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National Indigenous News September 4 · National Indigenous Newscasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is a look at your National Indigenous News.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Daryl Stranger.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: The Assembly of First Nations says it needs at least$19 billion over 20 years, with$550 million in working capital each year to ease the chronic underfunding of Indigenous schools across Canada, despite a reformed education system.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: The decades-long shortfall in federal funding has left schools operated by Indigenous Band Councils overcrowded and unsafe for students, despite$2 billion in assistance since 2016, which AFN calls inadequate in a report released Thursday.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: The report comes more than a month before a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and First Nations leaders who say the latest funding estimates will inform the talks.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: More than 225 First Nations schools funded by the federal government are overcrowded, according to directives by Canada's school space accommodation standards, an increase of 25 schools since 2021.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, 77 schools need to be replaced due to infrastructure concerns.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: The report also highlights a lack of housing for teachers that has led to a revolving door for educators and instability in the education system.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Housing on First Nations works differently as renting is complicated by regulations in the Indian Act, requiring, among other things, a permit from Indigenous Services Canada.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Of the$19 billion, AFN said it needed more than$4.7 billion as of today, along with an additional billion dollars to build enough housing for teachers in communities across the country.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The funding request is nearly$7 billion higher than AFN's 2021 projections, and the larger price tag is due to higher construction costs, inflation, population growth, and competition for labor.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The Micasoo Cree First Nation has opened their own high school in the city of Edmonton.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Daniel Barker Tromblay has more from the halls of the school.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: Micasoo Cree First Nation has opened the Rita Martin Nahiwa and Kiska, Mamantwin High School in Edmonton, welcoming its first grade 10 students on August 31st.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: The school combines Alberta curriculum with Cree language, indigenous knowledge, cultural land-based learning, with plans to expand to grades 11 and 12 over the next two years.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: Kenisa Schwetz, principal at the Rita Martin High School, says that many phone calls are coming in for registration for parents to get their kids connected to their educational studies and land-based teachings.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: Honestly, now that we're up and rolling and things are looking good and we're getting calls about registrations, it's really exciting.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like to be able to offer academics with the program of studies while also linking to the culture and the language and the ways of life up north in Fort Chippewan is exciting.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Jaden Oge, student at Rita Martin High School, speaks on the welcoming environment that the school has created while supporting her work towards becoming a marine biologist.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: When I first came here, I was really nervous, but everybody made me feel so welcome, and all the teachers are really great.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: They've gotten to connect with me, and I've gotten to really connect with them, and I've never felt like so happier at any other school other than this one.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: And they're gonna help me with my work and they're gonna help me take science and they're gonna help me become what I want to become because I want to become a marine biologist, so I'm gonna have a lot of help here.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: In Edmonton, I'm Daniel Barker Tromblay.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: When the Hatchet Lake Denisulana First Nation first signed Treaty 10 in 1907, it was promised about 260 hectares of land per family or 52 hectares per person, but that promise wasn't upheld by the Crown.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, earlier this week, the community about 700 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon announced it had reached a settlement with the governments of Saskatchewan and Canada to honor the promises spelled out 119 years ago.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: The band will receive$29.6 million, and it can apply to add roughly 11,380 hectares of land to its reserve land base through the Saskatchewan Treaty land entitlement process.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: When land was surveyed for the reserve in 1965, Chief Bartholomew Sanny said there was a shortfall.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Sanny said the band consulted with members all over Saskatchewan and Manitoba before it agreed to the settlement.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: He said now with the money in the band's trust, it will consult members about what they want to do with the money and where to purchase land.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: The community has also developed a committee and will be consulting community members to determine what happens with the trust.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a look at your National Indigenous News.