May 1, 2023 (Campbell River, BC) – What started out as a traditional, one-off Indigenous Skills workshop in an elementary-grade classroom has now spread out to a multi-year relationship and a number of workshops with an entire school district.
The Construction Foundation of BC’s (CFBC) Indigenous Skills initiative arrived in Campbell River School District for a workshop in 2021 and have returned on a regular basis, following a warm reception and embrace from the school district.
The introduction of trades workshops grounded in Indigenous culture and tradition and their relationship to the traditional skilled trades classroom curriculum struck a chord with Campbell River students and educators. With the success, the age groups and the personnel delivering them expanded, along with the scope and variety of the projects themselves. Following the introductory paddle pendant workshop, copper bracelets, bentwood boxes, full-sized rattles and rattle pendant workshops have all been introduced to district classrooms.
School District 72’s Indigenous Education department staff and classroom teachers have been able to use the workshops to help their students make the connection between First Nations culture and traditional skilled trades, and how combining the two could play a role in their futures.
“We’re engaging students who wouldn’t necessarily be drawn to woodworking or the trades,” said Gillian Kirke, School District 72 Indigenous Education Resource Coordinator. “These are students who connect with cultural teachings, and this is a way for students and teachers to see how those two things work together and how someone could integrate culture into skilled trades. They can look at potential careers that are built through community and supported through cultural teachings.”
The workshops have also opened doors for several district educators, who have received individualized training sessions and support from CFBC’s Indigenous Skills, Skills Ready and All Roads teams. This process has provided them with the knowledge to lead projects alongside Indigenous artists and knowledge keepers, while incorporating their own skill sets into the process.
“We’ve been really hands-off in the second year, which is awesome,” added Kirke. “The teachers have just ran with it.”
Each Indigenous Skills workshop has been led by CFBC’s Artist in Residence Dean Heron and supported by artists Peter Wayne Gong (Squamish First Nation), Qwaya Sam (Ahousat, Hesquaiht, Tloquiaht First Nations), Will Henderson (Wei Wai Kum), Sam Albany (Kwakwaka’wakw and Songhees), Greg Henderson (Wei Wai Kum), and George Hunt, Jr. (Kwakwaka’wakw).
“We want to have community members in the classroom teaching,” said Kirke. “Indigenous Skills really fosters that connection with community by supporting us to be able to make that partnership work…It’s been phenomenal.”
The district has also applied for and succeeded in winning grants for shop-related materials and tools since 2021, an added support for continued Indigenous Skills workshops and art-related projects, now and into the future.
To learn more about Indigenous Skills, the Construction Foundation of BC and to donate, please visit www.constructionfoundation.ca.
