Chief Morley Googoo
Director of Education Allan Bernard
Mi'kmaw Language teacher/s three

     Waycobah is an approximate thirty minute drive north of the Canso Causeway on the Trans Canada Highway.  There are six hundred and eighty-eight people living here in one hundred and sixty households.  The people are survivors and/or the descendants of the early forties Indian Affairs policy to centralize all the people onto two reserves.  It was here in Waycobah that the centralization effort came to a screeching halt when the Indian agents wanted to make sure people wouldn't return by burning their homes and their beloved church.  Since then, the population has been expanding.

     Waycobah has had local control of education for the past six years.  According to the director, Mi'kmaw language is taught as a second language to elementary and junior high level students.  In the high school, a Mi'kmaw language course is optional.  The principal is concerned that there are less and less students selecting the Mi'kmaw option.  It may be necessary to make it mandatory to ensure the Mi'kmaw language course remains in the school.

     The junior high program is located in a building which previously served as a restaurant.  In September, seventy-nine students were registered.  They have since lost ten.  The percentage of students in junior high and senior high is about fifty-fifty.  Mi'kmaw language is taught in junior high as a subject three times in eighty minute periods.  In senior high, it is taught eighty minutes per day in a semester cycle.  Grade tens are also required to take a Mi'kmaw Studies course which was developed by the provincial Department of Education.

     Waycobah junior and senior high has one part time Mi'kmaw language teacher for grade nine and one full time for the high school.  Elementary students are taught Mi'kmaw three to four hours per week.  The Mi'kmaw language teacher also conducts Religion classes in Mi'kmaw.

     One of the lower elementary teachers is taking an immersion course in Eskasoni offered by St. Thomas University.  Once she finishes, the plan is to implement immersion in kindergarten and primary grades.  The principal of the school indicated that approximately 60% of the students in elementary speak or understand the Mi'kmaw language.

     The director feels that it is important to teach adults to read and write Mi'kmaw.  Adult involvement is crucial in helping their children pronounce the Mi'kmaw words properly and assisting in their children's homework.  It is the adults which children hear first.  It is the young adults who can ensure the survival of the Mi'kmaw language.

     The Waycobah Daycare has been operating for the past two years.  They are housed in the rear of a very modern facility which includes the Waycobah First Nation Band Administration

Office.  There are twenty children in this centre.  Most of the children understand Mi'kmaw and half of them are fluent.  Only three of the children cannot understand Mi'kmaw.  Three out of four teachers are fluent.

     Waycobah has certified teachers from their community able to teach the Mi'kmaw language.  With so many resources available it would not be as hard for this community to preserve the language.
 

How many and what ages in household?	Language spoken most often at home?	Why is Mi'kmaw not spoken in home?	How many speak Mi'kmaw in household?
How many understand but do not speak Mi'kmaw in household?	Can anyone at home read Mi'kmaw?	Can anyone in home write Mi'kmaw?	Has any member taken a Mi'kmaw course?
What type of course was taken?	How long was the course?	What course would you take if offered?	Have you attended a St. Ann's Mission?
Was the Mi'kmaw language used?	What percentage of Mi'kmaw was used?	What other cultural activities were you involved in?	Are you aware of books/materials in Mi'kmaw?