Seine River trustees to study Indian Act

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This article was published 03/12/2019 (2070 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seine River School Division trustees are going back to school in order to better meet the needs of the students and communities they serve.

The school board has selected Bob Joseph’s national bestseller, 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act, for its next book study.

Over the past few years, Seine River trustees have been assigned books on various education-related topics. They then discuss a chapter at each board meeting and share ideas for applying what they have read to education.

Board chair Wendy Bloomfield said the tradition began several years ago.

“I believe this is our sixth book.”

Joseph’s book, published in 2018, walks readers though the Indian Act and its effects on generations of Indigenous people across Canada.

“Our superintendent recommended this book as something that is related, but very specific to learning about the impact of the Indian Act and the relationship to truth and reconciliation,” Bloomfield explained.

Joseph is a cultural sensitivity trainer with federal government departments and Fortune 500 companies on his client list.

He will one day become a hereditary chief of the Gayaxala (Thunderbird) clan, the first clan of the Gwawa’enuxw, one of the 18 tribes collectively known as the Kwakwaka’wakw of the Pacific Northwest.

Bloomfield said Joseph’s book builds on previous discussions spurred by trustees’ reading of a book on how to create trauma-sensitive classrooms.

“Any learning we have done in the past usually impacts how we look at things and potential discussions down the road,” Bloomfield said.

“(That) is related to our goal regarding the wellbeing of students and staff.”