Presenters : Julie Guimond et Karolyne Boucher 

 - English-as-a-second-language Teachers and Mahikan Project Coordinators

Institution : Éducation des adultes de Trois-Rivières 

This workshop presents the development of cultural security practices introduced at the Centre d’éducation des Forgesin 2020. The workshop focuses on the positive impact of the Mahikan Project. Our Indigenous population (65 students annually) is 95% Atikamekw who often come from the remote communities of Manawan, Wemotaci and Opicewan. Our students move away from their community and settle in Trois-Rivières, either living alone or sharing an apartment. Their reality is dotted with obstacles including:

• Hypermobility
• Separation from the familiar social network or the lack of a social network caused by the community’s distance.
• Poverty and violence in the social environment
• Young age (between 18 and 22 years old)
• Lack of understanding of the urban school system (different from that of the community and more demanding)
• The incomprehension of the language of instruction which is a second language very far grammatically from the Atikamekw language

Our cultural safety measures include a liaison officer (social worker) and two teachers, of which one is a French teacher dedicated solely to Indigenous students. Throughout the year, students and their teachers organize a wide range of cultural activities to nurture their Native culture, which they often pass on to non-Native students at our school and in other Indigenous communities in the Mauricie region. As a result, more and more Indigenous students feel at home in our community and remain there until their training goal is achieved.