Posted on March 24, 2020 by Steffany Salloum
Founder of kâniyâsihk Culture Camps, Kevin Lewis believes that land-based education is an important way for Cree and non-Indigenous people to (re)connect with culture and identity.
Within the last two decades, the kâniyâsihk Culture Camps at Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation have evolved from providing fall culture camps where participants took part in fishing and hide tanning to offering camps throughout all seasons and to anyone who wants to learn nehiyo (Cree) culture. Founder, Kevin Lewis explains that at kâniyâsihk Culture Camps participants take part in land-based learning that involves connecting with Elders, knowledge keepers, land keepers, medicine keepers, and berry pickers in their community. By sharing this wealth of knowledge with participants they begin to learn how to be self-sufficient and independent. Some of the many things done at camp include: learning Cree; harvesting plants for medicines; fishing and snaring; hide tanning; preserving moose, deer, elk, and fish; woodworking and building dog sleds, toboggans, birch bark canoes, snowshoes, and paddles; dog sledding; and participating in the Sun Dance, Sweat Lodge, and Chicken Dance ceremonies. The camp offers an immersive experience in nehiyo culture and Lewis hopes that more culture camps become available to people, especially for those living in urban areas.
Click here for more information about kâniyâsihk Culture Camps.
Posted on October 2, 2019 by Anne Marie Jackson
This is one in a set of three videos that talk about life along the Deh Cho (Mackenzie River) in the Sahtu. The topic of this video is how their environment is changing due to climate change.
Judy and Michel Lafferty talk about changes they and other Elders have observed due to climate change in their community and along the Deh Cho (Mackenzie River).
Special thanks to Judy and Michel Lafferty, and to others in their community, for their participation in this video.
As well, special thanks to:
- Anne-Marie Jackson, NCCIE Videographer and Contributor
- Christopher White, Promethean Heritage and Cultural Services, Video Editor
- Andrée Cazabon, Productions Cazabon, Producer
This video and two others in this series are also part of Tracking Change: the Role of Local and Traditional Knowledge in Watershed Governance (trackingchange.ca), a project that includes listening to Indigenous peoples along the Mackenzie, Mekong, and Amazon Rivers to gather information about “long term (historic and current) patterns of social and ecological change and the interconnections between the health and dynamics of these river systems and that of river communities.” (source: www.trackingchange.ca/about)
Posted on June 25, 2019 by claraakulukjuk
The Environmental Technology Program through Nunavut Arctic College emphasizes how systems work in the environment through different methods on the land and in the classroom.
The Program hopes to teach Inuit about their land, how ecosystems work and how governments work together to manage it. It is a post-secondary program that includes on-the-land training. For more information, you can visit the Nunavut Arctic College website.
Posted on June 4, 2019 by Justina Black
John B Zoe, Senior Advisor with the Tłı̨chǫ Government, talks about the importance of Tłı̨chǫ traditional knowledge, Land, Language and Culture. John also sits as the Chairperson of Dedats’eetsaa: the Tłı̨chǫ Research & Training Institute.
John B Zoe, Senior Advisor with the Tłı̨chǫ Government, talks about the importance of Tłı̨chǫ traditional knowledge, Land, Language and Culture. John also sits as the Chairperson of Dedats’eetsaa: the Tłı̨chǫ Research & Training Institute.
Posted on May 21, 2019 by Coty Zachariah
First Nations led education in community
The Akwesahsne Freedom School was started in 1979 by parents in the Mohawk community that saw a need to preserve their ways and play an active role in the education of the nation starting with the children. They wanted their kids to be educated in the language, to be raised with ceremony and culture on the land of their ancestors without the influence and interference of the Western world. This approach has lead to results such as an increase in speakers of Mohawk language, rejuvenation of cultural strength and familiarity, and the continuance of inter-generational hands on learning.
Posted on March 27, 2019 by Dene Basil
The Indigenous Land Guardians program is designed to train local Dene people to become knowledgeable in their local culture and traditions as well as current conservation and monitoring practices.
Josh Barichello shares about the Indigenous Land Guardians program in Ross River. The program is still in the development stage and Barichello is a part of the development team for the program. The program is designed to train local Dene people to become knowledgeable in their local culture and traditions as well as current conservation and monitoring practices. The program will utilize traditional and ecological knowledge with scientific knowledge to build a bridge between both worlds so that their land, wildlife, and water is being well managed.
Posted on March 26, 2019 by Jiah Dzentu
All grade 7 and 8 students attend this fall culture camp in Wood Buffalo National Park. Here they learn land-based skills, canoe safety, traditional medicines and much more. This camp is supported by the local school board and community.
All grade 7 and 8 students attend this fall culture camp in Wood Buffalo National Park. Here they learn land-based skills, canoe safety, traditional medicines and much more. This camp is supported by the local school board and community.
Posted on March 25, 2019 by Jiah Dzentu
PWK Highschool in Fort Smith holds an annual winter expedition where students learn traditional trapping, fishing, and hunting in a safe, continuous manner. The facilitators are local Elders and knowledge keepers.
PWK Highschool in Fort Smith holds an annual winter expedition where students learn traditional trapping, fishing, and hunting in a safe, continuous manner. The facilitators are local Elders and knowledge keepers.
Posted on by Sarah Delaronde
The Yukon Indigenous Community Climate Change Champions is a workshop/initiative for Indigenous youth all over the Yukon
The Yukon Indigenous Community Climate Change Champions is a workshop/initiative for Indigenous youth all over the Yukon. The aim is to arm youth with the ability to see how climate change affects their community and how they can help. This program uses not uses a scientific lens to climate change, but also combines Indigenous worldview, teachings and stories. More information can be found here: www.aicbr.ca.
Posted on by Sarah Delaronde
Reconnecting high risk youth through carving and traditional knowledge to find balance.
The Beginners Carving Program is for high risk youth but also for anybody who’s interested, “from the cradle to the grave”. The overall goal of this program is to reconnect youth to traditional ways of knowledge, art, the land, language and elders, in order to be productive in the future. This program is also a wellness program with hopes that they can become substance free and find balance in their life. This program is offered in studio as well as on the land, throughout the year. More information can be found at: https://northernculture.org/about-us-2/.
