 Betty Barnaby. I'm a school teacher and I teach grade five six. I involve a lot of Aboriginal content in my studies, in particular with social studies and also make myself available to help any kind of cultural activities or emphasis on Aboriginal teachings. I also do that within the school. Social studies is really targeted on having children understand where they come from. When they first begin formal education in kindergarten they would study it's all about them and then they move to me and my community. Then it's me and my like it's like my region, province, territory and then Canada and then they move to me in the world. So by the time they get to me there's a lot of me and like the territory. So it's trying to have them understand their place. Coming from a region, coming from a community, then a region and then speaking territorially and then they go on to me in Canada and the world. Extremely important, very very important. These children just because of all the history of our people are impacted by the past. Our society has really been under a lot of trauma and I, you know, with all the changes that have happened within our regions, our homes, things have changed and it's frightening when you see the changes especially somebody like me that's 62 years old. I've been in education for a long time and it gives me a point of view to look at it like in reflection as to the changes. In a lot of areas there's positive changes but within our communities and in the homes there's been a lot of changes that have impacted family units. The way children are confused about who they are because they live differently than I did when I was a child and this impacts the way they know themselves or don't know themselves and as young as they are when they come to me and they're 10 years old and for some of them it's like the first time they'll hear the word Aboriginal and to really really try to instill in them a sense of pride in who we are as the people and this is a lot of I find that I'm just in the perfect place for you know within the school system like to be in this position where I'm able because I'm an Aboriginal person to really put emphasis on this and before they go on to junior high is to really really try to make sure that they have a good sense of who they are. I think we're really fortunate here and it's probably because we have people that are committed that come in that are young and even though they're transient teachers we do have a few people local people that are determined to make sure that we have cultural programs that we try to implement traditional activities as much as possible and I can after being in this position for 30 something years I can say that we come from a time when we didn't even have an Aboriginal language program when I first started to today where we we have a TP we have cultural outings like you know we were and there's a lot of events that our whole day starts every day with an assembly that promotes the Aboriginal laws that then the laws are our school rules so that is really really important and I always feel that we have such a safe well-run like environment for them it's like just it's not just doesn't have to be just Aboriginal people teaching Aboriginal content it's everyone getting on board and trying to operate with things in mind that enrich these children I think it's our school assemblies greeting them first thing in the morning and welcoming them in being there for them um setting the tone for the day and gathering together and going over the Dena laws and talking about that and spending time with them like starting the the day off well like you know having that relationship in the bond I think it really really sets the sets the day well for for the children I can know it's not just go straight to your classroom and there's no connection with anybody else so I think that is one of the the best things that we've ever done I'll be truthful about I think that our language programs they have a new curriculum and I'm really excited about that but to move it from a curriculum to practice we really need personal commitment really need people that are able to vision what we're trying to do and I find that our children work really really well like with hands-on activities and a lot of the things that are important for them to know can't be taught in a classroom they have to have the the chance to get out on the land and I feel that we need people that have real passion to run our average language programs where they can be very very effective tools um I find that that's one area like that has to be addressed oh yes yes for sure because in the new aboriginal language language arts curriculum there's direction in there that every person is to be involved every teacher transient or not aboriginal or not it's a school commitment I also find too that our local band has language dollars people that work in language but there's no collaboration and I can't see why that can't happen it should be happening there should be resources like that are shared that commitment is made from the community to help the schools with children I don't see that happening right now and I just kind of think that it's an important component to making sure that they have a responsibility to our community children as well to tell you the truth when I first had the opportunity to be hired as a classroom assistant back in 1977 I had no idea what involved I I got hired and then I discovered that I I loved it so much I just felt I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life so and having personally experienced a lot of things like with involved with residential school I felt in the beginning I was it was a very different story for me about I felt very maybe a lot of residential school people I felt very inferior to the white staff and I wasn't very outspoken I had all the treats of of a child of a person that had experienced trauma and I learned through some working with some really excellent teachers about they saw in me somebody that had the potential to be a classroom teacher to do this work and I really have to thank them because if I didn't have that kind of guidance I don't think I would have found my voice or my beliefs or the strength to bring it forward through teaching to children I don't run around and do an awful lot of explanations to the community members I stay focused on children I really really keep my focus on children and what I could bring into it and in a way to satisfy some of the the things that I've gone through and felt very incapable of changing and I feel that it's just been my passion in life and continues to be every day I think so because I come from a time where I couldn't voice an opinion and coming from that to today where I feel like a valued member of a staff of a community of a region of my territory I feel that I can contribute I've I've tried to to keep my mind open all the time and to to answer the hard questions within myself and to really trust on my colleagues and I do feel a lot of respect and a lot of times I'm put in a position where I'm trusted to give guidance and I I feel that I do contribute I think that it scares me the lack of work that's been done in genealogy and if we're talking about children knowing where they come from I've seen really good work done in Toledo with genealogy it scares me that we have so limited work done I especially worry when they get to the high school and and they still don't know like where they come from I would love to see a big project done and involve the high school students and to display the information in the school so that every child knows their relationships you can't build relationships without knowing you know and the importance of recognition and the importance of understanding your ancestors and the areas they lived in and their the strengths they have is like really invaluable and that's one one area I also really really really wish for really powerful strong opportunities available for towards language retainment I see some words that's being done in BC we don't have anything like that happening in the NWT where it's like okay well you understand but you can't speak it it would be like for people like me that really understand but I can speak basic but I can't like tell stories and I'm not confident it's working with what you have and and helping you to to get to the blocks so I really wish for that kind of opportunities the elders are we've had contributions made to to dedicate the document that was spearheaded by Phoebe Tadi and it's been mandated to be taught in the schools and we have an awful lot of transient teachers that are really uncertain of how to deliver these it's almost like you need to give them permission to or to assist them because it's like in theory it sounds really really good really nice but you you cannot teach a spiritual spirituality component of a people it has to it has you know and it could be they could do the teaching aspects of setting it up planning it but they need involvement from the elders or a committee dedicated to helping teachers in the classroom I I think that to take the document at a community level and to research okay but how and in what way should this be addressed and because to be truthful they have it's impossible for them to to do certain things in 10 years I have to be optimistic because I've been around for so long and I have seen a lot of changes although if I were to I give the frustration level I feel sometimes about our Aboriginal language instruction could be a lot better I have to be optimistic that we are going to find really dedicated people to jump on board and to to help to make things more possible I have to be optimistic looking back in hindsight and seeing how far we actually have come from when I first started so in 10 years I I'm hoping that we only get stronger in the programs we are delivering and attempting to to deliver I I like what I see and I like that we can work with people that have strengths even though they're not Aboriginal they have strengths to help planning and to implement the programs