Indigenous pupil sent house with ‘offensive’ worksheet, prompting audit at Niagara university


Warning: This tale consists of the image in query.

A Niagara-area faculty is auditing the materials of a teacher who’s facing undisclosed “disciplinary action” after a student was despatched home with a worksheet depicting two cartoon characters in stereotypical Indigenous garments, such as feathered headbands. 

Tracee Smith, who lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., was stunned when her four-calendar year-previous son Ekkian Christmas came household from junior kindergarten with the worksheet entitled “Two minor Indians are ingesting ice product.” It requested students to “colour the scoops that have an ‘I’ or ‘i’ on it.” 

“I couldn’t consider that I was studying it. I went from staying stunned, to upset, to actually upset, all quite rapidly,” mentioned Smith, a member of the Missanabie Cree Initial Nation in northern Ontario.

She mentioned other children in the course also ended up offered the worksheet.

A slightly crumpled worksheet that has been filled out by a small child, with a line of text that reads "Two little Indians are eating ice cream. Colour the scoops that have uppercase I or lowercase i". At the bottom of the page there are two cartoons dressed in stereotypical Indigenous outfits from the past.
The worksheet, meant to instruct youngsters the big difference among cash I and lowercase i, attributes a drawing of two figures in stereotypical Indigenous outfits. (Submitted by Tracee Smith)

Smith’s son started off at St. Davids General public School three weeks in the past. She reported he was unaware, due to the fact of his age, that the worksheet was offensive, but his older sister, who is in Quality 1, comprehended it was. 

“We even now have teachers working with this product and not knowing how hurtful it can be,” Smith claimed.

“You may hear the time period ‘Indian’ made use of in quite racist, hurtful strategies from primarily non-Indigenous people today, from the past.” 

St. Davids Community University principal Carl Glauser despatched an e-mail to mom and dad immediately after Smith produced the college and the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) informed of the worksheet.

“We are sincerely sorry to the college students, families and complete school local community that this offensive product was dispersed,” Glauser said in the email. 

‘You would believe we would have gotten past this’

Smith claimed the worksheet strike shut to residence, not just because she and her husband are Indigenous, but because Smith also will work in Indigenous instruction. 

She is the founder and main executive officer of Outside the house Seeking In, an educational plan that provides Indigenous and non-Indigenous students jointly to understand about each individual other, and delivers substantial university credits to Indigenous college students by way of their dance system. 

“I operate with curriculum, and instructors and principals all the time,” Smith mentioned. 

“20-five kids that I know of obtained that worksheet. You would just feel that we would have gotten earlier this previously.” 

Georgie Groat, the Indigenous schooling lead for the DSBN, works with a group of 7 scholar achievement leaders for Indigenous schooling. 

A woman sits in front of a white wall.
Georgie Groat, Indigenous schooling guide for the District University Board of Niagara (DSBN), states the worksheet displays how much function desires to be accomplished in ‘unlearning’ biases. (Chris Glover/CBC)

She explained the worksheet that was handed out in class “demonstrates how much much more do the job we have to do.” 

In the e-mail sent home to mother and father, Glauser agreed with Groat. 

“We know there is even now considerably much more operate to be finished as we hold with our journey to fact and reconciliation,” Glauser said. 

Teacher facing ‘disciplinary action’

Kim Sweeney, the senior supervisor of communications and public relations for DSBN, claimed the incident is beneath investigation. 

“The principal started off by doing an audit of all the resources for that certain quality,” Sweeney claimed, adding the audit would go over handouts, components employed in course and products hanging on the walls in the classroom. 

A woman sits in front of a white wall.
Kim Sweeney, DSBN’s senior supervisor of communications and community relations, states there is an ongoing audit of the finding out substance applied in the kindergarten class at St. Davids Community Faculty. (Chris Glover/CBC)

She claimed the faculty board believes no just one else has utilized the worksheet, exterior of Ekkian’s teacher.

Sweeney confirmed the four-yr-old’s teacher is white, has been at St. Davids for four a long time, and teaching considering the fact that 2017. 

When requested how the worksheet entered the curriculum, Sweeney said the instructor released it and the sheet is not aspect of the all round curriculum. 

“Educators as specialists can make decisions about what they use in the classroom, and this merchandise was a single of people choices. It was the complete erroneous option,” Sweeney stated. 

“We are producing sure this merchandise is ruined.” 

Groat stated Ekkian’s teacher distributing the worksheet is disappointing, due to the fact it shows that the do the job Groat’s team has completed to notify educators about Indigenous people and society just isn’t reaching absolutely everyone. 

“What is it that we need to have to do to make positive that everyone is having the qualified development, and possessing it hit house for all people?” she asked.

Sweeney mentioned “disciplinary action is staying taken with the teacher,” but as the audit is ongoing, she could not give CBC News specifics on what the reprimand was or what it might be when the audit is finish. 

As of this 7 days, the trainer is however leading Ekkian’s classroom. 

An possibility to learn 

Smith explained that when she is dissatisfied about the worksheet, she just isn’t offended. 

“If everything, I hope it really is a discovering option,” she explained. 

“These phrases have altered, and the phrase ‘Indian’ [in reference to an Indigenous person] is a pretty hurtful term.”

Referring to the illustration, she said, “We have to start receiving all those visuals out of the program, so that men and women can fully grasp who we are these days.” 

Groat, whose performs to integrate comprehension of existing Indigenous people into DSBN’s educational institutions, explained: “I do feel that this is an possibility to teach, and do some operate with instructors and staff members.”

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