The Saskatoon Tribal Council has been given approval from Saskatoon City Council to proceed with an Indigenous preschool.

The STC is looking to purchase a home on 11th Street in the Montgomery Place neighbourhood and renovate it into a preschool for a maximum of 35 children.

“We at the Saskatoon Tribal Council are trying to take our own destiny and give the education of our language, our culture and our identity to our young people that we may not get in another preschool,” Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand told City Council Monday night. “So, for us that’s really important because we know the history of residential schools that’s impacted our people. This will provide an opportunity where we can get hands on to our communities and really look at making a difference for our people’s lives.”

The preschool will operate Monday through Thursday with morning and afternoon programming.

Arcand says the STC chose that location as it has a large backyard, big enough for the children to play and that it’s a safe neighbourhood.

Concerns were raised about excessive child noise and whether a preschool in a residential area was appropriate.

Arcand defended the program as it is a positive educational opportunity for Indigenous children.

“It’s really unfortunate that I have to stand here tonight and defend what we’re doing when everybody should be supporting an education process for any child,” Arcand explained. “We really got to work on reconciliation, working together, creating partnerships and relationships to have a quality of live for everybody.”

The preschool under the Aboriginal Head Start Program operates out of another school in the city. The preschool could be operational in September.