Continuing to grow Indigenous education

Rebecca Chartrand has been a leader in Indigenous education at Seven Oaks Division, and now she’ll be taking on a new role in a college environment.

On June 19, Red River College announced Chartrand will be joining them as the new Indigenous Strategy executive director, where she will be creating solutions to address Indigenous education in the college.

According to a release, she will oversee a planned expansion of student supports and the creation of new academic programming, 

"We’ll be creating a strategy that will be right across Red River to support both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, and I think it’s an exciting opportunity," Chartrand told The Times.

"There’s an opportunity for innovation. They are also looking at the revitalization of Aboriginal language, and that’s something we did really well in Seven Oaks (School Division). I believe we are a leader in revitalizing languages, so it will be nice to carry over that initiative to Red River College."

Chartrand will leave SOSD, where she spent the past seven years as the division’s lead for Aboriginal education, and will start her new job in August. 

"It was a tough decision, I have to say, because my heart is in Seven Oaks," she said.

Chartrand has 15 years of experience and is also a sessional instructor at the University of Manitoba, the president of The Indigenous Peoples Commission for Manitoba, the founder and professional development chair of the Council for Aboriginal Education in Manitoba, and an education advisor for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

She said she wants to strengthen supports for Indigenous students transitioning from First Nations communities into the urban setting.

"I think we fail to recognize that Indigenous students, when they come to the cities, they experience culture shock that is very parallel to the culture shock that new immigrants experience when they come to a new country," she said, adding she intends to create supports for Indigenous students that are parallel to the support given to new immigrant families.

"I think whatever we do, we need to understand what type of challenges are ahead for our students when they do try to transition from the reserve to urban life."

Advancing Indigenous achievement is identified as a top priority in RRC’s strategic plan for 2016 to 2021. RRC is also a signatory to the Manitoba Indigenous Education Blueprint which is based on the calls to action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

The college has achieved many milestones in Indigenous Education including the recent opening of the new sweat lodge at the Notre Dame Campus.

"This is our future labour market. If we are not supporting young Indigenous people in obtaining these types of skills to transition into successful employment, that could be trouble for all of us," Chartrand added

Another role Chartrand will be taking coming into RRC is to strengthen partnerships between the college and Indigenous communities. She said they’ll be looking for partners that have a vast interest in education such as the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, the universities, political organizations, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc., and Southern Chiefs Organization.

"We have these dots of initiative that are happening, and I think what we need to do is connect the dots, increase our partnership and recognize where we are overlapping in our efforts to achieve common outcomes," she added.

RRC president and CEO Paul Vogt will be working directly with Chartrand and said the college is moving forward to address the needs of Indigenous students.

"Red River is moving forward with a plan to add transition and mentoring services to support the success of Indigenous students across the college, and new programs designed to provide the skills needed in Indigenous communities," he said in a statement.