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Wekatesk Head Start – Mi’kmaq Family Resource Centre – Barb McKenna-Toole – Coordinator – Charlottetown – Prince Edward Island

Barb McKenna-Toole, Coordinator at Wekatesk Head Start, describes the ways the Head Start program builds a sense of culture, identity, and community for children and families living off-reserve in Charlottetown.

Barb McKenna-Toole, Coordinator at Wekatesk Head Start, describes the ways the Head Start program builds a sense of culture, identity, and community for children and families living off-reserve in Charlottetown.

Land-Based Education Program at Chief Kahkewistahaw Community School

Chief Kahkewistahaw Community School offers land based education whereby students learn seasonal teachings.

Riel Thomson, a teacher at Chief Kahkewistahaw Community School, describes their land based program for middle years and high school students. The curriculum of the land based program focuses on fall, winter, and spring seasonal teachings with input and support from Cree Elders. Thomson includes content from the Elders when he is creating his annual teaching plans. The school is looking to expand the land based program to target students with behavioural and academic issues in the classroom. Students will be chosen to participate in the land based program in order to achieve specific objectives and then they would be reintegrated into the classroom.

Mi’kmaq Family Resource Centre – Sharon O’Brien – Executive Director – Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Sharon O’Brien, the Executive Director of the Mi’kmaq Family Resource Centre in Charlottetown, describes the impact of the centre and its programs for off-reserve families in Charlottetown.

Sharon O’Brien, the Executive Director of the Mi’kmaq Family Resource Centre in Charlottetown, describes the impact of the centre and its programs for off-reserve families in Charlottetown.

Willow Lake Culture/Science Camp

High school students spend 3 weeks at a camp on Willow Lake to complete an experiential science course and learn traditional skills and language on the land. ”This year’s camp took place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1 at Willow Lake, Northwest Territories. Twelve youth aged 11 to 16 from across the communities of Dehcho […]

High school students spend 3 weeks at a camp on Willow Lake to complete an experiential science course and learn traditional skills and language on the land.

”This year’s camp took place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 1 at Willow Lake, Northwest Territories. Twelve youth aged 11 to 16 from across the communities of Dehcho First Nations attended, along with Indigenous elders, traditional knowledge holders, community decision makers, land use planners, Dehcho First Nations staff and five graduate students from Laurier’s Northern Water Futures program.” from..https://campusmagazine.wlu.ca/2018/fall-winter/research-file/on-the-land-in-canadas-north.html

Community Education Programs at Regina Treaty Status Indian Services (RTSIS)

Erica Beaudin has been the Executive Director of the Regina Treaty Status Indian Services since 2007 and she discusses the importance of the organization’s community education programs.

The Regina Treaty Status Indian Services (RTSIS) is an organization owned by the Touchwood Agency Tribal Council and the File Hills-Qu’Appelle Tribal Council. RTSIS is the only Indigenous owned services agency providing services for Urban First Nations and First Nations transitioning to and from reserve. RTSIS is committed to honouring the Treaty and inherent rights of Indigenous people in Treaty Four territory by offering a variety of programs and training opportunities which support each nation’s language, culture, and identity. Specifically, their community based education programs include: the Red Feather Youth Integration Program, which supports youth transitioning from the criminal justice system and reintegrating into society; the Treaty Four Education Centre offers adult education with individualized learning plans based on interests and abilities; and the Indian Residential School Resolution Health Support Program addresses emotional health and wellness through both front-line services as well as through workshops on suicide prevention, parenting skills, intergenerational addictions, etc. For more information about RTSIS and their programs please visit http://fhqtc.com/rtsis/.

Dr. Pamela Toulouse – Mino-Bimaadiziwin as a Foundation for Future Educators

Pamela Toulouse speaks about how using traditional kinoomaage (teachings) and kendaasowin (knowledge) help to create socially conscious educators at Laurentian University.

Pamela Toulouse speaks about how using traditional kinoomaage (teachings) and kendaasowin (knowledge) help to create socially conscious educators at Laurentian University.

