The future of Innu education in Quebec should take shape this week in the community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam, not far from Sept-Îles. A three-day summit beginning Wednesday will bring together Indigenous delegations from the Atlantic and Ontario. Its objective: to trace the contours of a school geared towards the emancipation of cultures and freed, the Innu hope, from the heritage of assimilation of boarding schools.
More than forty years after taking charge of its schools, the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-utenam still faces a significant dropout challenge and the withering of its language and traditions. It is now time to take stock: the summit promises to stir up ideas to better chart the future.
“The first objective is to take stock,” says Vicky Lelièvre, director of the education sector at Innu Takuaikan Uashat mak Mani-utenam (ITUM). The summit, for her, is aptly named since it will be a question of “stopping at the top of the mountain, where the gaze can see the path traveled, but also embrace the road that remains to be done”.
The path is paved with challenges in the summit’s host community. Less than one out of two Innu students obtains their secondary school diploma according to a traditional route, that is to say without repeating at least one year or going through adult education. The 2016 census also shows that 56% of adults over the age of 25 have less than secondary education and that only 4% of them complete university studies.
A historical impetus
The Uashat mak Mani-utenam summit will take place more than 1,000 km from Ottawa, but the presence of the federal capital will undoubtedly hover over the three days of the meeting. This summer, the Canadian government announced the granting of over a billion dollars over five years to fund the education system of 22 Aboriginal communities in Quebec.
The Innu bands, with the exception of Mashteuiatsh, have not ratified the agreement. ITUM is organizing a summit, the first of its kind in Quebec, in the wake of negotiations that it is conducting itself with Ottawa to conclude its own regional education agreement. Uashat mak Mani-utenam is a pioneer: the agreement that the community is negotiating with Ottawa will inspire the other Innu bands in Quebec, believe the organizers.
“The summit will shed some light on us,” underlines Mr.me Hare. We could have negotiated our agreement without turning to our people, but our parents and our students are important, and we wanted to take their opinion into account. »
In light of the consultations carried out prior to the summit, “the protection of the mother tongue and culture” clearly appears to be the priority of the community, continues the director. “Young people always came back to us with the request that our education system give more importance to the mother tongue, because it is at the heart of Innu identity and pride. »
Currently, the little Innu of Uashat mak Mani-utenam speak their language at the CPE and in kindergarten. However, from the start of elementary school, French takes precedence, and the Innu language is relegated to second or even third place. “It then takes up two or three hours a week as a specialty language, like English,” says Ms.me Hare.
ITUM intends to increase the place of the Innu at school, but also to negotiate greater control over the content of courses. “Programs that talk about First Nations must be made by First Nations. It’s a must for me,” says Vicky Lelièvre.
The community also wishes to repatriate the conditions for obtaining diplomas, currently established by Quebec. “We are often told that we have a lot of leeway, but we don’t have that much. We want our students to be able to graduate without necessarily having to comply with ministry restrictions. »
The means of his ambitions
This greater autonomy requires increased funding, according to Vicky Lelièvre. Already, a temporary funding formula concluded with Ottawa has allowed ITUM to make up for the historical delay of its schools compared to provincial establishments. “We calculated that we were 30% less funded than if we were in the Quebec system. There has been a significant catch-up on the part of the federal government,” explains the director of the education sector.
Already, the community is reaping the fruits of the investments it has sown.
“We now have full-time speech therapists in our schools, social workers, educational counsellors, psychosocial and drug addiction prevention workers, occupational therapists,” lists Vicky Lelièvre.
The new money has also made it possible to deploy specialized programs. “We inaugurated four sports concentrations, adds Mr.me Hare. Our high-level teams allow our young people to meet up with the other Innu nations. It fosters belonging to groups and to our culture. Two months after the start of the school year, we are already seeing that there are fewer absences and fewer problematic behaviours. »
The summit will seek to build on these “success stories”, concludes Vicky Lelièvre, in order to pull as many young people as possible to the top. “We have big ambitions. Academic success goes beyond school for us: it reflects on the whole community. When a young person graduates, everyone is proud, both parents and young people. »