Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 14, 1991, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press january 1991 Page 2 there is racism in the school band stages Boycott Jeff de free press by Stevens wild Winnipeg free press Indian Birch Reserve a principals innovative native centred approach 10 education had won converts among residents for almost three 37 Stu dents from the Reserve travelled 17 Kilometres by bus Over treacherous roads to attend Birch River Many Reserve parents say the ride was even though the school was part of the whited min ated Swan Valley school because of former principal Marvin Steens we know our children need an said Parent Lyle but i dont want my kids to have the bad experiences i had in the Hopes of Audy and other native parents on this Remote re 250 Kilometres North of Dau suffered a severe blow with Steens resignation 26 after threats on his innovative methods kept natives Cost principals Job by Stevens wild Winnipeg free press Bowsman the first thing mar Vin Steen did when he became Prin Cipal of the Birch River school was bum the Ive never hit a Steen i even know How to give the Steen also introduced Creelan Guage education into the mixed Indian and Metis then students were allowed to take min courses in unorthodox subjects like camping and a professional educator for 29 said he didst introduced the programs just to be popu he said he had a specific goal in mind to keep native kids in and it we had kids in Grade 9 who would have normally dropped out in Grade despite his Steen re signed in november after four years on the Job because a conflict with White residents of Birch River Esca Law i had l my time at Birch River school was constructive and positive and my constructive time was it Birch a school of about 180 students that Steen described As having Many of the problems of an intercity was a test of his along with a High dropout the school has a Large number of youths with solvent abuse problems and Many who come from backgrounds of family he the message we were giving them you Are you dont Steen said of traditional and generally unsuccessful methods of education offered aboriginal the new courses gave the children an awareness of who they were and where they came he the Cree language instruction included topics like genealogy and the study of Cree was important to me be cause of the Large native significance and the kids needed and wanted As Steen pointed studies show that second language whether Cree or French or Ukraine improves the ability to speak it was his innovations that were the target of his innovations based on Steens deep seated educational we have to look at the prior knowledge and experience the Chil Dren Are coauthor of a Manitoba education depart ment Book on primary it is our priority As educators to recognize these experiences and then to set the stage for deaths i Cree was such a popular class that its total enrolment eventually exceeded the number of native Stu Dentson the the conflict that led to his Resig nation began As a professional i Steen noting the teach ing code of ethics prevents him from discussing the dispute escalated into a Community conflict about his Steen agreed that racism played part in the As did the inability of some members of the Community to Deal with when the Swan Valley school division refused to Back him in the he most of the parents of Reserve children attending the of Reserve school in nearby Birch River have kept their youngsters Home since Steen the Boycott began As a protest against the Dorothy a Birch River teacher who also works in the band office on the the natives Are waiting to see who the new principal will she adding they want assurances Steens reforms will the concerns of the native parents have been heightened by the Dis Tressing nature of Steens Resigna a group of people didst like the Way the native children were Church there is racism in the in the entire a White resident of the Swan Val Ley who asked not to be said Steen was forced out because of a conflict with a teacher in the school and because of hostility to his commitment to native both native and White supporters of Steen said local residents who publicly supported the former Prin Cipal were subjected to including unsuccessful attempts to have them dismissed from their a spokesman for the Birch River parents who opposed Steens administration declined to Steen said his critics never made an attempt to talk with him about their Doreen who teaches Cree at the Birch River said Steens opponents were a minority in the White they disagreed with the fact that he was trying to keep native children in while accepting Steens Resigna Tion As inevitable in the face of the threats against him and his Fame native parents praised the former principal and his there is nothing wrong with said George who has two children in the the handful of White residents in discuss praised Steen As an effective educator for both White and native cold weather mend Holger Anderson of Stonewall plays with his companion an eighty Earold Labrador Spaniel during a brisk Outing on a town Street during the recent cold Brandon boy in critical condition Brandon up a 10yearold noon in this Southern Manitoba boy remains in critical condition with extensive neck and head in the boy was dragged for about 15 juries after he was dragged be metres and a Tow truck eventually Neath a passing had to be used to lift the vehicle off police said Jeremy Spence slipped of into the path As he was police Are continuing to invest Marsh ruling hell of a Victory the future of ducks unlimited controversial Complex at Oak Ham mock Marsh is squarely in the hands of the Filmon opponents of the omillion project con a spokesman for friends of Oak Hammock Harold Syrett of said yesterday a court of Queens Bench ruling Friday Means the province will have to change wildlife legislation and regulations for the Complex to Justice Daniel Kennedy ruled Friday a Rural municipality of Rockwood bylaw allowing construction of the ducks unlimited Complex at the Marsh was its a hell of a Syrett because of the project cant go ahead for if the province is serious about the environment and serious about sustainable it will Tell ducks were we dont want Syrett said the province wanted the municipal Council to accept some responsibility for the project and ducks unlimited offered a year As a Grant in lieu of Kennedy decision Means the government will have to accept full responsibility for any development at the he lawyers for the Rural municipality and friends of Oak Hammock Marsh said the decision want significant in the Long run because both sides told Kennedy the not the had jurisdiction Over the a provincial wildlife Rural municipality lawyer Tom Goodman said he told municipal officials when they passed the bylaw last year he didst consider it Legal because the province had Juristic Goodman said he believed the municipality wanted to consider it and hold Public hear Carey a lawyer for friends of Oak Hammock said the court decision puts the Dis Pute Back to Square 1 because it dealt Only with the legality of the not with what the province will ultimately do about the ducks unlimited school division said a new principal should be in place in the next couple of but Reserve parents Are talking about several options if their Chil Dren do not return to Birch one option is a native school on the rejected to Date by the Indian affairs department on the basis the 160person Reserve is too Small for its own another option would be sending older students out of the school Divi Sion to Winnipeg and classified death Howard husband of Vita Frances Elizabeth widow of Reg husband of Pearl Irene of formerly of husband of Anne William husband of Katherine Vincent husband of Eleanor of Jacob of widower of Daisy Ellen Ana husband of Marg Andrew Hus band of Jospehine formerly of Mabel of car wife of Bud Raymond husband of Anne Elizabeth wife of Herbert save up to 50 in every department of the store 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