Posted on mai 21, 2021 by Kevin Fitzmaurice
Kelly-Lee Assinewe is from Sagamok Anishnawbek and is the Coordinator for N’Swakamok Native Alternative School which provides, community and culturally based education for students at the N’Swakamok Friendship Center. Indigenous Education is a life-long education that is holistic and includes the mind, body, and spirit of students. It is education that incorporates a diversity of […]
Kelly-Lee Assinewe is from Sagamok Anishnawbek and is the Coordinator for N’Swakamok Native Alternative School which provides, community and culturally based education for students at the N’Swakamok Friendship Center. Indigenous Education is a life-long education that is holistic and includes the mind, body, and spirit of students. It is education that incorporates a diversity of teaching methods in a safe, inclusive, and non-judgemental place of learning. It is community and culturally based and includes Elders, Knowledge Holders, and land-based learning experiences in Indigenous languages and it contributes to a sense of pride for Indigenous students. Indigenous education needs to be self-determining; there needs to be more Indigenous Teachers and Staff, Principals, and Trustees in positions of power.
Posted on by Kevin Fitzmaurice
Barbara Nolan is an Elder from Wiikwemkoong First Nation. She is the Language Commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation and has a long history of teaching the Anishnaabe language and has developed many different resources to help with the teaching and learning of Anishnaabemowin including the ‘Nishnaabemdaa’, an Anishinaabemowin language app available for iOS and Android […]
Barbara Nolan is an Elder from Wiikwemkoong First Nation. She is the Language Commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation and has a long history of teaching the Anishnaabe language and has developed many different resources to help with the teaching and learning of Anishnaabemowin including the ‘Nishnaabemdaa’, an Anishinaabemowin language app available for iOS and Android devices. Barbara also teaches Anishinaabemowin immersion on a part-time basis at the Garden River Child Care Centre.
According to Elder Barbara Nolan, traditional Anishnaabe education was on the land and children were included in everything that the parents did from picking berries, to cleaning fish and it was all done in the language. All these teachings can be included in today’s curriculum as part of land-based learning that is immersed in the language. This is Indigenous education and this is how our spirits get filled up.
Posted on by Kevin Fitzmaurice
Brandon Petahtegoose of Atikameksheng First Nation disusses the importance of land-based learning and teaching the Anishnaabemowin language as part of this learning. Without this knowledge one can become lost and susceptable to negative influences in life; knowing oneself is possible in relation to one’s culture and community. Brandon has been fortunate to have had the opportunities to learn the traditional Anishnaabe Knolwedge of his family and community and this has helped him as well as those in the community. Indigenous education is learning from the land, medicines, plants, and animals all within the Anishnaabemowin language. Learning in this way is critical to the survival of Anishnaabe people.
Posted on avril 7, 2021 by OFIFC and United Native Friendship Centre
The Alternative Secondary School Program (ASSP) addresses the needs of urban Indigenous students in Fort Frances and surrounding areas by creating a culture-based educational environment where the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual areas of a student’s life are centered.
Founded in 2004, the Alternative Secondary School Program (ASSP) in Fort Frances is the culmination of a partnership between United Native Friendship Centre, Fort Frances High School and the Rainy River District School Board. The ASSP addresses the needs of urban Indigenous students in Fort Frances and the surrounding areas by creating a culture-based educational environment where the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual areas of a student’s life are centered. Through the program, students are empowered to become active members in the community and obtain an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The program is based on individual, independent learning courses that students can complete at their own pace and offers additional tutoring. Cultural teachings, Indigenous language, and wholistic learning approaches are integrated in the curriculum to prepare urban Indigenous students for workplace readiness, skills development and training, or transition to mainstream high school or post-secondary education institutions. The program addresses food insecurity and student nutritional needs by providing a lunch program to enrolled students. Cultural programming is made possible through collaboration with Friendship Centre staff such as the Cultural Resource Coordinator, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers.
The ASSP at United Native Friendship Centre is part of an Ontario-wide network of 11 Alternative Secondary Schools supported by the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC). The OFIFC is the largest urban Indigenous service network supporting the vibrant, diverse, and quickly-growing urban Indigenous population through programs and initiatives that span justice, health, family support, long-term care, healing and wellness, employment and training, education, and research. The OFIFC represents the collective interests and vision of its 29-member Friendship Centres, which are hubs of community and gathering spaces where people can connect to their culture, access services and programs and build community.
The vision of the Friendship Centre movement is to improve the quality of life for Indigenous people living in urban environments. Education has always been an integral part of this vision, as access to culturally-safe learning opportunities that center learners’ needs and gifts is key for the wellbeing of urban Indigenous people. The Alternative Secondary School Program was first piloted in 1990, as Friendship Centre communities organized to meet the needs of students and their families, in response to major gaps in mainstream schooling that included lack of safe, culture-based, wholistic education available to Indigenous learners. The program is realized through a partnership between Friendship Centres and their local District School Board, supported by a long-standing relationship between the Ontario Ministry of Education and the OFIFC. As a program dedicated to offering personalized support to Indigenous students within a setting that combines community and academic support, the ASSP reflects Indigenous student needs and delivers education tailored to Indigenous students in an Indigenous environment.
