The Think Indigenous Education Conference continued in Saskatoon on Thursday.
Nearly 600 educators gathered in the city to experience a wide range of topics surrounding Indigenous education.
The three day conference officially kicked off Wednesday at the Saskatoon Inn, but day two took place at Lakeview Church.
The day was the conferences Red Talks with several different presentations and speeches for the entire audience. The breakout sessions will take place on Friday.
One of the presentations was done by University of Regina Professor Dr. Shauneen Pete.
Dr. Pete spoke on the Indigenous presence in the current educational system.
“People have been systematically denied the opportunity to learn about Aboriginal culture,” said Dr. Pete during her presentation. “And you should be ticked off about this.”
Pete says higher education has been struggling with Indigenization and unfortunately there is no accountability yet for Aboriginal inclusion.
“This has disadvantaged every learner in the province. We have responsibilities to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to teach our history.”
While Dr. Pete was harsh during her presentation she does says there is hope.
“Universities are playing a role in transforming Canadian education. We are still at the beginning, but we are making our presence known.”
Other topics discussed included treaty right to education, empowering women and the First Nation post-secondary experience.
The Think Indigenous Education Conference is put on by the Indian Teachers Education Program from the University of Saskatchewan.
One of Thursday’s presenters was Kimberly Knight a current student in the program.
Throughout her presentation Knight shared different stories of what it was like for her to be an Indigenous student growing up. Some of the stories she shared had a positive outcome while others did not.
“As a future teacher I am now excited to be a person of change based on all the experiences I have had as a First Nation student,” said Knight.
Other topics on the board included the First Nation spirit of sports as well as the Metis perspective.
The conference continues on Friday with breakout sessions at the Saskatoon Inn as well as a keynote address from First Nation child welfare activist Dr. Cindy Blackstock.