Fish camp gives francophone educators a sense of traditional teachings, and knowledge to pass on to kids

Surrounded by a group of educators, Irene Sangris demonstrated how to cut up a fish.

"Anybody know why we cut the tail off?" she asked the group.

"Respect?" someone suggested.

"Yes," Sangris replied. "If you respect something that feeds you, it will come back to you again, while you're hungry. They'll always help you."

This winter, Francophone and Dene educators have been getting together at a camp just outside Dettah, N.W.T. — about 20 minutes from Yellowknife by ice road.

Their goal is to eventually develop a guide to help French-language daycare workers better understand Dene culture, so they can pass that knowledge on to the little people in their classrooms. 

The program is put on by College Nordique. 

This past weekend, educators got a history lesson on Indigenous-Crown relations, colonization, and residential schools. 

They also got some hands-on experience cutting up whitefish, coney and trout. 

"We wanted to provide the educators with a sense of how we would teach," said Lila Fraser Erasmus, who runs Bows and Arrows consulting in Yellowknife. She taught the part of the class on Crown-Indigenous relations. 

The Dene way of teaching, Fraser Erasmus said, is by modelling one skill — in this case, filleting a fish — and teaching lessons that can be used in other areas of life, like patience and respect.

Fraser Erasmus said it's important to teach others about the Dene way of life, including non-Indigenous people who are teaching children in the territory. 

She said children need to to be learning about Dene peoples' worldview.

"We are an earth-based people … we are very connected to the land, to the earth, to creator, and so a lot of what we do will be based upon the teachings of Mother Earth. So how do we respect each other? How do we work together? How do we understand each other?" she said, adding Dene don't see themselves in any hierarchical or superior role to the land.