Everyone has accumulated life lessons, and School District 83 is having Indigenous Knowledge Keepers share theirs with students.
Director of Instruction (Indigenous Education) Chelsea Prince explained the term Knowledge Keeper is used instead of Elder, as they can be of any age and have gained their understandings through experience, from family or through education.
“We have a well-established Knowledge Keeper Program in our district, which provides schools with the opportunity to invite members of the local Indigenous communities into classrooms to share their cultural expertise with students,” Prince said in a media release, “which increases the sense of belonging for students of Indigenous ancestry.”
Additionally, the district holds events three times a year for the Knowledge Keepers at the District Education Support Centre, with the latest being a Christmas lunch and Secwépemc language bingo on Dec. 6. Special guest Elail Neigbhor-Celesta, a Grade 12 student at Salmon Arm Secondary who has been learning the language from her grandmother, called the bingo game in Secwépemctsín.
“Many Knowledge Keepers are residential school survivors, or may have had challenging school experiences in their youth,” Prince said. “And this program, along with these events, is one step we take in helping members of the Indigenous community fell like they belong as part of the School District 83 community.”
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