'Learning from Place' theme of conference.

SIKSIKA FIRST NATION

Treaty 7 First Nations Education Association and the First Nations Adult and Higher Education Consortium will be holding "Niipaitapiisini," a holistic lifelong learning conference in Lethbridge Oct. 7-9.

The conference is the first of its kind in Treaty 7 territory, said Daphne Crowchief-McHugh, superintendent of the Siksika Board of Education and TSFNEA chairperson. It evolved out of a need seen by all the Treaty 7 education directors and a lifelong learning workshop recently held at Siksika.

"Learning goes beyond what the government says. It occurs throughout our lives, and we have to start recognizing that, and start working with everybody, and ensuring that we have learning opportunities at all stages," said Crowchief-McHugh.

"All too often INAC leaves out post-secondary. It's not seen as a Treaty right, but the stance we've always taken is that we believe in lifelong learning. So the question we asked was 'what do we value as learning as Siksika people?'"

The workshop participants, who were Head Start and daycare workers, K-12 teachers and high school students, Elder Services, health and crisis workers, and political leaders, examined learning that takes place in the home, in the community, in the school setting and the work place. The two-day workshop was such a success that organizers thought they should bring these discussions to a wider audience by hosting the conference in Lethbridge.

"We're very excited about doing this. Many things came during the workshop at Siksika.

We looked at what learning meant to us when we were growing up; where we went to go berry picking, where our grandmothers went to get medicines. 'Learning from Place' really touches you spiritually. Years ago, we weren't confined to present day reservation boundaries. We had all these other places that we used to visit, that we valued and held sacred, so we are hosting a tour to Aisinaip, Writing on Stone during the conference."

Crowchief-McHugh said Siksika children are taken on 'visits to place' regularly now. They are also, for the first time this year, being registered for school under their traditional names, which were never recognized by the educational system before.

All these things could be promising practices, and will be discussed at the conference. Crowchief-McHugh hopes people will be able to pick something out to take back home to their communities.

Over 200 participants and more than 30 presenters are already registered.

"We're really happy to have the keynote speakers we have. Dr. Lorna Williams from the University of Victoria has done a lot of work in teacher education, and Dr. Manulani Meyer from the University of Hilo, Hawaii, looks at Indigenous knowledge and what our perspectives are. She brings a lot of her own ways of knowing into her presentations, but she also encourages us to be really rigorous in our own learning," said Crowchief-McHugh.

The conference is open to anybody who values learning, is interested in educational opportunities in all four life stages for indigenous learners and their communities, and wants to visit and share, Crowchief-McHugh said.

BY BERNADETTE FRIEDMANN-CONRAD

Sweetgrass Writer