Education News | Page 15 future generations with what we have contributed and continue to contribute to education .” She is excited to engage with other Métis scholars across the country to understand their research and the work they are doing to affect Métis / Michif education .
Another aspect of the Chair Melanie values is the opportunities it brings for enhanced academic engagement with GDI and SUNTEP . Melanie already has a long-standing relationship with GDI and SUNTEP as an alumna and former faculty while she was working on her PhD . She is excited that the Chair brings her back into teaching at SUNTEP . “ Working with GDI and talking about what are some of the priorities right now , and how can we work together to achieve some of those priorities — That ’ s the really important piece : having something that responds to our community ’ s needs . The Chair can put those things forward .”
The Kaa-tipeyimishoyaahk – We Own Ourselves Project . Working around the issue of identity , one of the big projects that Melanie hopes to engage with as Chair is to research Métis / Michif Education . She says , “ The word Kaa-tipeyimishoyaahk — We are a people who own ourselves ( Gaudry , A . 2014 )— was given to me by Michif elder , Norman Fleury . There has been a lot of research around Indigenous education . However , it is done in either a pan-Indigenous view or it is First Nations . There isn ’ t a lot of research on Métis / Michif learning . I definitely want to focus on bringing that into academia , supporting the teaching at SUNTEP .” The We Own Ourselves project is supporting this goal . Melanie is talking to elders and old ones , and Métis educators and scholars to find out what they need . She is also part of her own research project , learning northern Michif from a fluent speaker .
Language and Cultural Revitalization . According to the Statistics Canada 2016 census , with a rising population of 51.2 %, the Métis were the fastest growing population in Canada between 2006 and 2016 . However , less than 2 % of Métis people speak the Michif language , making the Michif language one of the most vulnerable Indigenous languages in Canada .
Through the chair , Melanie intends to build capacity in Métis / Michif education by focussing on language and cultural revitalization along with research , learning , knowledge keeping , reconciliation , and inclusion .
Not everyone has had the same cultural experiences and opportunities as Melanie . Her daughters , whom she raised in the city , didn ’ t have the same experiences : “ Even though I thought I did such a good job with my daughters , instilling in them a strong sense of their Métis identity , they didn ’ t have those kinds of lived experiences — cultural knowledge from being in community and at gatherings ,” says Melanie . Over the years , Melanie has also seen a change in SUNTEP ’ s scope , in that when she went through the program , “ SUNTEP taught Métis people how
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