The Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) welcomed its new District Elder at a board meeting on Wednesday and invited her to share her teachings and knowledge with students throughout the district.
Elder Diane Meguinis is a member of the Tsuut’ina First Nation and will be the CCSD’s District Elder for the 2024-2025 academic year, named during the CCSD’s Wednesday board meeting.
Meguinis is also involved in the University of Calgary Elder Circle and the Elders Knowledge Circle Society, where she advocates for “unity across nations,” according to a memo publicly posted on the CCSD’s website.
“My mother and father were fluent Tsuut’ina speakers. However, due to various factors, I am not a fluent speaker but I am a fluent listener. My first language is English, even though my upbringing was Tsuut’ina until I was six years old,” she told trustees at Wednesday’s board meeting.
“Presently I am interested in advocacy and promoting awareness among grassroots people in the healing of our lands, water and language. This will heal our people from devastating losses we have incurred and continue to incur while taking stock of how far we have come and how far we have to go.”
Meguinis also wants the CCSD to be more inclusive and accessible for Indigenous kids because education opens doors for everyone. This includes inviting Indigenous scholars and mentors to share their knowledge with students and creating more pathways for Indigenous students to pursue post-secondary education, especially in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math).
Meguinis said many Indigenous students have parents who are “first gens,” meaning they are the first generation of Indigenous kids not to go to residential schools. Intergenerational trauma is the biggest barrier preventing many Indigenous students from pursuing higher education, she added.
“Part of the equation is [implementing] a mental health strategy. Do we have one and what is available? These young people are coming from places that not too many of us would be able to understand,” Meguinis said.
“We need to have an Indigenous mom and dad in the district. The most important thing that kids can have today is a mom and dad, and lots of them. There especially needs to be an Indigenous man because a lot of young people and young boys do not have dads.”
The mental health strategy also needs to incorporate traditional teachings and culturally appropriate healing methods, Meguinis added.
“There needs to be traditional physicians, there needs to be traditional teachers. You need professional people that can work with traditional teachers here at [the CCSD] to work with those young people. They need to be able to communicate and cooperate with each other.” she said.
Plaque honouring Indigenous cultures unveiled
The CCSD’s Indigenous Education Team also unveiled the Seven Sacred Teachings plaques that will honour Indigenous cultures in schools across the city.
According to the team, the Seven Sacred Teachings plaque was designed by an Indigenous Elder and a former student who created art pieces incorporating different Indigenous cultures. This includes the medicine wheel at the centre of the wooden plaque and illustrations of sacred animals surrounding it.
“It’s all done on this wooden plaque to represent that connection to the land, that connection to the earth. We put those all together in a beautiful way to complement Catholic values and Catholic traditions,” said Wanda deLaronde, a district teacher and a member of the Indigenous Education Team.
“It’s so important for Indigenous culture to share where our teachings are from. So, it’s not just sharing this knowledge, but sharing with you where it comes from. Looking to nature and giving thought to all those different animals … They have some really beautiful stories of how each of them connects to the teachings.”
