 Hey, I'm Alda Resnack from Lackamalab First Nation, Thunder Bay Ontario, born and raised. My first nation was flooded in the 50s, so most of my family's been in Thunder Bay for that time. I've been in the Indigenous Student Council with the Catholic School Board since 2008, and it's been a great experience, a great journey. I've got an awesome opportunity to work with students, which is a goal I set out for myself when I was a young person, to help out with Indigenous people, Indigenous communities, Indigenous young people, and just let them know that the opportunities that they have are there and to take advantage of them and to help them over where I can. Indigenous Counselors Program, and it's been around for a long time, but it started fairly small with, I believe, well, of course, it started with one counselor, moved to two, and then it slowly expanded, and I believe we're up to six. Now, it's been a program that's proved pretty positive and beneficial for the kids who come to our schools, and with our numbers growing, it's had a lot of impact on the families and the people that we work with, and a positive we're all feeling for our school and our board as well. Well, when I started, I started in the senior elementary schools, which was 12 to 13, 12 and 13. I guess sometimes as young as 11, and about six years ago, I moved up to the high school, which of course is from about 14 to roughly 18, and that's where I am now, and I've been there, I've been, or sorry, I've been here for four years full-time as the counselor here just at the high school, which was nice. It was nice to come to one school and settle at one school because it's just easier to keep on top of things and have a schedule that is consistent with the kids and their days. When I was going back and forth to different schools, it was difficult if you had a problem towards the end of the day and it wasn't fully resolved, and then the next day you had to go to another school, of course that situation would be on your mind and you ultimately leave it in the hands of others. That's hard as a counselor sometimes just because when you're the person working with an individual, you usually know the ins and outs that you know and it's hard to get those do-tails over to somebody else, so it's been a lot better being in one building and overseeing the students of one school because then I'm always there for them. We have a well-utilized space. It's absolutely for everybody. We host a lot of religion classes, of course indigenous language classes, history classes, geography has been here, before civics, law, we've used the space for a lot of different classes. Teachers just ask me if the room is available. We always are if we are, if we aren't, I'd let them know. For the most part it's available for everyone as well as students who just need a break, a calm place in the school, for them to gather their thoughts, get back to normal, get back to where they are, it's where they could operate properly within their classes and within education and give them that little space that hopefully is a connection to their, in a lot of cases, the indigenous students and their background and reflect who they are and be a place for them to basically have and and ultimately own. This is their room so I just I'm lucky to be a part of it. In terms of counseling, my education's in, I took three years, native child and family worker, a long time ago graduated 17 years ago, 18 years ago. I went on to Lincoln University, got an undergrad in indigenous learning and sociology. A lot of the students use this room themselves. They come in here and launch a lot of our, a lot of our northern students. I think they like this, this inclusion in the smaller areas, the less bustling areas which they're used to in their smaller communities. So a lot, a lot of my kids from the north who I have a great relationship with will come in this particular room and be close and that doesn't mean that we're, we're involved in any, you know, deep counseling or anything like that. It's just a space that they feel comfortable that is, happens to be a part, attached to our culture room. And our cultural room, of course, we use for indigenous culture, cultural activities. We drum, we drum once a week. We've got an after-school program which right now we're making a vegan sign. I got an idea to watch a couple movies and do a couple other art projects as well. And it's, it's, it's very good. It's, it's, you know, the kids know it's theirs. They're always, they're always taken part and it's nice for, it's a nice change from when I was a younger person, we didn't have the culture room when I attended this school because I attended St. Louis before as well, to now where the kids really feel like they have a space that's theirs. It can be themselves, can relax. One of the greatest confluence that, that I get from the students is, well it feels like this place, you know, isn't really a part of the school. It's, it's somewhere where I could just be calm and be myself and it's, it gives me a good feeling because I think we're doing the right thing when, when that happens. In terms of, say, the law class, the teacher will come in and, and look at the forms of, of, of law that, that, you know, maybe First Nations would use before. In terms of religion, although, you know, our, our, you know, our First Nations don't follow a religion per se, but we do have a spiritual aspect of the way we do things and, and to utilize those, whether it's, you know, smudging, we, we, we smudge, we, we drum, we sing, we, you know, do a lot of things that, that are there for the spirit of the students as well and make sure they're, you know, being taken care of in that, in that way. I think