education are protected and affirmed under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

The New Agenda: A Manifesto For First Nations Education in Ontario

Remarks by Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse
At the Our Children, Our Future, Our Way Education Conference
Wednesday August 24, 2005

• Ahneen.   I am Angus Toulouse, the Ontario Regional Chief.     I am pleased to be joined by Nelson Toulouse, Deputy Grand Chief of the Union of Ontario Indians, and Tim Thompson, Education Coordinator for the Chiefs of Ontario.
• In 2003, the First Nations leadership in Ontario mandated the development of a comprehensive education document to identify First Nations education needs in Ontario.
• I am pleased to take this opportunity to formally announce the completion of “The New Agenda:  A Manifesto For First Nations Education in Ontario.
  The Manifesto consists of eighteen research and discussion papers prepared solely by First Nations educators and addresses virtually every aspect of First Nations education in Ontario, from cradle to grave.  
• It provides a comprehensive overview of what exists in First Nations education in Ontario, as well as providing a direction for building upon the successes of First Nations education.
• This week the Chiefs of Ontario held an education conference with the theme “Our Children, Our Future, Our Way”.    The Manifesto is truly about our children, and it sets out a made-in-Ontario First Nations template for creating opportunities for success for our future generations.
• The Manifesto confirms that First Nations view education as a lifelong holistic process.   
• First Nations have a right to comprehensive education programming and First Nations controlled institutions at all levels which includes, but is not limited to, daycare, pre-school/early learning programs, elementary, secondary, language immersion, special education, teacher education post-secondary, upgrading, vocational, training, and adult education; each of these initiatives must be linked in a seamless system and not exist in isolation.  
• The greatest concern of First Nations is that they are only operating their schools and administering programs: ultimate control is still attached to the federal government through the policies of its many departments and branches.
• We understand that initiatives are underway at a federal level which will hopefully respond to our needs.    The Manifesto provides a concrete basis for moving beyond the status quo. 
• I will now ask Nelson to say a few words.

Remarks by Nelson Toulouse, UOI Deputy Grand Chief and COO Portfolio Holder for Education and Languages
At the Our Children, Our Future, Our Way Education Conference
Wednesday August 24, 2005

• Ahneen.
• I am pleased to join the Ontario Regional Chief in the release of the Manifesto.
• First Nations in Ontario have formed an Education Coordination Unit, consisting of policy representatives from each of our political organizations and other education delivery authorities.   As the Chiefs of Ontario portfolio holder for education and languages I am the chair of the Unit.
• Our task over the coming days, weeks and months will be to develop approaches for the implementation of the Manifesto.   The Manifesto notes that while we have schools, we really lack system-wide supports for our schools. 
• The Manifesto calls for the development of a multi-tiered education system, with local communities exercising a greater degree of control and involvement over their education.    It demands the creation of regional school authorities and service delivery bodies to provide system supports to schools that provincial schools take for granted, like curriculum development, teacher education, and development of programs designed for the transmission of our languages and cultures.
• The Manifesto then sets out the need for a province-wide authority to  coordinate First Nations direction, common standards and policy matters relating to the operation of school systems.
• In summary, this is the work we have set out for ourselves.   
• This is a groundbreaking moment for us.     We believe that the completion of the Manifesto marks an important day in our history when we will look back and say “that was the time when we truly began to make a difference in achieving First Nations control over our education.”   
• Meegwetch.   Thank You.
  

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) has initiated an education policy and program review which includes a review of the Post Secondary Education (PSE) Program . Click here to view the material distributed for this review process (Word document).

The objective of the review for the PSE program is to develop a renewed policy and accountability framework for the Post-Secondary Education program. To this purpose, a joint Working Group has been established to undertake the review. The Working Group is composed of representatives from the Assembly of First Nations, the National Association of Indigenous Institutes of Higher Learning, the Labrador Inuit and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. In the course of the review the Working Group will examine a number of issues such as goals and objectives of the program, roles and responsibilities, the types of transitional preparatory programming are beneficial for student success at PSE, program funding and program management.  The Working Group has agreed to undertake some of the work with the support of consultants.

We are inviting you to submit  proposals for the review of the Goals & Objective of the program and/or the transitional / preparatory programming pieces. Your proposals should include information on your credentials and how you meet the requirements to carry out the work. Please provide relevant work done in the area for which you are submitting the proposal. Your proposals should also identify tasks, time assigned for each task as well as the costs associated with each task. The contractor is expected to deliver a written report that addresses all of the issues identified in the attached description of work for each of the two separate contracts. Only the successful candidate will be contacted. If the contract is awarded the GST number and/or your social insurance number will be required. Attached here for your reference are the research principles to guide the contractors work as well as a bibliography of relevant material.

