An Indigenous woman is speaking out after learning her 14-year-old daughter was recently asked to define "squaw" and other terms for a school exercise in East Vancouver.
The questions were part of a teaching guide for Susanna Moodie: Roughing it in the Bush, a graphic novel by Carol Shields and Patrick Crowe that's taught to students at Templeton Secondary School.
It’s based on a book published in 1852 and features a number of pejorative terms for Aboriginal, black and Catholic people. For an accompanying exercise, students are asked to match the words with their definitions.
For Shawna Davis, whose daughter is the only visibly Indigenous student in her Humanities 9 class, the most troubling term was "squaw," a word used to denigrate Aboriginal women.
Davis told CTV News the way the questions were presented made her daughter feel uncomfortable enough to bring it up after school last Friday.
"I was just completely appalled," Davis said. "As you look through [the exercise] there's just a large lack of context from an Indigenous perspective, which is extremely problematic when you're bringing these incredibly harmful terms into the classroom."
The exercise describes the language as "politically incorrect” and says it reflects the prejudices of the time period. It also makes clear it's unacceptable to use any of the terms today.
But Davis said that barely scratches the surface of the word’s context, and fails to address the fact that it continues to be used to hurt Aboriginal people.
"We experience racism and discrimination every day," she said. "Being on the street, we hear these words."
The Vancouver School Board has launched an investigation into how the material was used, but could not confirm whether it’s still part of the curriculum at Templeton or any other schools.
"The investigation into the concerns expressed is at a very early stage and VSB cannot speak to the teaching methods, context and resources used in this instance," a spokesperson said in an email.
Davis said she has not received an apology from the board since bringing the issue to the school's attention on Monday, but a principal she spoke with was contrite.
She told CTV News she was much happier with the response from the book's publisher, Second Story Press, which immediately removed the teaching guide from its website for review.
"It saddens us that we have caused pain to anyone. Second Story Press has had the honour of working with several Indigenous authors, educators, and communities. We value those relationships highly," publisher Margie Wolfe wrote in a statement.
"We are taking what we are learning now as an opportunity to evaluate our current resources and practices and to guide us moving forward. More than ever we understand the importance of including Indigenous expertise and voices to better reflect Indigenous experiences. We are committed to making that an integral part of our editorial processes going forward."
NDP Education Minister Rob Fleming told CTV News he’s planning to speak with the school board about the issue, but said he’s pleased that the mother’s concerns are being heard.
He noted the province’s curriculum has been updated to provide students with more context to Indigenous issues, including content on residential schools and other “important historical lessons for school children in British Columbia to be knowledgeable and conversant about.”
With files from CTV Vancouver's Scott Roberts
