Knowledge Keepers Share Cultural Expertise

Walk into the foyer of the District Education Support Centre and you will be surrounded by the faces of Knowledge Keepers on the walls. Knowledge Keepers are respected and valuable members of Indigenous communities, who may be First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, and may live on or off reserve.

SD83 Director of Instruction Chelsea Prince explained that the term “Knowledge Keeper” is used instead of “Elder” because Knowledge Keepers can be any age, and may have gained their understandings through lived experience, from their families, or through their education. We have a well-established Knowledge Keeper Program in our District, which provides schools with the opportunity to invite members of the local Indigenous communities into classrooms to share their cultural expertise with students, which increases the sense of belonging for students of Indigenous ancestry,” said Director Prince.

“In addition, three times a year, we hold events at the District Education Support Centre for Knowledge Keepers. In December, that event is a Christmas lunch with all of the trimmings, and Secwépemc language BINGO. Many Knowledge Keepers are Residential School survivors or may have had challenging school experiences in their youth, and this program, along with these events, is one step we take in helping members of the Indigenous community feel like they belong as part of the School District 83 community,” Director Prince adds.

At the luncheon on December 6, there was a special guest, Elail Neighbor-Celesta, a Grade 12 student at Salmon Arm Secondary. Elail was the language BINGO host, which she called in Secwépemctsín (Secwépemc language). Elail has been learning Secwépemctsín from her grandmother, who is a fluent speaker.