So they Killed Bill C-33. Now what????

I follow the Treaty Commissioner of Manitoba on Twitter. His name is Jamie Wilson and I greatly repsect his ideas and opinions. Look him up and read his writings!

Today I saw this tweet from him: “Where do we go from here? First Nations schools are still underfunded, and still governed by no laws.” And all I could do was agree, and turn to my blog to try to sort out my thoughts. 

MB First Nations Science Fair

Here’s things as I see them, Ottawa has been trying to push through Bill C-33, the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act. With the recent resignation of National Chief Shawn Atleo (who supported the Bill), the Assembly of First Nations held a meeting yesterday and voted to reject the Bill. As far as I understand, they say that it is a patriarchal, top-down, colonial tool that seeks to only further oppress First Nations, forcing them to agree that the “white father knows best” in order to get any increased education funding. I haven’t read enough of the Bill in detail to either agree or disagree with this, but if Canada/First Nations history is any indication, some of this opinion has merit.

Yet, I do sometimes think that this is the automatic, go-to response from First Nations Chiefs. 

It is true that First Nations schools are drastically underfunded compared with the rest of Canada, and this in itself is a tragic colonial legacy. I work with First Nations schools in Manitoba, and I have to note that even though underfunded, many of them are doing an amazing job with what they have. I've met inspiring teachers and successful students. I get angry that it's so difficult for these schools to get the resources they need. I feel like these teachers and students are the people who should have been at the AFN meeting yesterday. And they are the ones who Ottawa should be listening to.

Teacher, Liz Gray does amazing work
at Sagkeeng High School

But I digress...here’s what I can’t wrap my head around: no matter what you think about Canada/First Nations relations, the current system and level of funding is NOT working and hasn’t been for a very, very long time. All you have to do is look at the drop out rates and high school graduation stats to know this. Something needs to be done. From what I understand, the Chiefs are saying that if they just had more money, if the government would just leave them alone, things would get fixed. (I would so love for this to be true, so if that has ever been accomplished and worked on any reserve somewhere PLEASE LET ME KNOW!) 

Regardless of all that, after all the bickering and grand-standing, now that the Bill is dead you know what’s going to happen? NOTHING! Canada will either eventually push through some kind of Bill anyway, or do jack all. I suspect it will be the latter. First Nations schools will remain underfunded, students will continue to drop out, people will continue to argue and bicker and say “this” or “that” is what is needed, but nothing will ever change!! And that is the worst thing of all. I’m not saying that the Bill was the answer, but it was something. Canada is never going to hand over billions to First Nations for education and then just walk away. And, as far as I can tell, First Nations are never going to be content with what Canada offers. So things will remain the same, and THAT is the most tragic thing of all. And it makes me angry and it makes me feel hopeless so I have to write about it. Ekosi.

Almost Copping Out

So I didn't do that much better this month in terms of blog writing. In my defence I have been really, really ill. But, since I'm pretty convinced that nobody reads my blog anyway, I have no one to disappoint but myself. Therefore, here's a list of more 101/1001 goals. These are some that I am in the process of completing:

- Take 5 random fiction books out of the library and read them
(I've done 3, one was "The Peerless Four" by Victoria Patterson, I recommend it)

- Choose 10 countries and read a book by an author from each
(I've done 6, I won't list all the books, but the countries I've covered are: Guadeloupe, Iceland, Zimbabwe, Sudan, the Cree Nation of Canada, Italy)

- Watch 5 different movies from 5 different countries
(I've done 3, fave so far was "In Darkness" from Poland)

- Try 5 new local restaurants
(I've done 3, hi-light so far was The Falafal Place - yummy, healthy, gluten free and paleo friendly!)

- Make 5 phone calls I would rather not make
(I've done 2, one was private and one was to the dentist - hadn't gone in over 6 years and finally got over my fear and went…and survived!)

- Go to 5 auditions
(Went to 1, didn't get the part but gotta keep trying)

Well that's about it for now. In closing here's a picture of a cat I love, because he's the cutest little creature ever.

Copping Out

As the Web Content Writer for mfnerc.org, one of the things I do is write a blog.
One of my 101/1001 goals is to write in my own, personal blog at least once a month for a year.
It's the last day of March and I haven't written anything this month.
So I'm going to post a link to my work blog and invite you to read that.
It's a cop out I know.

I'll do better next month.
Thanks for visiting!
(I'm so curious if anyone actually visits.)
Here's the link: mfnerc.org/blog

More goals completed!

Yesterday my hubby and I completed the "whole30" challenge that we set for ourselves on Jan. 19. The goal was to eat only natural, non-processed, non-packaged, non-artificialized food. Also, no dairy, no sugar, no bread and no alcohol. It's very similar to the Paleo diet. And, since we both wanted to lose weight and feel healthier, we decided to try it.

Sample whole30 meal

Yes, Jan. 19 was more than 30 days ago. We ended up cheating when we went for a vacation to Texas (we just couldn't pass up cinnamon french toast and some of the best pizza ever!!). So we tacked on some extra days upon returning home, and yesterday we hit the finish line.
I cannot say enough good things about this way of eating, and we both plan to continue. Both of us lost  weight, but the better result was the increased energy. Usually around 3:00pm I would always feel exhausted, lethargic, and wanted nothing more than to plant myself on the couch. This feeling would generally last until bedtime. I could just never seem to rustle up the energy to do anything in the evening. Not so on whole30. Plus, getting out of bed wasn't a chore every single morning. I honestly wouldn't have believed it myself, but it did actually work. And I'm excited to have it continue to work and help me get my body back to a healthy weight.