the aim is, is to make the kids, of course, be successful in education. You know, it's, it's, it's not a secret that the numbers of our graduating students, students in terms of indigenous students is a little bit lower than, than the mainstream students of, of, of our town. So we're, we're of course doing what we can to, to bring that level up to, to let the kids know that, you know, we're, there's a place for them to, within these walls, within, within our, within our board or school board, and as well for, for them to know that they can prosper and, and do well in our education system too. So to, to help them along that, that educational path is, is the reason why we're here as well. Yeah, just, you know, me as a counselor with, with a background in counseling, it's, it's really nice to be there and help them through some of the unique problems that our indigenous people face, which could be unique to, to each community or each individual or each family. And, and, and, and, you know, to help them through those times, because that was, you know, that was a big goal of mine coming out of this household because I just saw a lot of the issues that we do have within our community. And how I can hopefully make a difference and impact some of the people that we work with and some of the families that are here. I grew up with a lot of forward and first nations people going to St. Louis with, just crossed the way here. And they always left out for me. So I feel very blessed to be able to work with their kids and their next generation and kind of give back to what they gave me. So it's, it's a cool little connection. Well, one of my favorites has to be, is drumming. I just, Mr. Lane, our, our, he's in our religion department. He's taught at Albufor as well, great guy. He is the, the, the, the drum carrier and he, he looks after our drum takes it home when he has to and, and looks after it. But he also brought it into our school, which I'm so grateful for. And I didn't have much drum experience, although ever since I was a young guy, I was always drawn to it. Of course, when you go, you go straight to the circle into the drum. But it was always something I dreamt of doing. I just didn't really have those connections growing up. I grew up pretty, pretty urban and within this town. And those opportunities weren't quite there. So when Mr. I'm not forever grateful for him to, to bring the drum in, to do it now. And we were just drumming at lunch. It was absolutely amazing. And I get to know all these songs and learn these songs and just have a drum going on within the halls of our school. It seems like something that's pretty amazing. And, and, and you know, it's, it's very different from where we came historically where it was illegal to draw and illegal to have powwows. So it's, it's, it's really, it represents the change that has happened and, and, you know, being able to see all the positive things that are going on within our First Nations community and to bring that culture into our school is just, this isn't really cool in it and great to be a part of this one. I'm grateful for it. If there's something going on or one of us isn't feeling that well, well, let's go drum a little bit. Let's, let's, or let's have a smudge or, you know, some of the things that we do as First Nations people to let loose, to, to, you know, to unwind a little bit. And, and it's great. I mean, I still have, after we sang today, I keep singing the songs when we're around the kids in the hall. I like when I'm an new brain through the kids at lunch, the song's still in my head. I'm still singing. So it's, it's, it's an amazing thing to be a part of and for me to develop too as a person and be able to bring it in the schools. I'm just very happy to do it. It's very cool. Just to help my memory, I'm going to bring up all the pictures we have, just so I don't forget anything. Yeah, we do a lot of art projects. That's what that's kind of our focus right now. We're looking to make our room ours and put up some of the, some of the artwork that we do. I put the plans in front of the students, students to sign up what we want to do, where we've developed a couple being in science. And we've got, we've got another one that we're working on right now where each student is doing a letter on a canvas and we'll eventually finish it up and it will go on the wall out of here. Also, we, we have the, we've had the app program in town with you, which is the app program or in our school, which is the Aboriginal Venture Program. It's run through L.E.U. They send in a couple people run some programs that connect students to the university, make the connection of showing that it is not unattainable. It is not so far-fetched. And it is something that a lot of us do as Indigenous people. We get connected with the university, we go to school. It's our treaty rights. So it's a good opportunity to be able to go to school and pursue your education. So that's, that's a huge one. It was a great one and it's really, ran really well as well. We're hoping to do it again. And if, if, if anything right now it's by request, the kids come back and they want to be a part of the app program this year, they want to be a part of the app program. So we're, I'm really looking forward to getting that up and running again. I'm sure we'll be making the contact before Christmas and get that going. We're excited for it. As well, we did the hospital tour, which is the career of all the, kind of a tour of all the careers that you can, you can take within the hospital. And even I was blown away by that. You'd think it was just doctors and nurses. There's a men's side of things. There's running the plant that run the hospital. There's working in