She didn’t feel safe being herself at school growing up, now she helps create safety for Indigenous learners in the classroom. Jacqueline Bercier is a Métis Anishinaabe woman from Selkirk, Manitoba with family ties to Peguis First Nation, a member of the wolf clan. She went to high school in her hometown and was an education assistant for three years before she decided she wanted to become a teacher in an alternative program. She was inspired into that career path seeing how many Indigenous students were in alternative programs and felt they needed more Indigenous teachers.

Bercier applied to the Indigenous teaching program at Brandon University and her school district supported her to continue to work as an educational assistant, something that was needed for the program. She did accelerated summer courses, majoring in Math and Science, minoring in Indigenous studies, completing the degree over six years alongside Indigenous students from across Manitoba while gaining plenty of student teaching experience. She had support with tutoring and cultural support and graduated with a 3.98 GPA, winning a gold medal for highest GPA and a silver medal as well in her teaching stream. Having so much support is why she recommends the degree program.

Her advice to someone wanting to leave their home community to go to school is to think about the benefits and drawbacks of doing so and if they have the family and school division support to do so. Homesickness can be a real challenge. It’s also important to think about the impact on your kids to move away and to think about how hard you are willing to work with little downtime to achieve your dreams. While it was hard, Bercier believes it was worth it.

These days, Bercier works as the cultural proficiency lead teacher for Lord Selkirk school division, a role she’s been in for seven years. She helps teachers, staff and administration implement Indigenous education, ensuring it is appropriate and authentic in its presentation. She helps break down documents from Manitoba education and Indigenous excellence and co-teaches, coplans and models for teachers, as well as offering professional development. She provides treaty and cultural safety training and supports the high school’s Indigenous student centre. It’s the division’s only Indigenous student centre, offering Indigenous coursework as well as French, French Immersion supports, ESL, Ukrainian bilingualism, LGBTQ2S+ communities as well as supporting Indigenous education within the district.

When it comes to inspiration, Bercier is inspired by how much better things are for Indigenous students and how she used to hide who she was knowing Indigenous students were often bullied because of who they were. “I wanted to show people that there is so much more than what the stereotype out there of Indigenous people. I did it out of spite,” she recalls, thinking of how she wanted to show them all how much Indigenous people could accomplish.

Otherwise, Bercier is inspired by her mom, an educational assistant for nearly forty years. Her step-dad’s commitment to his culture as a Métis man helped her understand the importance of learning and celebrating her culture. The young people she works with inspire her, too, because they are learning when diversity is celebrated. She wants them to feel good about themselves and loves watching them being themselves with authenticity, practicing their cultures.  “I want young people to feel comfortable in who they are. That inspires me,” she beams.

If she could share a message with her younger self it would be that she’s a powerful leader, that things get better and to not be so angry all the time. Bercier would also urge her to be proud of herself and her Metis identity.

“it's okay to be Métis. It's okay to be yourself. Be proud of yourself. You're an incredible leader already as a young person. Celebrate that,” she shares.

Her message to somebody who's struggling with identity would be to ask why, trying to acknowledge the root of the issue. “Sometimes those things that affect us don't necessarily define us and it is really hard to learn that, especially when you're young, because you are so influenced by your friends and from your family, right? And that's part of your definition of who you are. But all those negative things that you hear don't have to define you. Look to see where all these other things are coming from, all these other good messages that are coming to you,” she offers.

Her message to youth as a teacher has been, “If the only thing that you take out of all my courses is to be a good human being and to be good to yourself and to be proud of yourself and all that you've accomplished then I have still done my job as a teacher.”

It’s a message Bercier hopes helps them find peace with their identity. To balance her mental health, Bercier is in therapy, something she started when she couldn’t find balance and needed extra help. She urges youth to find someone they feel comfortable with and who understands them as a person and not to settle for the first person who comes along. Bercier attends ceremony, sings as often as possible with her family, makes art and writes. Recognizing when she’s out of balance has been important and understanding it’s all a work in progress.

For someone who is feeling alone and struggling on their path, Bercier would ask if they have someone they feel comfortable talking to. She would encourage them to find people they feel safe with and who are supportive to sit with, write to or talk to to start down a path towards balance again.

When she was younger, she didn’t feel safe being herself at school and now Jacquie Bercier helps create safety for Indigenous learners in the classroom. Determined to prove the stereotypes about Indigenous people were wrong, she succeeded out of spite. Moving from educational assistant to teacher took time and effort but she was able to fulfill her dream with the support of her school and her family…. and it was all worth it.

Thank you to Alison Tedford for writing this article.