WINDSOR-ESSEX CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
A positive role model for Indigenous students

Kamika Kechego had a wonderful childhood growing up steeped in traditional Ojibwe culture, but talking about it in school wasn't always so easy. It's that lived experience, however, which helps her better relate with today's students who may not feel so comfortable about identifying as Indigenous.

"I grew up with traditional ceremonies and my parents would teach me all the ways that were passed down," said Kechego, the WECDSB's newest Indigenous Success Coach. "We would visit cousins at the reserve, participate in Indigenous programs there, learn the language and the teachings."

Born in Hamilton, Kechego moved to Windsor as a child and attended John Campbell Public Elementary School and Walkerville Collegiate High School, before going to St. Clair College where she earned a diploma in the police foundations program.

Her parents, who grew up on the Chippewas of the Thames reserve near London, took her for visits there often and taught her about Indigenous traditions, including the seven grandfather teachings, as well as smudging and cooking.

Off the reserve, however, there weren't many other children like her, so she tended to keep that part of her life to herself.

"It was something that wasn't talked about," she said. "I was embarrassed about it. There weren't any resources, or programs in the schools. We never talked about it in class, and I never really talked about it with any classmates. I've heard every slur possible. So it was something I kept to myself, especially through grade school."

Since those days, Kechego has turned those experiences into something meaningful. She recently joined Fawne Lomascolo as one of the board's two Indigenous success coaches, whose role is to offer direct support and mentorship to Indigenous students to support their well-being and academic achievement.

"I'm trying to be a positive role model, by motivating and sharing," she said. "That's my motivation, to teach what I know, because not everybody knows what I know. So I'm able to share that in a positive way, and motivate others."

Kechego, who before joining the WECDSB was employed for about two years as an Indigenous housing worker at the Can-Am Indian Friendship Centre, said she believes that while work still needs to be done, much progress has been made in the last several years towards reducing the stigma that was once widely associated with being Indigenous.

She hopes that shift will lead to more students with Indigenous backgrounds becoming "more comfortable in their skin" and confident about self-identifying. Since starting with the WECDSB she's been visiting schools and getting to know the students.

"It's been very positive," she said. "They're very bubbly and energetic. I know I'm in the right place, at the right time."