If you are interested in being considered, please forward us your proposal by 5PM (eastern time) on Friday, August 30, 2005. Please e-mail your proposal to

Margaret Mitchell at jedburgh@primus.ca
Tiziana Carafa at carafat@ainc-inac.gc.ca

We look forward to receiving your proposals.

Marie Saint-Pierre Larose, INAC co-chair
Dawn Maracle, AFN Co-chair

INSTRUCTOR REQUIRED

Computer Mechanic: A+ Networking Certification Preparation Program

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute is inviting applications from qualified individuals to teach a ten week Computer Mechanic: A+ Networking Certification Preparation Course starting in September 2005.  The instructor will teach from 9:00 to 2:30 daily.  From 2:30 to 4:30 students will do independent lab work under the supervision of the Lab Technician.

Qualifications required:

• A+ Networking Certification
• 3 to 5 years related experience
• An understanding of First Nations culture
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience in adult education would be considered an asset
• Fluency in either Ojibway or Cree would be an asset

Interested applicants are invited to submit a resume, cover letter and references by Friday, August 26, 2005 to:

Part-Time Instructor Opportunities:

Native Early Childhood Education Diploma

Aboriginal Community Services Worker Program

First Nations Business Administration Certificate

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute is inviting applications from qualified individuals for contract teaching positions.  These teaching positions are required for the upcoming year starting in September 2005.  Each program is offered in a modular format, with students attending four two-week on-campus modules per year.  These positions require flexibility and some intensive instruction hours during the on-campus sessions in Thunder Bay as well as with preparation, marking and student support by telephone and email while students are in their home communities.

Teachers are required for the following subject areas:

• Mathematics
• Accounting
• Spreadsheet management
• Human resources
• First Nations funding arrangements
• Marketing
• Computer applications
• Communications: written, oral and interpersonal
• Ojibway language
• Social services and health specifically as related to First Nations
• Cultural awareness
• Community development
• Early childhood education
• Child development, health and nutrition

Qualifications:

• Diploma or degree in the appropriate field of study;
• 3 - 5 years related experience;
• An understanding of First Nations culture;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; and
• Experience in adult education is preferred..

Fluency in either Ojibway or Cree would also be an asset.

Interested candidates are requested to submit a resume and cover letter with references by Friday, August 26, 2005 to:

From their new web site at http://www.aboriginallanguagestaskforce.ca/e/e_index.html ...

In December 2003, as the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures, we were mandated to conduct research and make recommendations to the Minister of Canadian Heritage on the preservation, revitalization and promotion of Aboriginal (First Nation, Inuit and Métis) languages. We have completed this work.

On June 28, 2005 during an Honouring Feast in Winnipeg, we met with our Elders to celebrate our journey over these past months and to seek blessing for the work that remains to be done.

On June 29, 2005 in Ottawa we met with The Honourable Liza Frulla, Minister of Canadian Heritage and submitted to her our Foundational Report.

This Foundational Report represents a first step – a first step in a long journey to revive and restore the richness and the diversity of our First Nation, Inuit and Métis languages given to us by the Creator. All our languages are sacred – each one deserving of honour and respect. We have heard the wisdom of our Elders, of our Leaders and the many hopeful voices in our communities. We look to you, to our youth, to everyone to join the next leg of the journey towards a new beginning and the re-birth of our languages.

We hope that you take the time to read our Foundational Report and/or the Executive Summary.

Click here to see the recommendations from the task force in a previous KNews story

Starting in September 2005

Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute In partnership with Confederation/Negahneewin College

The ACSWP is a four semester program that provides a comprehensive and culturally relevant educational experience.

The distance delivery format of the Aboriginal Community Services Worker Program allows students to remain employed in the social service field within their home community thorughout the training.  The program is also available to anyone interested in beginning a career in social services.

ACSWP graduates pursue the folowing career opportunities:

• Program Coordinators
• Alcohol Workers
• Mental health Workers
• Community  Health Representatives
• Health Liaison Workers

Please contact us for further delivery details!

Joan Hardy, Program Coordinator, Phone: 1-807-2784, Fax: 1-807-2924, email: jhardy@oshki.ca