A Partnership That Acts Like a Bridge

People in traditional attire dance outdoors on a sunny day. Colorful regalia with tassels and feathers create a vibrant, joyful atmosphere.

At Nbisiing Secondary School – a First-Nation-governed school just outside of North Bay on the shores of Lake Nipissing, learning reflects the values, traditions, and knowledge of Nipissing First Nation, where students are guided toward mno-bmaadziwin, “the good life.” Nbisiing Secondary School is a First Nation's operated and provincially inspected private secondary school offering a wide variety of high school courses with an emphasis on the needs and aspirations of First Nations’ students. Nbisiing Secondary School represents the new visions of Education in the Nation with emphasis on the traditions and values passed down by the Elders as well as the hopes and dreams of the learners for the future. Student learning often takes the shape of a blend of experiences and stories rooted in heritage and culture, merging tradition and expectation.

Supported by the Niigaan Gdizhaami Fund, Ophea and Nbisiing embarked on a multi-year journey to co-create frameworks that could honour Indigenous teachings.

Over two years, the collaboration between Nbisiing Secondary School and Ophea has evolved into a relationship built on respect, learning, and a shared vision for education that bridges traditional knowledge and Western frameworks to create an environment that is safe and inclusive for every student. Ophea and Nbisiing Secondary School have worked together through the Healthy Schools Certification Program (which has evolved into the Healthy Schools Recognition Program) and co-created a set of safety standards specifically geared toward the traditional activities of Nipissing First Nation. This partnership acts like a bridge, according to Daniel Stevens, Director of Education for Nipissing First Nation and Ophea Board of Director, which will be further strengthened through this continued partnership into year 3.

A Shared Vision: Learning Through Collaboration

Education at Nbisiing Secondary School has always been about balance; merging cultural teachings with provincial expectations while honouring the wisdom of generations says Stevens. “We have a saying that you’ll hear a teaching 100 times and learn something new every time,” Stevens explains. “Our methodology and pedagogy are based on this repetitive approach to teaching. The mastery of skill is foundational, and with mastery comes safety. It’s inherent to the process.”

Indigenous education systems have understood safety not as a list of precautions but as a relationship, between teacher and student, person and land, community and culture. Yet, as Stevens points out, when someone gets hurt, Western systems often turn to checklists. “The first thing we get asked is, ‘Did you follow the Safety Standards?’” he says, referring to the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education (OPASSE). “What we do doesn’t fit into those checklists. Safety is already integrated into our teachings.”

Awareness of this gap between two ways of understanding safety opened the door to dialogue and collaboration.

The partnership between Nbisiing Secondary School and Ophea grew from a shared commitment to creating learning environments that are safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive. Built on mutual respect, it was shaped through open dialogue, trust, and a genuine willingness to learn from one another. Western safety frameworks, often centered on structured risk management and policy, were deepened by Indigenous perspectives that understand safety as a holistic concept, woven through relationships, land-based learning, and community well-being. Together, these ways of knowing revealed that student safety is not only about physical protection but also about belonging, connection, and cultural identity. By honouring both perspectives, the partnership offers a model that respects traditional knowledge while aligning with established safety standards, showing that when Indigenous and Western approaches meet, meaningful solutions can emerge.

Listening, Learning, and Building Trust

In the first year of the partnership, Ophea worked to understand Nipissing First Nation educational landscape, where a sense of belonging for Indigenous students is a key component of their success.

Together, Ophea and Nbisiing Secondary School worked through the Healthy Schools Certification Program, aligning health promotions with cultural teachings. The result was not just a certification, but a shared vision: that every student’s cultural identity is a source of strength, and that well-being is achieved when the whole person; body, mind, emotion, and spirit, is nurtured. This collaboration helped guide the process of reimagining the Healthy Schools program and shaped the changes that were needed.

These early efforts deepened relationships and built the foundation for what would come next: creating culturally relevant safety standards rooted in both Indigenous teachings and provincial policy.

Co-Creating Safety Standards

By the second year, the partnership shifted to developing a Safety Guide for Developing Safety Standards to support Nbisiing Secondary School in developing safety standards that centres student well-being and safety in a way that reflects the values and needs of Indigenous learners and community. The goal was to keep students safe, increase teacher awareness and confidence supporting land-based activities, and develop a process to document and review culturally rooted safety practices that will help reduce legal risk andsupport the credibility of these practices which can be adapted to create additional safety standards for other cultural activities in schools.

The guide blends Nbisiing’s traditional teachings with Ophea’s expertise in risk management. It demonstrates how safety can be embedded not through restriction, but through respect for the land, tools, and the people engaged in learning.

To bring the guide to life, the team chose one activity as their starting point: tree harvesting for lodges. This practice involves working outdoors, using sharp tools, and collaborating closely, offering the perfect opportunity to examine how safety is already woven into every step of traditional teachings.

Through observation and dialogue, the team documented how Elders and educators guide students: which trees to harvest, when to gather materials, how to use tools responsibly, and how to show gratitude to the land. These teachings already carried strong safety principles, they simply needed to be articulated in ways that align with existing provincial frameworks.

