The Office of the Treaty Commissioner is running their first online sessions of Teaching Treaties in the Classroom. The popular in-person training came to a stop in early March 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic regulations.

“We knew that it was imperative for us to continue to provide services to the Treaty people and so we adapted our services to an online format,” said Amy Seesequasis, director of public education for the OTC.

It was more than just have the training instructors move to Zoom, the program underwent a facelift becoming a new, enhanced training program that allows for two phases of session that work towards training to be a Treaty Education Coach.

“We needed a way to keep people engaged and learning about Treaties. Also, our youth are comfortable learning through technology and if we want to make change for generations to come, then we need to adapt to their ways of learning,” said Charmaine Gardiner, Treaty Learning Network coordinator.

During the first session on Feb. 6, there were 125 people logged on to the training, from across Saskatchewan, including the far north, and across Canada, including British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

“It was wonderful to see so many people from Treaty territories across the country joining in on a training that has been exclusive only to our province until recently. The online format has allowed us to reach educators all across Saskatchewan, and outside Saskatchewan,” Seesequasis said.

“I could feel the energy of the people even though we were miles apart, it felt like we were with them in a classroom. It is incredible the amount of interest out there,” Gardiner added.

The training continues over three session through the rest of February.