First Nations Mental Wellness Framework, Health Sci – Public Health Program, University of Lethbridge

“…ingenious and western both of them have many ways of knowing. Look at the initial, we have the community are struggling with suicide. We stand back and talk to community people and try to understand what’s going on, and then also try to look at the big picture…Indigenous education has to sort of help people […]

“…ingenious and western both of them have many ways of knowing. Look at the initial, we have the community are struggling with suicide. We stand back and talk to community people and try to understand what’s going on, and then also try to look at the big picture…Indigenous education has to sort of help people move between this world. So we can do a better job…” Western liner model is not working very well, its need to move to spiral or circular model of health and how these things feedback with each other. This program is inspired by mental wellness continuum which was created by the Thunderbird Partnership foundation partnership in Ontario – it is called the First Nations Mental Wellness continuum Framework. This model looks like how we can work with communities and communities can work on all their wellness. The center of this model is really focused on HOPE belonging meaning and purpose. Around of the model like, the ecological model gets larger and larger and includes different components of the life cycle and then this model move into different types of health programming like crisis response earlier identification and intervention, health promotion and prevention support and aftercare, trauma and treatment and care planning integrated service delivery for example, as this is the focus of the model, then it moves how the practitioner do that, how the indigenous people do that self-permit way, how do they measure performance and how do they look at governance of this program and their initiated research and look for development.

Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre – A Resource for The Community and The Classroom

Ensuring an institution exists where Indigenous languages and cultures are respected, honoured, and shared.

The Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre (SICC) is a provincially based non-profit organization whose Elder Council and staff are dedicated to promoting, preserving, and protecting Indigenous cultures and languages in Saskatchewan. SICC’s President, Wanda Wilson, explains, the organization records stories and visions from Elders and Knowledge Keepers from Saskatchewan’s eight linguistic groups (Plains Cree, Swampy Cree, Woodlands Cree, Dene, Saulteaux, Lakota, Nakoda, and Dakota). SICC’s programs reflect community needs and Saskatchewan needs the truth, supported by and through the formal education system.

St. Mary’s First Nation Adult Maliseet Immersion Program – Alma Brooks, Instructor, Fredericton, New Brunswick

Alma Brooks, former student and current Instructor at St. Mary’s First Nation’s Adult Maliseet Immersion program, describes the steps the program is taking to help with language revitalization in the region.

Alma Brooks, former student and current Instructor at St. Mary’s First Nation’s Adult Maliseet Immersion program, describes the steps the program is taking to help with language revitalization in the region.

Aboriginal Health, Faculty of Health Science, University of Lethbridge

At present. the Aboriginal Health is included as major or minor in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program but the faculty has the vision to shift away from it. The courses include introduction to Aboriginal health, community health, and traditional aboriginal health concept. The coursework of introduction aboriginal health focuses on aboriginal health issues from […]

At present. the Aboriginal Health is included as major or minor in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program but the faculty has the vision to shift away from it. The courses include introduction to Aboriginal health, community health, and traditional aboriginal health concept. The coursework of introduction aboriginal health focuses on aboriginal health issues from the much more holistic approach, meet more elders. This program has a different view apart from western medical health science which mainly focuses biological and biomedical component, however, the indigenous health science highlights four dimensions in health care: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. It also includes contemporary issues include wellness approach, indigenous healing & restoration issue. Western health science- the mainstream practitioners is very dismissive which do invalid indigenous health science but indigenous health science gives importance on knowing healing. Community health program coursework building relationship with the community people at the grassroots level, so this program is a very much bottom-up approach where we see top-down approach in Canada. Students collect the background, indigenous way of knowing, healing and much more broad perspective. Students hold a good understanding of history, holistic ways of the knowledge value of indigenous knowledge. They also focus, besides this, multidisciplinary approach including medical anthropology, native studies, and sociology as well. Another coursework- the traditional health concepts brings Indigenous knowledge holders once a week. Here faculty members work as course coordinator or facilitator. They bring elders, knowledge experts, Meti people and other international first nation people like Ghanaian people. It develops students’ own knowledge other than curriculum through oral tradition. Topics will include the role of culture and identity in health and healing; the collective use of plants and cultural medicines; the relatedness of people, land and health; and the spiritual dimensions of holistic health. The faculty members are also learning indigenous pedagogy, they believe knowledge sources depends on who you are and the relationship between knowledge and that of experience, It is not about someone telling you what you suppose to know, it is about keeping their perspective and you developing own. The vision of this program is getting sallers, they believe they need both sides to know the value of indigenous that would open up the other ways of knowing which can reduce racism in Canada. They believe ‘people’- the knowledge holders will be resources aside from fund to develop their program and to achieve their vision.