Georgian College

23 GEORGIANVIEW 2021 SPRING INDIGENOUS CONNECTION want to learn, other times they come to me about their personal life, or help with Anishnaabemowin (Ojibwe language) or for a project they are working on," she says. "I just love being with them." Ernestine didn't grow up with Indigenous Elders. Like her parents, she was raised as a Christian without any traditional knowledge or ceremonies. When she was 10, her parents moved her family away from their home community of Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and lived in Toronto where there was more work. She also believes her mother agreed to move so she and her siblings wouldn't be sent to residential schools for their high school education. When Ernestine married, she and her husband raised their family in Barrie where they still live today. It wasn't until she was in her 50s that she decided to relearn Anishnaabemowin and attended Lakehead University in Thunder Bay for four summers, where she earned a Native Language Teachers diploma. "It was an awakening to learn that our ancestors had teachings and ceremonies on how to live a good life," she says. "Each community is different. Maybe some other communities had those teachings when there was no interference from the dominant society, but at that time, most of the reserves I knew were Christian. I had no idea of all the spirituality of our people. No one ever said that we had any spirituality at all. It was amazing to me. It's still amazing to me because I'm still learning things." Starting in 1995, she taught Anishnaabemowin to elementary students in Orillia and at Chippewas of Rama First Nation. She retired in 2010 after 15 years of teaching. In 1996, the Barrie Native Friendship Centre honoured her with an eagle feather and asked her to be an Elder. "I was really honoured," she says. "It was a humble feeling, I guess, that people looked at me in that way. It's humbling." She was further celebrated with a Lifetime Achievement award for language by the Sweetgrass First Nation's Language Council in Brantford in 2019. Ernestine has been honoured numerous ways over the years, but she is still Nookomis to her students at Georgian College. 2007 to 2011 2018 to present 2012 to 2017 • 2009 - Owen Sound Campus Resource Centre opens • 2010 - Midland Campus Resource Centre opens • 2011 - Resource Centre (Barrie) moves to a larger space (M building) • Student advisors hired to serve students at regional campuses (Orillia, Midland and Owen Sound) • Indigenous veterans plaque installed at new cenotaph (Barrie Campus) • Virtual Reality infused into the Anishnaabemowin program • Owen Sound Resource Centre moves to a larger space on campus • 2013 - Anishnaabemowin (Ojibwe) language program - two-year diploma delivered • 2015 - Indigenous Education Protocol signed by Georgian College and the AETC • 2016 - Indigenization is included in Georgian's Strategic Plan • 2016 - Land Acknowledgement plaque installed (Barrie Campus) • 2017 - Indigenization Specialist hired Visiting Elder Lorraine McRae from the Chippewas of Rama First Nation with Dr. MaryLynn West-Moynes, President and CEO of Georgian College, unveiling the Land Acknowledgement plaque. Drum making at the expanded resource centre in Owen Sound.

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