the foods department. There's so many opportunities there. And it's, it's, it's such a big, it's such a big part of our city that it's, it employs so many people that it's a great opportunity for kids of this area to be a part of. So we just, we get to show them that. One of my favorites, and I think all the students favorites is our day on the land that we do in the spring. And last year was fantastic. Mr. Lane brings the drum. We've had people from IFC, the Indian Friendship Center come and do their teachings with the kids. We eat. We go for a walk. We, we walk to the beach. We, we're in nature for the entire day. For most years it's, it's usually sunny and nice. So it's just an amazing day for us to be out, you know, in the, in the semi rural bush and, and, and, and, and, you know, let the kids kind of be kids and be themselves and connect with each other and just to see all the positives that come from it. I can't think of one behavior problem over the, what six years I've been doing it. I don't, I've not, not had one. And so it's, it's just an amazing thing that we get to do. I'm thinking of doing one in the fall as well, just to get the kids together and connected and, and be able to, in the elements as well. So I, because that's such an important, you know, piece of who we are as Indigenous people and for them to get an education that way. As well, the LU tour itself, getting to see, getting to see the school, the college tours as well, taking kids out to the post-secondary institutions and seeing that the opportunities that are there for them. In my counseling as well, a lot of times it happens with senior students, but we get, I've got, you know, my drawer full of 90 programs that the college has to offer. I'm going through there because you never know what you might want to do, but there are all these options. So we start, you know, start planting those seeds of education in their head at the younger ages and hopefully they develop into what they want to do. We've had a couple of cool programs last year was the Orca program where kids got to go to Forland Historical Park, get a canoeing, a certificate for canoeing to be able to do it properly. They also spent a few nights there and got a lot of Indigenous teachers with it and made a lot of lifelong friends. It was something just amazing. Again, the kids are requesting that for this year. So it's a great, it's a great thing to have the absent tour that came through in September, and you know, it's great that those people and that these institutions have these people reaching out to the Indigenous students and come to our school, present each of our students and start answering those when they're able to answer the questions that the kids might have in their possible pursuit of post-secondary education. So yeah, it's been amazing. I'm just thinking of a couple more things here. We do, of course, ball harvest, which you've been a part of yourself over the years, and you've been a part of most of these things over the years, but you know, just getting those teachings on the elements as well. Such an important thing. The kids are looking for it every year as well. It's just another one of the things that our city does that really, you know, I think helps the Indigenous kids connect to who they are and what their history is. It's so nice to be a part of this growing thing in our school board, which is, you know, which serves our Indigenous community and our Indigenous students and kind of let them know what they have out there and show them that there's opportunity to. There are a lot of different ways you can measure the success. I mean, as a counselor, of course, I just, and I kind of follow up with a lot of students with just the, how do you feel? And if a student comes in down and having a tough day and they leave here feeling better and have some tools to deal with what they're dealing with, then that's a successful day for me. You know, to be able to get them back into, you know, their classes, because of course we're an educational institution as well, so to get them back in their classes and not have to think about some of those problems that each and every one of us have to certain degrees in our life, then that's a success. As well, just, you know, the utilization of the room itself, you know, being able to tie our room and our culture and our history into all of these different classes. Earlier, I talked about all the classes that come down and how it fits into each and all of these, you know, different subjects. It's really neat to see how much of an impact we've had as First Nations people on this area and this country, so it's, yeah, it's a cool thing. Again, I keep selling broken record, but it's a real cool thing to be a part of. Indigenous education is, I think, you know, personally, I think there's a starting point for it. I think, of course, understanding the history is a great thing. In terms of, you know, us as a school, you know, a provincial school, we recognize that quite a bit, because we are in the North, our population is higher for Indigenous students, and sometimes with the province, it's hard for maybe them to understand that of how big our Indigenous population is. So, if we could get those history lessons to everybody, and then I think it's easier for all of us to move forward, and that's a great, great thing. But as well, just, you know, the true learning of Indigenous people being out, nurturing the roles of what you do for your community, you know, when we're out, you know, have the kids help me fill the fire, I've got kids looking for wood, I've got kids, you know, and those are the kids, and they naturally go to those things, which is very much our way of doing things. You