What made this process so powerful was its emphasis on co-creation. Together, Ophea and Nbisiing Secondary School developed a five-step process to create and sustain culturally relevant safety standards:

  • Step 1: Build System-Level Support – Establish shared purpose and trust with school leaders and educators. Use the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education (OPASSE) as a foundation and adapt standards to reflect cultural realities.
  • Step 2: Conduct a Needs Assessment –Work with the community to identify priority activities. Review current safety practices and identify gaps in documentation or support.
  • Step 3: Examine Current Practices – Observe, listen, and document how safety practices are currently being implemented in the community. Compare these with OPASSE standards to identify differences and opportunities for adaptation.
  • Step 4: Develop Safety Standards  – Collaborate to create standards that incorporate cultural and system knowledge. Include standards that address various components of an activity – such as tools, equipment, and accessories to support implementation.
  • Step 5: Maintain and Revisit Standards Regularly  – Review, update, and add standards to support both existing and new activities. Treat safety like seasonal teachings – ongoing and evolving.
The image/infographic “Steps to Developing Culturally Relevant Safety Standards” aims to summarize the 5 key steps to developing culturally relevant safety standards. A soft beige background supports the design, with a flowing blue river winding through the image from left to right, connecting five distinct sections that each represent a key step in the process. At the centre of the image, a group of five people of different ages and heights stand together in front of a forest of evergreen trees. They are smiling and playing hand drums. Across the top of the infographic, the title appears in large red text reading “Steps to Developing Culturally Relevant Safety Standards,” with a smaller subtitle underneath that says, “Begin by selecting an activity, work collaboratively & following 5 key steps.” The flowing blue river acts as a pathway, guiding through the process of each of the five steps. Each step content is paired with illustrations. In the top left corner, is the first step, “Build System-Level Support”. The first statement under step 1 reads “Establish shared purpose and trust with school leaders and educators”. The second statement reads “Use the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education (OPASSE) as a foundation and adapt standards to reflect cultural realities.” and is accompanied by an image of a booklet with a QR code labelled “OPASSE” leading to the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education website. The last statement within step 1 reads “Emphasize that safety standards support both student safety and cultural continuity”. Within this statement, “student safety” is highlighted in yellow, and the statement is accompanied by a hand holding a feather. Below is the second step, “Conduct a Needs Assessment”. The first statement under step 2 reads “Work with the community to identify priority activities” and is accompanied by people sitting together in a circle beneath tall pine trees, representing collaboration and collective reflection. The second statement, “Review current safety practices and identify gaps in documentation and/or support.” is accompanied by three white pages with with mock text on them to represent areas of written content', with red markings circling certain parts of the pages, representing a review process. At the bottom centre of the image is the third step, “Examine Current Practices.” The statements under step 3 read “Observe, listen, and document how safety practices are currently being implemented in the community” and “Compare these with OPASSE standards to identify differences and opportunities for adaptation.” The statement “observe” is accompanied with an eye, “listen” with an ear, and “document” with a pen. These points are also accompanied by an illustration depicting two people standing in front of each other. One of them is holding a small bowl in one hand, containing burning sage, with trails of pale grey smoke rising. On the other hand, they are holding a feather, fanning the smoke toward the other individuals' face. This illustration is to represent the act of smudging. On the right side of the image, the ribbon leads to the fourth step, “Develop Safety Standards.” The first statement under step 4 reads “Collaborate to create standards that incorporate cultural and system knowledge” and is accompanied by an illustration of two hands clasped firmly in a gesture of partnership and support. The second statement reads “Include standards that address various components of an activity such as: tools, equipment, and accessories to support implementation” and is accompanied by an illustration of a teacher and a student outdoors, surrounded by grass, bushes. The teacher is holding a shovel, with 3 speech bubbles reading “tools”, “equipment, “& tools”. Finally, the ribbon concludes in the upper right corner with the fifth step, “Maintain and Revisit Standards Regularly.” The first statement reads “Review, update, and add standards to support both existing and new activities” and is written on an illustration of lined paper, with the words review, update, and add, being written as a checklist with each word checked off with a checkmark. The last statement reads “Safety, like seasons, is ongoing and evolving” and is written around a circular medicine-wheel-style diagram divided into the four seasons; Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Winter is facing the North and is accompanied by an illustration of cedar. Fall is facing West, with an illustration of sage. Summer is facing the South, with an illustration of sweetgrass. Spring is facing the East, with an illustration of tobacco. The bottom left of the infographic contains who the infographic was designed by, which is thefuselight.com, and the bottom right of the infographic contains the logos of Ophea, Nbisiing Secondary School, and the Niigaan Gdizhaami Fund.

What’s Next?

Through our work together, Ophea and Nbisiing have created more than a guide. Together we built a model for how cultural integrity and modern standards can coexist, enriching one another in ways that make learning safer, deeper, and more meaningful for everyone. The collaboration between Ophea and Nbisiing Secondary School demonstrates what can become possible when organizations move beyond consultation and toward true partnership; when Indigenous knowledge is not simply included but centered; when policy and practice come together in the spirit of respect. The journey is not over. As the partnership enters its third year, the teams will continue working side by side, using the guide as a foundation to develop safety standards for an even wider range of activities.

Discover more on the partnership through Ophea’s Impact Report.

A traditional tipi with intricate designs stands on a snowy patch of grass. It's surrounded by trees and a building.
A vibrant outdoor gathering on a sunny day. People in colorful, traditional attire dance on a green lawn surrounded by seated onlookers, trees, and a building.
Metal wall art depicts an abstract bird. The word "NBISIING" is integrated into the design.
A wooden table by a window holds jars in a wooden tray, a fur mat, stones, bowls, feathers, matchbox, and sticks.
A traditional tipi with intricate designs stands on a snowy patch of grass. It's surrounded by trees and a building.
A vibrant outdoor gathering on a sunny day. People in colorful, traditional attire dance on a green lawn surrounded by seated onlookers, trees, and a building.
Metal wall art depicts an abstract bird. The word "NBISIING" is integrated into the design.
A wooden table by a window holds jars in a wooden tray, a fur mat, stones, bowls, feathers, matchbox, and sticks.