 Hi, my name is Cheryl Ferguson-Welke. I am Creme A.T. from Gruard, Alberta, but residing in high level and I've been here for 34 years, I believe. My program is, well, it's not really a program. It's my community volunteering in, with the schools. I go into the classrooms, I grade two, three, seven, oh, grade fours I have been. Grade eight's kind of, I'm usually invited by the schools to come in and talk about my experience as a Métis person or what are some things that I've done, what things I've participated in that helped me maintain my identity and be proud of who I am, like through dancing, participating in the geotourism, York boat, traditional voyages. We did those two years in a row, 2011-2012. Just in general, going in, cooking moos meat and vatic for the kids, bringing products to them so that they can see and feel the impacts and our contributions to Canadian society and allowing them to see and feel that they are, they have an integral part of the society and without us, without our backs, a lot of Canada would not have been mapped or completed or, you know, I'm not sure what word to use, but developed, I guess. Most importantly is that the kids be proud of who they are and who we are because we gave a lot of our cultures to this country and I think it's only fair that the kids feel good about it and know that we deserve our place in this society and hope that they go and learn from it and choose to, you know, learn more about it and give respect to the people that taught us or brought us here, like our elders and feel good about the future for their children too, just in the opportunities that I've been given to be with kids and even customers in my business, like just the pride, I can just feel and see when they look at me, they know that we're doing the right thing for the right reasons and when you come from a good place, there's no wrong, like there is none and that's what I try to, you know, hopefully that's the message, the ulterior message they're getting but also, you know, like sharing the pride and joy and just whatever with them in that moment for them to be able to know they can access more and learn more if they want, I hope they feel inspired to look into it more. Most cases than not, they usually say, oh, I didn't know that or my mom doesn't know her language or I only eat bannock at school or, you know, and it makes me sad and bannock isn't necessarily traditional food and I will clarify that to them. I'll say it was shared food brought by the Scotsman and that kind of stuff and just giving them factual information and knowing that if you want to know more, you can and one of the beautiful things about our people is they are so willing to share if you're willing to listen. So just them knowing that we still have in our region and our territory, we are fortunate and blessed to still have access to this information if you want it. They're not going to force you. They're not going to beg you. It's up to you what you want to do. True authentic Indigenous education I think is probably best delivered by those who actually live it and do it with the help of those of us that can contribute and support, you know, in functioning in both worlds because they are quite different and I always felt that as a Métis person I always felt it was like a juggling act. Okay, today I'm this, today I got to participate like this and at home I got to behave like this. You know, there was such differences sometimes that at a really young age I learned to be what I had to be at the right time. First and foremost is making sure their needs are met, their basic needs, food, shelter, safety. Again, back to Maslow's hierarchy, the importance of let's go get those things underway, feeling safe, feeling secure, feeling proud. You know, once you instill those, anyone can do anything. And one of the things I've learned working in the schools in the past was that almost always the kids just have natural talent and it diminishes as age goes on, whatever the reasons are, home life, oppression, whatever. And I think if we could tap into that really early and just, you know, help it flourish, that's, I think we'd see a totally, like myself who was fortunate given opportunities, I think we would see many more of the kids grab on to that and flourish. I think we continue to share and get into the school systems directly and with factual, knowledgeable people in the room who are guiding how these children are being taught and what they're being taught and not only the children, the teachers. If the teacher's not on board, it's going to be pretty tough for them to support the children and to engaging them in learning. And I think we need to, when we have teachers coming into our communities, they need to take cultural awareness programs. I don't know how, where exactly, but I have a good idea of how we could probably do it. But that's one of the first things I see is that when I worked in the schools, they were coming in with absolutely no idea where these kids are coming from, what's going on with them and why they're not paying attention or learning or whatever. And actually, by the way, there's like four different distinct groups in the school. So painting everyone with one brush is obviously not worked for you so far. So how about, you know, you really try to learn more about the children and their families and their cultures and where they come from, just like we do of them. I really hope that this is a starting point that is a long term. It's maybe not a solution right away, but at least we can make progress and ensure that our children are being taught properly and correctly with, you know, the European sense of education, formal education that we require to get degrees in diploma or whatever it is, but also using our Indigenous people as a resource, a respected resource. Not like for myself, I can go in and volunteer, but you know what, if you really want some of the true, blue, authentic teachings, you may have to pay for that and they and should stop. You know, I kind of get the sense that there's a real downplay on the value, but there is no price tag. There never can be a price tag on that knowledge because once it's gone, it's gone. So until we start to accept that and see that it's unfortunate, but as us who are, you know, a part of this Indigenous education plan or whatever, hopefully comes out of this, we need to say it out loud.