'CHANCE TO LEARN WHO WE ARE'

INDIGENOUS STUDENTS LEARN TRADITIONAL TEACHING THROUGH SKILLED TRADES

The skilled trades sector is not just construction.

In partnership with the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), Sutton District High School hosted Indigenous Skilled Trades Day where students from across the region in both the public and Catholic school boards got a lesson in culture through food, wooden spoons and beaded wampum.

For Lily Bates, Indigenous student trustee for the York Region District School Board, the lesson was more than just tossing salad.

"This is a chance to learn who we are, learn the teachings of our cultures," said the Georgina resident and Newmarket high school student.

"It's important we don't lose that."

And it's not just recipes, Bates

added, but learning the importance of food sovereignty, using traditionally grown produce for medicinal purposes and how those ingredients are harvested — all in the name of sharing Indigenous teachings with other students.

"We lost a lot of our ways because of the colonial system," said Indigenous chef Candace Esquimaux of Candace's Catering who hosted the cooking demonstration at the event.

"We're slowly starting to reclaim that."

Learning about traditional Indigenous foods, how foods are harvested and how to look after the earth after is part of the "reclaiming" journey, she added.

"I share my experiences, my journey and my knowledge through food," said the entrepreneur from Manitoulin

Island.

"At the end of the day, we want to build a relationship with food and with people. And everyone loves to eat."

Esquimaux taught the students how to use traditional Indigenous foods, such as berries, maple syrup, honey, wild rice and wild game. Together, the students made berry salad using the whole fruit — stems included.

"The stem is where all the nutrients are," said the grandmother-to-be. "Traditional foods nourish the body. We have to feed our spirits and feed our ancestors, too."

Strawberries — Odemin in Ojibwe — play an important role in several Indigenous cultures as a women's medicine with many healing properties, she added. And fresh strawberry juice made with raw honey is one of her best sellers.

"We're learning about our past and our culture," said Christina Northcott, a Grade 11 student who is also a member of the public school board's Indigenous Student Council.

"I want to bring it back to my family and friends and teach others about our culture."

The Indigenous Student Council — open to any Indigenous student in Grade 6 or higher — meets monthly and is a chance for students to participate in non-colonial models of leadership and representation.

For more information about the Indigenous Student Council, visit @isc.yrdsb on Instagram or email indigenous.education@yrdsb.ca.

Many Indigenous students across the region are considered “urban Indigenous” with no easy access to their cultures, said Victoria Raymer, Indigenous transition and student advisor with York Region District School Board.

"Many have never lived on a reserve and live outside their Indigenous communities. They didn't grow up eating traditional foods," said Raymer, who is Indigenous herself.

"This experience is for them to connect back to their culture. If we don't do things like this, (our cultures) die with us."

In addition to learning traditional Indigenous culinary dishes using traditional ingredients, students were also exposed to other traditional crafts that fall under the vast skilled trades umbrella. Students made maple spoons and learned about treaty wampums during a woodworking and beading workshop.

So much of focus on the skilled trades is around construction, said Nat Gencarelli, OYAP recruiter at the York Catholic District

School Board.

"There's more to skilled trades than construction," he said. "The skilled trades is about being hands-on. Artisan crafts, woodworking, the food industry all fall under the skilled trades."

OYAP is a school-to-work program that allows students in grades 11 and 12 to explore and gain apprenticeship training through co-operative education — a program of more than 150 skilled trade options.

"There are plenty of opportunities in all sectors for students to use their talents," Gencarelli said.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: We felt it was important to share with the community this innovative program to ensure Indigenous students have the opportunity to learn traditional skills integral to their cultures.