To learn more about this program, please visit https://ofifc.org/program/alternative-secondary-school-program/ and https://unfc.org/alternative-secondary-school-program.
Posted on mars 23, 2021 by Gabriel Maracle
Cette vidéo est celle d’une table ronde réunissant des aînés et des enseignants autochtones, qui s’est tenue à l’Université Trent le 23 novembre 2018. Le sujet de la table ronde était l’intégration des savoirs autochtones à l’Académie. Les panélistes ont reconnu que des changements positifs importants ont été apportés à l’Université Trent, comme le nouveau […]
Cette vidéo est celle d’une table ronde réunissant des aînés et des enseignants autochtones, qui s’est tenue à l’Université Trent le 23 novembre 2018. Le sujet de la table ronde était l’intégration des savoirs autochtones à l’Académie. Les panélistes ont reconnu que des changements positifs importants ont été apportés à l’Université Trent, comme le nouveau demi-crédit obligatoire en études autochtones pour tous les étudiants, et l’intégration continue des savoirs autochtones dans le programme de doctorat en études autochtones. Il a également été entendu qu’il faut en faire plus. Parmi les questions soulevées figurent l’intégration d’un plus grand nombre de savoirs autochtones dans l’ensemble de l’université, ce qui inclut un apprentissage ancré davantage sur le territoire, l’utilisation de noms autochtones pour les lieux et les bâtiments, et un soutien financier plus important pour faire venir des aînés autochtones pour enseigner à l’université.
Les participants à la table ronde étaient :
- Doug Williams (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg), aîné, directeur des études autochtones, programme de doctorat, Université Trent
- Barbra Wall (Potawatomi), faculté des études autochtones, Université Trent
- Dawn Lavell-Harvard, (Odawa), directrice de la « Maison du savoir » des Premiers Peuples, Université Trent
- Coty Zachariah, (Haudenosaunee), animateur de la table ronde, étudiant à l’Université Trent
Notre gratitude aux Aye Min Latt, Réalisation vidéo.
Cette vidéo est offerte en anglais seulement.
Posted on by Gabriel Maracle
Une table ronde à laquelle ont participé cinq étudiants autochtones s’est tenue à l’Université Trent pour discuter de leurs expériences dans leurs études postsecondaires. Les étudiants ont donné leur avis sur les difficultés rencontrées par les jeunes autochtones pour accéder à l’université et travailler au sein du système d’enseignement postsecondaire. Parmi les thèmes qui ont […]
Une table ronde à laquelle ont participé cinq étudiants autochtones s’est tenue à l’Université Trent pour discuter de leurs expériences dans leurs études postsecondaires. Les étudiants ont donné leur avis sur les difficultés rencontrées par les jeunes autochtones pour accéder à l’université et travailler au sein du système d’enseignement postsecondaire. Parmi les thèmes qui ont émergé de la discussion, citons les difficultés à choisir une discipline, les défis liés à l’admission aux études postsecondaires, l’importance d’un mentor et d’un soutien dans le cadre universitaire, et l’importance de l’apprentissage de la culture et du renforcement de l’identité au cours de leurs études postsecondaires.
Les participants à la table ronde étaient :
• Bobby Henry, Haudenosaunee
• Papatsi Kotierk, Inuit
• Thomas Morningstar, Anishinaabeg
• Amy Shawanda , Anishiaabeg
• Coty Zachariah, Haudenosaunee
• Gabriel Maracle, Haudenosaunee (Animateur)
Notre gratitude aux Aye Min Latt, Réalisation vidéo.
Cette vidéo est offerte en anglais seulement.
Posted on by Steffany Salloum
Cree immersion and culture camps offer participants a culturally responsive education.
Founder of kâniyâsihk Culture Camps and initiator of the Cree Immersion School at Ministikwin Lake Cree Nation, Kevin Lewis is an Indigenous academic who has brought what he has learned about educating back to his community. Lewis is committed to land-based learning and Cree education and hopes to ensure his programs provide people, young and old, with a culturally responsive education. In order to evaluate these programs, he enlisted a colleague as an external reviewer who has experience establishing Maori schools and language centres in New Zealand. By evaluating both the school and the culture camps Lewis is learning about what students and parents are feeling, wanting, and thinking about these programs, which has informed how the program changes and adapts over time. The case study is considered a snapshot of the programs at a particular moment in time, and when the case study is combined with the Structured Assessments Framework for Land-Based Learning at kâniyâsihk Culture Camps, it becomes a model for evaluating such programs.
Posted on mai 7, 2020 by John Vallely
An Elder, who is preparing Anishinaabe people to be responsible, knowledgeable about their culture, creation and to show us our own personal role in Creation.
An Elder, who is preparing Anishinaabe people to be responsible, knowledgeable about their culture, creation and to show us our own personal role in Creation.
Posted on by John Vallely
« Choices » is an alternative School and General Cultural Programming within Native Friendship Centre and Native Health centres. The goal of the program was to revitalize culture and incorporate Anishnawbek ways.
« Choices » is an alternative School and General Cultural Programming within Native Friendship Centre and Native Health centres. The goal of the program was to revitalize culture and incorporate Anishnawbek ways.
