By Alan Sorensen
ROCKY BOY Bilingual education at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation is expected to get a boost this week as Stone Child College researchers attend a Cree conference in Saskatchewan.
Attending the AWASIS Conference 2001 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Saskatoon are Rusty Gopher and Jolene Crebs. The theme of the conference in Cree is KAKSKIMIT'TAN, which translates to "Let us learn from one another."
"One of the areas we're reviewing" Gopher said, "are the successful Cree language preservation efforts in Canada."
"We hope to build partnerships with these successful projects," Crebs said.
Gopher and Crebs began researching methods of developing multimedia materials in late February. These media will help to produce interactive kindergarten through adult education Cree lessons. The project has three targeted areas and is funded through a grant from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA). The finished products will serve the combined student populations of Stone Child College and Rocky Boy and Box Elder schools. The Head Start and Day Care centers (pre-school) throughout the reservation also have expressed interest in utilizing the Cree lessons.
Upon their return to Rocky Boy, the pair will host a community meeting for community members, elders and school officials to discuss the project. Crebs said the target date for that forum is 2 p.m. April 12 in the Sitting Old Woman Conference Room.
The Daily News plans to present a more complete overview of the project after the Saskatchewan conference.
