Mainstream system doesn't fit adult student or her children

My family and I have all been through struggles in the education system that was and is available for us.

The reality of how different I was in the system hit me when I was in high school.

Some First Nation students, such as myself, found life on the academic road to a high school diploma a constant struggle. My holistic needs were not being met, I was not staying interested in the western world view and I got down right frustrated with the content I was receiving from curriculum in Ontario.

When the Oka situation was going on in 1990, I took part in a protest in high school against the Government of Canada. Along with other students I refused to stand for the national anthem in the mornings.

Eventually I was the only one left sitting in protest. Others stood because of threats of suspension from the school. The principal told me that I was a bad influence on the other students. I was told that if I was not going to stand for O Canada, I should not come into class until the anthem was over.

So of course, I continued the protest. I would stay in the hall and come into class when O Canada was over. As the weeks went on, I was late every day. Threatened with expulsion from school I told them that I would certainly continue my protest. I was expelled from high school in grade 10, two weeks before the semester ended in June.

After that I forgot about high school for a while, because the system and I just didn't agree. There was nothing I could do about it.

During those years I started having my children.

My daughters were fluent in their Oneida language while they attended Standing Stone School on Oneida Nation of the Thames. They were all top students. When they went off the reserve to grade seven and eight, I noticed the problems that I had also encountered in the public school system.

Children Feel They Aren't Being Heard

I have three daughters who are trying to make the best of their situation with the resources they have. Over the years my kids have all had the same problems. They felt as if they weren't being heard. At home they are given all the love, respect and teachings that our family could give to prepare them for a future, just as any parent would.

But when they step off that bus in the mornings away from the reserve, they enter a world that doesn't give them the respect and knowledge that they deserve.

That is the underlying reason why First Nation kids rebel and are truant. They know respect goes both ways. First Nations children do not always feel this respect from their teachers. Attitudes from both sides flare up. Real issues are not dealt with. No one examines the real reasons why. It's like if you don't follow its rules or expectations, the system makes it that there is something wrong with you and you don't fit in.

"When First Nation students feel discouraged they just don't want to be there, plain and simple. It's not because they are defiant, under-developed, under-skilled, or have a bad attitude; it's because they aren't satisfied and feel helpless in an environment that doesn't always listen or cannot fully understand where they are coming from."

That is exactly my point. First Nation students do not fit in. This is an area in education that wasn't overlooked. It is intentional. If one was urbanized and used to living in the system and agreed with it, maybe one could get past the culture shock. Even then, don't think it would be easy. The person might be okay with the system, but it is still the same system that has discouraged the majority of First Nation students.

I have five amazing children. My family is very supportive of my educational goals by standing in for me and caring for my children while I am away receiving my post-secondary education in Tyendinaga. Which is just overwhelming and no words can describe the gratitude that I have towards them.

My oldest daughter is 17- year-old Starla. She went through unfortunate life struggles and has now found that alternative education for high school credits works best for her. When her needs change she will look at the many new post-secondary programs offered for First Nations people to continue her education.

Problems Start in Highschool

My 14- year-old daughter, Channon, found going through the motions of grade nine was something that she could handle, even though she was awake at five A.M to be on the high school bus at six o' clock every morning. However, problems have arrived and she is now on the verge of getting out of the mainstream to attend the alternative high school on the reserve like her sister.

My middle daughter Ashley is 12. She is just getting the feel of how the urban system works. She is very smart and outspoken about her values and beliefs and will be entering the eighth grade next year. Much thanks to family members, especially Grandma, Auntie and Uncle Rye for providing her with tutoring and moral support that she does not receive in the classroom.

There is a clash. Native students feel stuck in a system that doesn't meet all of their needs. My children took it upon themselves to bring their culture and knowledge to the non-Native classroom. It hit my children hard when they only learned about the realities of the world outside of the reserve.

At times they would argue with their teachers when they felt the frustration of not being able to express themselves whole heartedly. They can get so upset that my children have been known to walk right out of the classroom, whatever the consequence. It's only when they are home that they feel free to vent and voice their concerns. To tell their side of how they are feeling and why.

My children are also known to stand up for themselves as Onkwe'onkwe. My second oldest daughter, Channon, pressed for more recognition of Haudenosaunee culture in her school when she was in grade seven and eight. She approached her teachers and principal and voiced her concern.

She brought attention to culture in their non-Native surroundings by reciting the Opening address in the mornings as part of the regular school day. All the Oneida students were proud of and have taken part in that accomplishment. I have since been informed, by the school secretary, that the students have stopped this activity after the Christmas holidays. This is very disappointing news and I guess the students would have their own reasons why.

Our Values Are Not in Mainstream Curriculum

As I have moved on to thinking outside of the Indian Act and its dictatorship of how First Nations live, I know that our traditional values and culture are not an important part of the mainstream curriculum.

My youngest two children, future hockey star, Kingsley, and future award winning photojournalist, Sophie, are still in the public elementary on-reserve education system. But my eyes have now opened and I am looking for alternative education routes that will benefit them holistically and prepare them for life in the real world as educated Haudenosaunee.

As a parent who went through the same problems, it is hard for me to have them in a system of education that I don't really agree with. I have always felt uneasy about the curriculum that was being taught to my children. I remember when I was in school and the history we obtained about our culture was given through a tiny paragraph in a textbook. That was it.

It has been noted that Aboriginal people have different learning styles. I never fully understood that until I was an adult student and looked at those around me who also have struggled through education.

Parents can make full use of the resources now available for alternative learning and home schooling. The Internet has made a way to learn more accessible. It is a universal tool for students to learn in their own home. Aboriginal children can achieve the best in both worlds of education when the gaps are filled in at home or elsewhere.

Self-determination is important to families who have strong values and beliefs. I don't want my children brought up in a system that does not have the same value as our own. I don't want them educated in a system that de-values their culture of Haudenosaunee and Ojibway heritage.

I am very proud of my daughters who continue their education despite the differences and lack of understanding about their culture. My children love their heritage and are proud to be a part of Oneida's future.

As my children grow up I want them to be educated in a way that they know the real truth about their ancestors and the history of how First Nations people came to be in our position today.

Being a writer and being able to express myself by communicating to others on issues that First Nations people deal with day-to-day is like a vision come true.

Only outspoken truth and history of our heritage will give my children and me a sense of pride and the responsibility to continue to educate the next generations. It is my responsibility to prepare my five younglings and make sure that they have the life skills needed to succeed in the colonized era that they were born into. We all need the education that will empower ourselves as Oneida people to contribute to a changing future for First Nations people.