Grand Chief intervenes in Kenora high school basketball suspension
Warren White concerned public school board 'completely out of touch with Anishinaabe culture'
The Grand Chief of Grand Council Treaty #3 says the suspension of a Kenora high school basketball team's assistant coach shows a lack of understanding of Anishinaabe culture and does a disservice to First Nations youth.
Warren White was reacting to allegations that former St. Thomas Aquinas assistant coach Mike Luby recruited a student from Beaver Brae Secondary School by giving him a pair of basketball shoes.
"I'm requesting that you clarify a few points to me as I am very concerned the Keewatin Patricia School Board is completely out of touch with the Anishinaabe culture," White wrote in a Dec. 15 letter to school board director Sean Monteith.
When asked about the letter, Monteith told CBC Friday morning that he had just received it but plans to reach out to Chief White to ask for a private meeting to discuss the concerns, which he said he has never heard before.
He said the student's family decided to make the transfer from the local public high school to the Catholic school because they were disappointed that Beaver Brae allowed the boy to play on the volleyball team even though he was doing poorly academically and skipping classes.
Monteith said he won't comment on an individual student. But the director added, "Beaver Brae Secondary School, like all of the schools in the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, has long-standing policies that support and require student attendance in their classes, require a certain level of academic rigour."
After the transfer to St.Thomas Aquinas, "the boy quit smoking, started attending all classes and worked hard at school and sports," White said, adding that Luby was "the best thing that ever happened" to the student.
Sanctions 'heavy-handed'
The Grand Chief said it was a complaint by the public board about Luby's gift of the shoes that led the Northwestern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletics Association to sanction both Luby and the St. Thomas Aquinas team. He sent the same letter to the president of NorWOSSA.
There are eight First Nations players on the St. Thomas basketball team and they've won all of their games this season, according to White. He said he is "very concerned" for those players.
The sanctions include barring the team from the playoffs.
"As an educator, I would expect you to be aware that many of our Aboriginal students are at high risk of dropping out of school. That the sanctions levelled against them will be viewed as heavy-handed and targets them because they are doing well," White wrote.
Mike Lalonde, the president of NorWOSSA, told CBC News earlier this week that recruitment is a serious offence because "if you recruit some of the best athletes you're going to end up with powerhouses at one of the schools."
The Kenora Catholic District School Board is investigating ways to appeal the disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, White said it's his role to ensure Anishinaabe families are free to decide which schools their children attend.
"Our shared history demonstrates that when decisions regarding our youth's education is dictated by an outside entity, great harm is the result," he said.