New name for Cree bilingual school in Saskatoon honours traditional teachings

A Cree bilingual school in Saskatoon has a new name, to go along with its new home.

About 500 people gathered at St. Frances Cree Bilingual School on Wednesday to hear the reveal of new name: awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School (pronounced a-wah-sih-suk gha-knee-meet-oh-chik).

The name will adorn the school's new home that's under construction at the corner of Seventh Street East and Grosvenor Avenue, slated to open for classes in fall 2025.

Kelley Cardinal, a superintendent of education with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, explained the meaning of the name.

"awâsisak refers to the children and the youth, and kâ-nîmîhtocik refers to the northern lights. Altogether, awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik refers to the children who dance or the children that dance," she said.

"The intention behind that is to weave in traditional teaching, so nurturing the children and their spirit while also providing them with the knowledge and that connection to their ancestors and those who walked and came before them."

The school's patron has been changed to St. Francis of Assisi, "whose well-known care for nature and interconnectedness with all living things aligns with Indigenous values," according to a news release from the school division. The current school was named for St. Frances Cabrini.

Cardinal said all the artwork in the new building will be done by local Indigenous artists. Cree syllabics are woven into the exterior of the building's curving walls, so the community and students can see the language reflected out in the open, for the public.

There is performing arts space, and space for a permanent teepee. A new donation means there will also be a powwow arbour at the school, giving students "a place where they can celebrate their culture and learn those things that we once weren't able to learn and do before, such as powwow dancing," Cardinal said.

The Cree bilingual program has continued to grow since it first started in 2007, in partnership with the Saskatoon Tribal Council.

There are more than 600 students stuffed into the current school on McPherson Avenue, which had fewer than 100 students before the Cree language program began and enrolment began to balloon.

Funding for the new facility was announced in 2018, and construction began in the summer of 2023. 

The consultation process for the new name began almost a year ago, and involved elders, parents, caregivers, students, staff and community members.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools board chair Diane Boyko said the northern lights form part of the inspiration for the school itself.

"So all the students that were within that school would understand the connection, the deep connection that there is with our ancestors, with their ancestors, and that the northern lights will always remind them of what those ancestors bring to them and to their lives," Boyko said.