Purpose:

To advance education by providing books, equipment, and educational aids for land-based education, including spiritual, religious and indigenous cultural instruction, to Southeast Collegiate Inc. and other nearby schools.

Activities in support of purpose:

Books, equipment and educational aids specific to land-based education, as well as the expenses necessary for travel to experience land-based education, are generally not included in amounts granted to schools by the federal and provincial governments. Thus, attempts to engage in these activities are hampered by a lack of funding available.

The Applicant will engage in activities to fill this gap by working with schools to find what is needed, and provide these books, equipment and education aids to schools. Initially, the Applicant will be working exclusively with Southeast Collegiate Inc., but the intention is to expand its offerings to other nearby schools as its means permit.

Based on its discussions with Southeast Collegiate Inc., the Applicant currently intends to purchase 6 canoes and a trailer, camping equipment, fishing gear and ice fishing equipment. During the school year, these items will be made available as needed to Southeast Collegiate for purposes of their land-based education programs. As additional needs are identified, the Applicant may purchase additional items for the same purpose.

The Applicant also intends to purchase a bus in order to facilitate trips to local areas for purposes of land-based educational experience, such as the exploration of local petroforms, travel to and from lands and rivers and to and from camping areas.

Purpose:

To assist schools to provide land-based education by providing grants for additional costs of such education, including travel, provisions and accommodation.

Activities in support of purpose:

The Applicant may also provide grants for purposes of paying drivers, fuel, accommodations, camping supplies, wood, etc. as needed to permit students to fully engage in these educational programs.

Additional information and background

What is Land-based education?

Land-based education is rooted in the Aboriginal believe that the Land is our First Teacher, and that by observing, listening, experiencing and valuing all that the earth has to offer, we can learn that which is necessary to sustain our lives.

Land-based education approaches are illuminating Indigenous ways of teaching and learning demonstrating what happens when you let Indigenous people lead in curriculum design and curriculum activities that are connected to culture, language, relationships to land. Land-based education aims to re-engage students with their natural world and connect the dots between various sectors of our society in order to achieve healthier outcomes for people, land and all living beings. In addition to graduating healthier students, proponents of land-based education aim to teach in a way that sustains all life including, human, plants, animal, water and Mother Earth. Through the shared activities and experiences of land-based learning, students learn essential skills and understand that they are necessary to sustain our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual lives as individuals within a community.

Land-based learning is thoroughly integrated with the provincial curricular learning outcomes in all subject taught in classrooms.

By way of example only, here is what students can learn from canoeing:

Students learn about the formula for propulsion as part of their curriculum. Some students learn by doing sample questions on paper, some need visuals, and others need hands on experience. What better way to drive home the principles of physics than to apply it in real-life scenarios. By taking to the water, our students are able to apply this formula in their canoes. They are able to see the difference it makes by having one person paddling a canoe at a time, as compared to a small group of people as was the original way of travel for Indigenous people.

Offering Land based education has a significant impact on our First Nation population, as it brings the teaching back to the land where it all started. Land-based education allows students to gain significant understanding of themselves as First Nation peoples, and respect and appreciation for our own heritage in a way they may have never thought about before. As part of the truth and reconciliation, Land-based education is truly the way to bridge the gap between Indigenous and Western knowledge.

About Southeast Collegiate

Southeast Collegiate Inc. (previously called Southeast College Inc.) was established as a private high school (Grades 10 to 12) in Winnipeg in 1995-96 by The Southeast Tribal Council, incorporated as Southeast Resource Development Council Corporation (SERDC). The SERDC includes the communities of Bloodvein First Nation, Little Grand Rapids, Brokenhead, Pauingassi First Nation, Buffalo Point First Nation, Black River First Nation, Hollow Water, Berens River and Poplar River. Many of these SERDC communities lacked high schools and from this need arose the vision for a centrally located education facility. SEC partners with First Nations, federal and provincial levels of government, as well as many organizations and agencies working together to achieve the ultimate goal of preparing students so that they may continue to further their education goals.

As the demand for education continued to grow among First Nations students, a larger campus was needed. In 2016, SEC partnered with the Government of Canada who invested $10 million toward a $24 million state-of-the-art facility. The doors to the new SEC campus officially opened in September 2018.

The mission of Southeast Collegiate is to provide sound academic standards and a holistic balance of quality education that includes traditional, cultural and academic teachings. SEC is unlike any other school in Canada. Southeast Collegiate is the only school of its kind in all of Canada. It serves as a campus to First Nations students during the school year – educating them in a beautiful school facility and housing them in the adjoining lodge, while nourishing the culture of First Nations in many of its day to day operations. SEC is a “culturally appropriate” school which suits the needs of the SERDC communities. A majority, if not all, of our students are from Cree, Oji-Cree and Ojibwe speaking communities.

Since 1995, SEC has proudly watched over 500 students graduate from its halls. The new school can accept up to 156 First Nations youth from communities throughout Manitoba looking for the best opportunity to graduate high school. Students who have completed grade 9 and obtained the required credits are eligible to apply. Over 175 students apply, and students who are selected demonstrate sound academic standing that meet eligibility requirements for federal funding based on their community agreements. There is no cost to parents to their children to attend.

In addition to its educational programming, SEC is proud to offer life skills, extra-curricular activities, and sports programs to its students, in order to provide additional training, mentorship and support for development of a community of students with the skills they need to become leaders in their communities and elsewhere.

SEC offers a balance of quality education that includes traditional, cultural and academic teachings. Included in this are a number of Life Skills programs like:

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)
Personal Care Home Visits (Volunteering for bingo, bbq’s etc)
Traditional Sweat Lodge Visits (out of St. Norbert Art’s Centre)
Women’s Full Moon Ceremony (University of Manitoba)
Land Based Education
Drum Group (traditional drum teachings & making hand-made drum sticks)
Pow Wows
Organized walks to support those in need and to bring awareness to injustices in the world
Salvation Army – students help raise money to feed the hungry through the Christmas kettles & also participate in the soup truck.
Leadership Conferences
Organized community clean-ups
RCMP Training Program
Bold Eagle (Canadian Armed Forces Aboriginal Training Program)