Spring 2008

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Summer Camps for Aboriginal Children

by Sandi Kiverago

Georgina Wabano is an elementary school teacher in her home community of Weenusk, located on the shores of Hudson Bay. This summer, for the second year in a row, instead of taking a much needed break after the school year, Georgina decided to work as a camp counsellor with one of Frontier College’s Aboriginal Summer Reading Camps which was hosted by her community.

She says, “This is the second year that I have been a northern counsellor and I felt that this year’s camp was even better than last year and the camp counsellors were able to work very well and effectively together. We had good attendance with the children. This year we sent newsletters out to the parents along with digital photos that the children took throughout the week.”

The three-week long literacy day camps held during the months of July and August each year are managed and administered by Frontier College—Canada’s oldest literacy organization. The camps welcome children and youth between the ages of 6 and 16 and encourage them to participate in a wide range of fun and educational literacy activities, from learning about numbers and alphabets for the younger kids, to song-writing, poetry and digital photo essays for older youth.

The Aboriginal Summer Reading Camps is one of several literacy initiatives begun in Ontario in 2005 by The Hon. James Bartleman, former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, to support the development of the English literacy skills of youth living in communities in northern Ontario.

During the summer of 2007, over 2,400 children and youth attended 37 camps held in 30 communities across the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Grand Council Treaty 3 and the Union of Ontario Indians territories. Bartleman’s legacy, it seems, is set to continue beyond his recently concluded term in office. In his investiture speech, the new Lieutenant Governor, the Hon. David Onley, declared, “The Aboriginal youth literacy initiative is a project that was begun by my immediate predecessor, the Honourable James K. Bartleman, and it’s one which I am happy to continue to support throughout my term as Ontario’s 28th Lieutenant Governor.”

In Ontario, camp counsellors are talented Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men and women from both northern and southern parts of the province. They are trained by Frontier College and sent to various communities to live and work among the residents. The camps also involve the participation of elders, parents and community members who contribute to the children’s learning, either as volunteers or as guests conducting workshops on the wealth and diversity of First Nations’ cultural heritage.

Solomon Hunter (12 years old) and Fox Wabano (5 years old) both attended the camp in Weenusk (Ontario) this summer and said that they liked “playing the games and activities,” and “the people who came (to run the) camp because they were fun!”

Georgina agrees. She says, “This summer I was elected as a Councillor for the Weenusk First Nation. As a band member and a Councillor, I strongly support the Literacy Camp for First Nation communities because it not only provides activities for the children during the summer but also encourages them to take an interest in reading.”

After three summers of successful summer camps in northern Ontario, Frontier College took its summer camp model to Saddle Lake, Alberta. The Saddle Lake First Nation is a large reserve about 200 km northeast of Edmonton. The reserve has a population of over 7,000 people—1,500 of these are children under the age of six.

Frontier College worked in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club of Saddle Lake to get the program off the ground. Space was donated by Onchaminahos Elementary School and camp counsellors were recruited from within the community. More than 140 children participated in the camp, with a waiting list of many more. Elders from the reserve visited the camps often to read stories, demonstrate traditional crafts and teach drumming, traditional songs and dance.

A parent of one camper in Saddle Lake says, “I have noticed a change in my daughter wanting to read and learn more from books. She is in her first year of school and she is very excited that she can read.”

Frontier College has been developing and delivering innovative literacy programs to Canadians of all ages since 1899. By recruiting volunteers and working in partnership with community-based organizations, Frontier College is able to reach out to thousands of children, youth and adults using models like the Summer Reading Camps, homework clubs, one-to-one and small group tutoring. The organization is looking for opportunities to offer the summer literacy camps to more aboriginal communities across Canada.

For more information about the Aboriginal Summer Reading Camps or about other Frontier College literacy programs, contact Frontier College at 1800-555-6523 or visit www.frontiercollege.ca