Hands-on science being taught at Walpole Island school with opening of fish hatchery

Dr. Trevor Pitcher, director of the University of Windsor's Freshwater Restoration Ecology Centre, shows students a juvenile sturgeon at the opening of the Giigoonyig Enjintaawgiwaad hatchery at Anishinaabeg Kinomaagewgamig Immersion School on Walpole Island First Nation on Friday. (Michael Wilkins/University of Windsor)

The opening of a new fish hatchery at a Walpole Island school will combine hands-on science and Indigenous culture.

According to a news release, a new fish hatchery opened Friday at an Anishinaabemowin immersion school on Walpole Island First Nation, “bringing together Indigenous language, ecological stewardship and hands-on science in a single classroom.”

The facility - known as the Giigoonyig Enjintaawgiwaad, or a “Place Where Fish Are Raised” - was built at the Bkejwanong Kinomaagewgamig and Anishinaabeg Kinomaagewgamig Immersion School with equipment, training and expertise provided by Dr. Trevor Pitcher, director of the University of Windsor’s Freshwater Restoration Ecology Centre (FREC) in LaSalle.

Students will raise fish, primarily sturgeon, for education, conservation, ceremony and food for elders.

Sturgeon is a species that holds a deep cultural significance to the community.

The release adds that all learning in the facility will be conducted in Anishinaabemowin.

Teacher Mino Giizhgad said the hatchery reconnects youth to the waterways that long have sustained the area.

“It’s a living expression of Anishinaabe knowledge and stewardship,” said Mino Giizhgad.

“This is an ongoing relationship,” added Pitcher. “We’ll keep offering training for their students and staff to maintain the facility over time.”

Bkejwanong Kinomaagewgamig and Anishinaabeg Kinomaagewgamig Immersion School serves students from Kindergarten through Grade 6.