Waterloo region's first Indigenous child-care centre aims to 'bring the culture back to our children'

Cambridge will soon be home to Waterloo region's first Indigenous-led and licensed child-care centre.

The Ga'nigǫhi:yo Indigenous Child Care and Family Centre will hold enough space for 65 First Nations, Métis or Inuit children, status or non-status, up to four years old.

"We're hoping to bring the culture back to our children that was taken back from residential schools," Renata Richards, director of the new child-care centre, told CBC News during an interview in the new space.

Children attending Ga'nigǫhi:yo will be supplied with holistic and accessible programming catered toward the needs of Indigenous children and families, a service Richards says is missing in the region.

"I am a generational survivor. My grandfather spent nine years in the residential school and growing up it wasn't talked about, and then my children unfortunately didn't learn their culture," she said.

Richards said they'll employ an elder and a cultural co-ordinator to help staff with teachings and language. Alongside them, daycare workers will have students perform daily smudging, circles and other traditional teachings. 

The child-care centre has also partnered with Six Nations Polytechnic, housing its registered Early Childhood Education program's Indigenous training course.

Richards said she "hopes that those students that are taking that registered ECE course will just pop on over and become [their] staff when the 16-month course is finished."

The facility will have a full-time cook to work the fully equipped kitchen as well as a language expert to teach an Indigenous language, which Richards said has yet to be chosen.

'This is the future'

In addition to being Ga'nigǫhi:yo's first director, Richards is the assistant executive director of Healing of the Seven Generations.

"As it's always been told, it takes seven generations to heal our community," she said.

Richards said she hopes the children growing up now are that seventh generation, and she sees this new child-care centre as the means to an end.

"There's not going to be any need for the Healing of Seven Generations," she said. "This is the future."

Richards said she's been tasked with planting the seeds and growing the roots for bringing up the next generation of Indigenous children "to know that they have culture, that they're entitled to be able to learn stuff that they have not been taught."

"So this is our future. This is my future," she said.

There is no set opening date for Ga'nigǫhi:yo Indigenous Child Care and Family Centre, but Richards said it will likely be toward to end of January or the beginning of February.