History of Language Instructions In Ile-a-la Crosse, Saskatchewan
In 1972 the community of Ile a la Crosse held a sit-in in order to gain local control of their school. Prior to this time Ile a la Crosse was part of the Northern Area administered from Prince Albert. French was taught as a second language at the high school at this time. Marie Favel and Claire Daigneault were early teachers of the Michif Language at the elementary level.
In 1990 a survey was done of the native language speaking communities in the province. The concern was that many of the young members of the communities were not able to comprehend their traditional language. Ile a la Crosse was part of this survey and Ile a la Crosse was on the critical list; in danger of losing its native language. The community of Ile a la Crosse asked the school board to implement a Cree language program in the school.
In 1991 funding became available to develop a Cree language program in the school. The local school board formed a Cree Steering Committee. The committee worked with the Cree language coordinator to prepare a program of Cree Language instruction in the school. This committee consisted of parents, teachers and board members. They determined that Ile a la Crosse was a Métis community and that the native language spoken was Michif (a mixture of Cree and French). It was decided Michif would be taught from grade k to 9 and Cree would be taught in the senior grades. The reasoning for teaching Cree at the senior level was that Cree was a language accepted by post secondary institutions as a language entrance requirement and by the department as a recognized subject.
In 2003 the Michif Language was approved for instruction at the Grade 10, 20 and 30 level through a locally developed program.
