Indigenous Speaker Series at Stelly's Secondary
Community, Students & Staff are invited to reflect on the changes happening in schools now, imagine how the future might be and honour our commitment to the final recommendations of the TRC.
Wednesday, February 24 at 2:30 pm
Indigenous Education: All My Relations The story of the local Métis people: mostly invisible and unknown.
Local history and the founding of Fort Victoria is part of that story. It integrates with the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada and specifically the settlement of BC, which predates the Louis Riel era. Fern Perkins is the Métis, great-great-great granddaughter of Isabella Mainville Ross and HBC Chief Trader, Charles Ross. Fern is a professional educator who has taught in Canada and the US. Fern currently coordinates the Métis Education Enhancement Program for the Greater Victoria Métis Nation in local elementary and secondary schools. After retiring from the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, Fern discovered the truth about all her relations. She has since returned to teach Indigenous Education at the University of Victoria, to learn with her students in this hopeful era of truth and reconciliation. This presentation will include artifacts and will appeal to educators interested in local history or are looking for innovative teaching suggestions to integrate Indigenous content, particularly for local field trip ideas.