know, so, you know, those aspects of being out, you know, getting out, whether it's, you know, learning about our environment, learning about the water, learning about the trees, learning about the medicines, of course, as well as the things that keep us who we are, medicine wheel teachings, some grandfather teachings, which have been with us forever, though that's very much Indigenous education, and it as well comes up in a lot of these different subjects, and it can be utilized there as a guide for Indigenous education. So, I think, you know, and as well, just recognizing it, recognizing the contributions that Indigenous culture, history bring to all these other elements of life, and I think we're just getting that point of change, and I think we're starting to recognize how beneficial a lot of our teachings, a lot of our wisdom can be in, you know, the Western society, you know, you see the hospital doing it now, you see courtrooms doing it, you see policing doing it, you see all these benefits from what our basic teachings, our basic teachings, so it's amazing to, you know, start seeing these things, and even just this conversation is helping me recognize all the good things that are happening, so it's great, yeah, it's nice. My vision for the next 10 years would be, I think, you know, of course adding a lot of what we have and where we've come from in terms of all those great teachings into many of the subjects that are out here now, because I think it only benefits them. But as well, I think, you know, in terms of a city and a community, the history teachings to be involved in the curriculum would probably be a good thing. I'm not a teacher myself, but as a counselor, I've seen over the years in a school board how beneficial, you know, our Indigenous history can be, and I think I really feel that way because when I was finishing high school and we didn't get a lot of teachings or a lot of history of who we are, I pursued it, of course, in my education as, you know, a counselor at the college and then as Indigenous learning at the university. I wanted to learn this stuff and I wanted to know about it. I just think it's something that would be so beneficial if it started at these younger ages and you think of, you know, something like racism and how much that would go away if we were aware of each other. I think it's a known fact that, you know, in a lot of cases, humans are afraid of what's unknown. So if we enlighten, you know, the general population to who we are and what our history was and the contributions that we've made and we look ourselves in a positive light, how beneficial that can be for this entire community. So I see my kids growing up in a place where their history and their background is respected and you know, and they're proud of it and they get to learn at a younger age than I did and not just on their own, not through our educational systems that we have in place right now, but that's where I'd hope we'd be in 10 years. You know, I really appreciate you guys doing this. I appreciate this study. I appreciate looking at these things. Like I mentioned earlier, it's nice to see all these doctors so-and-so's, you know, I recognize last name is Moeller from, you know, the North Shore and to see these people in these great positions and trying to impact education and, you know, do better things for not only indigenous people in our community, but our country. I think we're all in this together and I think that's a teaching as a First Nations person. So we've got to work for everyone. You know, the original treaty is like, you know, one of the long long belts where we're both there together and we're able to move forward together without, you know, affecting each other in a negative way. I think there's a way we could always all move forward and respect each other and I hope that, you know, that's what we're getting out of this and I think we are. Hey guys, I'm Oliver Asnak, Indigenous Student Councilor at the Funding for Catholic District School Board. I'm going to give you a little tour of our cultural room that has gone up about three years ago and we're so proud of it and it's an awesome room and it's definitely the student's room. It's their room and I'm just so grateful to be a part of it. So here we are. We've got our information board, things going on in the community, different things come down as they happen in the community. A little bit of our project, our library, which we were lucky to have and have a lot of support to grow and a lot of good information there. Of course, our drum, Mr. Elaine is the keeper of the drum. I'm so grateful for it, much for your showness and we get to drum. We usually drum on it weekly and have a little more if need be as well. It's some of the art projects that we've had in the past, your teacher, no child left behind. Where we get to view movies with the students, we're going to be watching Indian Horse in the next couple of weeks. So I know it's a very impactful movie but we will have the students prepared. But also a little feature of the room as well. Our table and it's a little messy right now. We've got the kids working on some art projects and some students doing homework here as well. So this is our table. We've got a couple of computers here as well for the students to use. Some student artwork, some sage hanging in the west as it should be. Some leather chairs for kids who we need to just relax and take a load off and get their mind back together before they head to class. And then some artwork that was purchased for us by the board as well. So this is our culture room and of course my office connected to it. So yeah, we're grateful at St. Palitz and we're lucky to have it and yeah, this is our space.