Six more Sask. school divisions to teach Michif, Dene to students

Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) is expanding its Early Learning Language program.

The organization announced Tuesday that another six school divisions have agreed to teach Michif and Dene to students in all 12 of the MN-S regions in the province. Cree will be offered in the north.

“Our Métis Nation-Saskatchewan government partnered with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association in 2018 and has been working in tandem along with elders to integrate distinctions-based Métis cultural content and perspectives in the classroom,” MN-S president Glen McCallum said in a release. “The language programs are a result of that co-operation.

“To be able to nurture cultural revitalization through our children to their family unit is extremely gratifying.”

The latest six school divisions to offer the program are Living Sky, Northern Lights, Horizon, Good Spirit and Prairie Valley.

In 2020, the Michif and Dene Early Learning Language Programs included 130 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students in six school divisions. The programs grew in the 2021-22 school year, with more than 300 Métis children learning Heritage Michif, Northern Michif, French Michif and Dene.

MN-S believes the expansion this year means the program will be offered to more than 600 students in the province.

The Northern Lights School Division is offering the Cree language learning program to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students at the Pre Cam School in La Ronge and Ministik School in Cumberland House.