By Jon Perez
SASKATOON, SASK. — The newly-opened awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School is a unique educational institution within the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools system.
The Cree bilingual elementary school opened its doors on 7th Street in the Grosvenor Park neighbourhood this September, after years of planning and construction. Newly named as awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School, it continues the focus on Cree language that was first initiated at the former St. Frances School – a facility that no longer had space for the growing program.
The new school continues to integrate Indigenous language, culture and traditions with Catholic teachings. School leaders say that the building and its programming reflects and embodies the Church’s ongoing journey of healing and reconciliation with First Nations communities, especially those affected by inter-generational trauma of the Indian Residential School system.
Elders, many of whom are residential school survivors, have been and will continue to be involved in every aspect of the school, including the suggestion and selection of the school’s new name, honouring nēhiyaw (Cree) language and traditions, as well as in the design of the entire school, which blends Indigenous art and culture with Catholic faith.
From a proposed 135 names, two were combined in the new name: awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School. The Cree name is pronounced “a-wah-sih-suk gha-knee-meet-oh-chik” meaning “children who dance.”
The school building’s exterior is shaped to reflect an image of the northern lights. According to Cree tradition, the northern lights are spirits of the ancestors dancing across the sky, making awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik (children who dance) an applicable name, in addition to choosing as the school’s new patron St. Francis of Assisi, who is known for his care and love of all God’s creation.
The previous patron of the GSCS Cree-bilingual school in its old location was St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The religious order founded by “Mother Cabrini” opened and operates schools, orphanages, and hospitals around the world.
For GSCS Education Superintendent Kelley Cardinal, the relocation and opening of the new school in their division, which honours Cree language and culture in a Catholic setting, is deeply personal, as it will provide a space for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to learn Indigenous teachings and ceremonies.
“This school is more than a building. It’s a teaching tool. It’s reconciliation in action. Being in a Catholic school division and having the opportunity to do this is significant,” she said.
“We don’t shy away from history. We acknowledge it, and we work through it together,” said Cardinal who celebrates her own nēhiyaw heritage, and who served as vice-principal at the program’s former site.
Cardinal said that the new awâsisak kâ-nîmîhtocik St. Francis School will lead an emotional effort to bridge the painful history between the Catholic Church and Indigenous Peoples with a future rooted in shared purpose, healing, and hope.
The curriculum, ceremony spaces, and placement of sweetgrass and birch trees all reflect a deep intention to honour the Indigenous worldview alongside the Catholic faith.
Students will participate in daily prayer, religious education, and attend Mass, as part of its Catholic school division’s identity. However, they will also engage in smudging, attend feasts, participate in sweat lodges, and learn about Indigenous culture and language on a daily basis.
The Catholic church’s history with Indigenous Peoples left deep wounds, which for many reopened after reports of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops. Cardinal said many staff members at the former St. Frances School were gravely affected and emotional about those discoveries, which brought back their own families’ painful experiences at residential schools.
The new school will display a crucifix carved in stone alongside a braid of sweetgrass and a birch tree, symbols that represent the intention to bring together the Indigenous and Catholic way of knowing. That principle of coexistence will be woven throughout the school, from learning how to grow traditional plants used for medicine to processing wild game, such as deer and moose.
The school will also feature a room where Elders and Knowledge Keepers will share stories and teachings, as well as a tipi structure in an open space near the entrance, which will serve as a gathering place for events and other festivities. The stage is adorned with a ribbon skirt art installation and original tipi poles from the old site.
Students will step into a space where they will learn about their language, spirituality, and history. Teachers will work in pod-style teams to personalize learning. And most importantly, students and staff will see themselves in the stories told, in the languages spoken, and in the values upheld.
“When I look at our students, I see myself. And when I see our elders here, I see healing. This school is about learning. But it’s also about love, justice, and walking forward together,” said Cardinal.
“When I walk the elders through the building and see tears in their eyes, they can hardly believe what they’re seeing. They see their identities represented, their knowledge respected, and their dreams realized. That’s healing. It’s not about erasing the past. It’s about de-colonizing space. About making room for both, where there wasn’t room before.”
