The leaders of post-secondary schools across Canada are putting their heads together in Saskatoon.
The University of Saskatchewan is hosting a national conference to come up with ways to improve First Nations education, titled “Building Reconciliation.”
The needs were outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. U of S President Peter Stoicheff said the next step is to combine forces with other post-secondary institutions, students, and aboriginal leadership to decide how to respond.
Stoicheff says he expects to see a lot of good ideas come from the 14 schools participating in the two-day forum.
“The pitch to have other universities here was so that we can all learn from each other’s’ best practices,” he said.
Stoicheff says it’s not just about changing programming to better suit aboriginal students, it’s about changing attitudes on campus.
“We are also trying to change a culture so that non-aboriginal people on campus will understand the unique position and the unique cultures of aboriginal peoples,” he said.
He says it was important to invite aboriginal leaders to the two-day forum, with includes Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde.
The 180 guests will hear from the main speaker TRC commissioner Justice Murray Sinclair
A film screening and residential school art display are also scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
People can watch the conference live online by following this link.