This was one of my 100/1001 goals. So yay me for completing it. Here are some more I've accomplished thus far:

Me with the goods

- Drink from a coconut (did not taste how I expected! next time I want to crack one open right off the tree in a tropical location)

- Make a stuffed animal (such a foreign experience for me, but a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon)

- Visit a famous landmark I haven't seen before (when my hubby and I were in Texas, we visited The Sixth Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza in Dallas where JFK was shot)

Dealey Plaza, Dallas, TX

- Hide a note inside a library book (I should have said hide an "encouraging" note lol, completed Feb. 4, 2014)

- Fix something with super glue (yeah, okay, I only added this one because I had some figurines that needed fixing and I kept putting it off, not anymore!)

101 goals in 1001 days

Recently, a friend of mine introduced me to the Day Zero project. The idea is to make a list of 101 goals that you want to complete in 1001 days. They can be big or small, simple or outlandish. The point is multifold: to try new things, push yourself, accomplish goals and celebrate your successes.

So, on November 25, 2013 I made a list, posted it to the Day Zero website, and have until August 22, 2016 to complete everything. To date I have completed 9, and am in the process of completing many others. For example, one goal is to write in my blog at least once every month for a year. With this post I will be 3 months down and 9 to go. Here are the other goals I have thus far accomplished:

- Write a list of 25 things I love about my hubby (gave it to him on Dec. 4, 2013 and he loved it!)

- Watch a movie that came out the year I was born (not gonna tell you which one, that'll give away my age)

- Reach 2,000 cache finds (completed this with my sister in the dead of winter, unforgettable)

Stepson watching our cookies bake

- Make ice cream from scratch (thank you Sullys Hill Nature Preserve who just miraculously happened to have an ice cream making activity the day we were there)

- Bake cookies with my stepson (completed on Dec. 28, 2013 and it has now become a Xmas tradition)

- Write a list of 100 things that make me happy (this was much harder than I thought it was going to be!)

- Send a postcard (completed on Jan. 19, 2014, sent to my besties in South Korea)

- Interview someone I admire (did it for work, but meeting the Northend MC was always a secret wish of mine anyway, he's one of the coolest people ever!)

- Open a cookbook to a random page and make whatever's on it (so I picked a super easy cookbook, the Shrimp Chowder was still awesome)

Shrimp Chowder

And there you have it. As you can see, some are easy, some are more difficult, but it's been so fabulous to have a focus and plan for 2014 and beyond. Watch for more posts as I complete more of my 101/1000. :)

Merry Schema!

The culturally recognized chunk of
perceptual experience known as: The
Jello dessert at a Xmas party.

Usually my blog posts are about stories related to my work. But for Christmas, I decided to deviate just a bit…mostly because I hate Christmas. I mean, I don't hate the fact that I get to hang out with my family and celebrate the birth of Christ, but why does that have to coincide with the most tacky, annoying, over-commercialized time of year? I guess because Western society made it so.

Sometimes I just hate Western society. And that's one reason why I loved my Cultural Anthropology class last semester. It reminded me that our little North American bubble is tiny. There are millions and billions of people out there who do not live the way we do. Their still are cultures out there that do not celebrate greed and materialism. Plus, in class I learned that Christmas is a schema! That is, in my opinion, the perfect way of looking at it. From my textbook: "Schemas are patterned, repetitive experiences. People living in North America cannot avoid a schema called Christmas, a chunk of experience that recurs once every year. The Christmas schema can include features such as snowy weather and activities such as baking cookies. It involves public events in secular spaces such as the annual rush to complete holiday shopping in the last days before Christmas." How perfect a definition is that?

And how perfect would it be if we turfed the schema we experience every year and replaced it with something entirely different. I don't know, maybe we pick a date in the Spring, and instead of giving gifts to our family members we bought and gave things to the homeless. Maybe we invited an immigrant family over for dinner, or even our neighbours! And screw the turkey dinner, make it BBQ and beer. I'm just a Scrooge I guess, but in the Spirit of the Season: Merry Schema!!

Forget the stats. Have a lightbulb instead.

When it comes to the shortfalls of the current First Nations education system in Canada, the mainstream media loves to quote stats and make comparisons: i.e. “Graduation rates for Aboriginal students in Canada are substantially lower than for the Grade 12 student population as a whole.” etc. etc.

Then, the other day, I came to a realization, call it a light-bulb-finally-turning-on moment. Being constantly told how much less Aboriginal students are accomplishing made me actually believe that, as a whole, they don’t really want to succeed academically. (How could I have thought that and not realized that I thought that??!). By always being told the negative, I had been subconsciously conditioned to believe that Aboriginal students don’t really care deeply about their education.

And then I visited Southeast Collegiate.

Southeast Collegiate students taking virtual high school math

I’m writing a story on virtual high school classrooms for my work’s upcoming newsletter, and got to meet and chat with some grade 9 and grade 11 First Nations students who are taking online courses. And boy, do these kids work hard! One was taking Pre-calculus (something that I wouldn’t have a hope in heck of completing) and the others were doing grade 9 math. Let me tell you, it takes a LOT of dedication to complete an online course. You have to sit in front of a computer for an hour and a half a day, listen to a lesson, stay focused, committed, ignore distractions…I know some adults who would not even be able do it. But these kids do. Because they care. And they all had goals they wanted to achieve after high school, academic and career plans that they knew needed the credits from these courses.

So never let it be said that Aboriginal students don’t care about their education. They do! Sadly, we just don’t hear enough about it, and don’t do enough to change the system that they are unwittingly a part of. But at least I can change my ignorance. I guess that's something.