Creating Space: My Life in Indigenous Education

by Verna J. Kirkness

Verna J. Kirkness grew up on the Fisher River Indian reserve in Manitoba. Her childhood dream to be a teacher set her on a lifelong journey in education as a teacher, counsellor, consultant, and professor. Her simple quest to teach "in a Native way" revolutionized Canadian education policy and practice. Kirkness broke new ground at every turn. As the first cross-cultural consultant for the Manitoba Department of Education Curriculum Branch she made Cree and Ojibway the languages of instruction in several Manitoba schools. In the early 1970s she became the first Education Director for the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs) and then Education Director for the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations). She played a pivotal role in developing the education sections of Wahbung: Our Tomorrows, which transformed Manitoba education, and the landmark 1972 national policy of Indian Control of Indian Education. These two major works have shaped First Nations education in Canada for more than 40 years. In the 1980s she became an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia where she was appointed Director of the Native Teacher Education Program, founded the Ts’‘Kel Graduate Program, and was a driving force behind the creation of the First Nations House of Learning. Honoured by community and country, Kirkness is a visionary who has inspired, and been inspired by, generations of students. Like a long conversation between friends, Creating Space reveals the challenges and misgivings, the burning questions, the successes and failures that have shaped the life of this extraordinary woman and the history of Aboriginal education in Canada.

Genres: Memoir

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2013

Reviews

[Nancy Rosaasen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one inspirational lady! She has really lived life on her own terms. She is an advocate for Indigenous education but also an advocate for creativity, problem solving, and continual learning. She’s my new hero!

[Cherop · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very worthwhile read written by a true visionary in the field of Aboriginal education in Canada. I am so glad this remarkable woman has written her story as it truly is an important part of Canadiana from the Aboriginal perspective.