First Nation in northwestern Ontario celebrates new school and Oji-Cree immersion program

It's not just a new school year for students in Wunnumin Lake First Nation — it's also their first semester in their new school.

Students and teachers were joined by community members and dignitaries at the grand opening Friday of John George Martin Memorial School, and there was plenty to celebrate, with a tour, speeches, gifts and a grand feast.

Wunnumin Lake is about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario. It's only accessible by plane or winter road, and is home to about 600 people.

The former school, Lydia Lois Beardy Memorial School, opened more than 30 years ago when the community took local control of its education system from the federal government. For the past several years, work has been underway to build a bigger school that could accommodate more students and programs.

With bright, colourful hallways, traditional artwork and Oji-Cree syllabics above the coat hooks and cubbies, the new building aims to provide a welcoming environment for just under 150 students from junior kindergarten (known as K4) to Grade 10.

"It's nice and spacious," said Grade 5 student Emery Dolph. "The first school was a lot smaller."

It's among a few exciting projects that have come to fruition in the community, which will soon be connected to Wataynikaneyap Power's transmission grid later this month. 

John George Martin Memorial's opening also marks the start of a new Oji-Cree language immersion program, where K4 to Grade 2 students are taught entirely in Oji-Cree.

The school was named after the late elder John George Martin. Community members have described Martin as an influential leader who championed language revitalization and land-based learning. 

Strengthening Oji-Cree in the community is one of the school's key mandates, said Tommy Sainnawap, the school's education director. He said the community's youth were still speaking the language regularly about 10 years ago, but things have slipped.

"That's one of the main goals that I have — to start encouraging the parents to speak the language to their grandkids and kids instead of English. It starts at home."

Once their Oji-Cree immersion ends, students will continue to take Oji-Cree as a separate class.

Viola Roundhead, the school's senior native language teacher, said speaking Oji-Cree is a fundamental way for the new generation to reconnect to their roots.

"It's very important to learn [Oji-Cree] because of our identity, our culture and everything," Roundhead said.