Cree mom and son both graduating this year credit family in continuing their education

Charlotte Ross has earned a PhD, her son Steven an education degree

Creeson Agecoutay · CBC News · June 19

Charlotte Ross, left, and her son Steven Ross. (Submitted by Charlotte Ross)

Steven Ross and his mother Charlotte Ross have followed different educational paths, but both are celebrating graduations. 

"My mom was a major inspiration in my life to go to university," Steven said.

"She started with a rough childhood and she climbed all the way to the point where she is now and for me that's a great inspiration."

He recently graduated from the University of Saskatchewan's Indigenous Teachers Education Program (ITEP) in Saskatoon with an education degree in kinesiology and is already doing interviews for teaching positions in the province.

Both Steven and his mother are members of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation, about 220 kilometres north of Saskatoon.

His mother Charlotte graduated from the University of Victoria with a PhD in Indigenous language revitalization through the Department of Indigenous education where she focused her studies on adult Cree silent speakers.

Silent speakers are those who understand a language but they can't speak it themselves — they usually respond with one-worded answers or give an English response, according to Charlotte.

"What were the impacts, why was this the case?" she said.

"It came down to trauma and having safety in language learning."

She has helped develop a language app with Montreal Lake Cree Nation and is assisting Cree speaker Senapan Thunder and her company Wicihsok, that is also working on Cree language revitalization.

Charlotte was the first person in her family to go to university and she graduated in 1988 from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor of arts in Native Studies.

"I never thought I would go to university because I didn't know what it was," she said.

"There were very few role models as with most [First Nations] communities."

She later learned how to read and write in Cree under the late teacher Freda Ahenakew, who assisted with Cree language revitalization and retention in Saskatchewan.

'No excuses' growing up

Charlotte credits her parents for instilling education as an integral part of her life while growing up in the small northern Saskatchewan town of Molanosa, on the northeast corner of Montreal Lake.

She had no reason to miss school as it was right across the highway from her home.  

"We lived literally a stone's throw away," she said.

"There were no excuses that it was too far, if it was snowing or raining, even in -30 degree weather, all you had to do was open your door and roll out."

Charlotte calls her father a "self-taught independent entrepreneur" who knew how to organize and mobilize. Over the years, he helped to build the roads and highways as a construction worker and also hunted, trapped, was a competitive dog sledder and commercial fisherman. Her mother, she says, was the rock of their home who lovingly raised the children, cooked, cleaned and sewed up her children's clothes when they were damaged.

"My parents were both not able to go to school but highly valued education as they knew it would help us in the future to open doors of opportunity that were never offered to them," she said.

When Charlotte was 14, she and her younger brother were part of the Sixties Scoop, taken from their home and put into the province's foster care system for four years.

She says it was during this time she found her voice to speak up for her family.

"I was able to advocate for myself and my younger brother to not be separated and to also remain in La Ronge where some of my siblings were living," said Charlotte. 

Sports and study

While Charlotte's upbringing was disrupted by the foster care system, her son Steven's upbringing flourished. He played hockey, soccer and junior football at Rosetown Central High School in Rosetown, about 120 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.

That continued into university, where he helped lead a number of senior male sports groups in basketball and track and field, and now into his teaching career. He shifted his studies to kinesiology with a strong focus in Indigenous land-based learning. 

"I always talked about being a teacher in Grade 3, 4 or 5," he said.

"I never really took it seriously but it did eventually come to fruition. I wanted to be in education because I wanted to make a better future for our world."

Charlotte's message to other Indigenous families who want to go to university is just go for it, but make sure to do the work and ask for help when you need it.

"You have to reach out for help. Don't be shy, don't be ashamed to ask for help," said Charlotte.