New memoir details how Cecil King went from humble beginnings to celebrated Indigenous educator in Sask.
CBC
A new memoir from Cecil King outlines how he grew from humble beginnings in a First Nations community to help revolutionize Indigenous education in Canada.
King's memoir, The Boy From Buzwah: A Life in Indian Education, outlines how King's path began during his modest upbringing on the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve in the 1930s and 40s.
King, who now resides in Saskatoon, said he was largely influenced by older members of his family, along with lessons he learned from nature.
"We lived a very basic life, totally governed by the environment," he told CBC Radio's Saskatchewan Weekend.
"We lived with nature pretty well all the time, and that served as our support."
In the memoir, King also describes his experiences attending Buzwah Indian Day School and St. Charles Garnier Residential School.
Although many Indigenous kids were forced to attend residential schools, King said it was also incredibly important to his grandfather that he receive an education.
"I had to go to school. My grandfather was very adamant about that point, and there was no question about whether I should or should not. I just had to go," he said.
Although his grandfather played a major part of his upbringing, King said it was his grandmother who inspired him to become a teacher.
"She was a teacher herself, and she taught in two Indian schools," he said.
As a result, King said he "picked up a knowledge of what teaching was all about."
In his early days as a teacher, King taught in on-reserve schools.
However, he found the curriculum didn't adequately engage with Indigenous students, even though he tried to adapt the lessons as much as possible.
He said there was a group of people who felt the same, so he decided to help lead the charge to implement Indigenous education in Canada's school system — with some added motivation from his grandfather.