Posted on June 10, 2019 by Richard Stecenko
Apprentices in the Master-Apprentice Michif Language Program learn through immersion.
Elvis DeMontigny is an apprentice in the Master-Apprentice Michif Language Program. After a few months in the program, he’s committed to keep at for the next two or three years. Elvis DeMontigny says, “In order to learn Michif language, in order to get a perfect understanding of everything that is involved with it, you just have to do every-day basic activities in it.” Like doing the laundry, buying groceries, and visiting an elder. He translates songs and poems into Michif and then sings them. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t; but, he still tries everyday. In time, he figures he’ll be able to teach his kids.
Elvis DeMontigny was interviewed at the Métis Pavilion held in Brandon, Manitoba from January 31 to February 2, 2019. You can hear fiddlers warming up in the background. After the interview, he had to get to the kitchen to make a giant batch of rice pudding.
The Pavilion is sponsored by the Manitoba Manitoba Métis Federation – Southwest Region (http://www.southwestmmf.ca/) and is part of the Westman Multicultural Festival.
Posted on June 4, 2019 by Dene Basil
Yukon First Nation History and knowledge
Harold Johnson talks about the Long Ago Peoples Place near Champagne Village, Yukon. The Long Ago peoples Place is a living museum of how Yukon First Nations people used to live and survive in the Yukon. The walk through meseum facility highlights a time line of what life was like back in the early years all the way to present times. Such as what those early Yukon First Nation people used to live in and their means of hunting with tools and weapons. The walk through museum facility is a way to learn, engage, heal, pass on, and revitalize Yukon First Nation ways of life culture and traditions.
Posted on by Echo Mcleod
Edward George is a young man from Saugeen First Nation who has developed a unique following of people who have watched him travel across the Great Lakes to raise awareness regarding water. Edward is known as a water-walker, as someone who continuously fights and supports water efforts across Turtle Island. As a young person seeking […]
Edward George is a young man from Saugeen First Nation who has developed a unique following of people who have watched him travel across the Great Lakes to raise awareness regarding water. Edward is known as a water-walker, as someone who continuously fights and supports water efforts across Turtle Island. As a young person seeking knowledge, Edward shares his perspective on what he believes Indigenous knowledge looks like.
Posted on by lisawhite
A discussion on the Indigenous Maps, Films, Rights and Land Claims program and specific details about its pedagogy, curriculum, and cultural relevance to the Stó:lō Nation territory.
Program developer, Dr. Ken Brealey, and program instructor and cultural advisor, Naxqxalhts’i (Sonny) McHalsie, discuss the significance and uniqueness of the Indigenous Maps, Films, Rights and Land Claims (IMFRLC) associate certificate program offered at the University of the Fraser Valley. The program offers students the opportunity to learn a range of conceptual and practical skills that are relevant to the history, communication, implementation, and critique of Indigenous rights, title, and land claims. It focuses on a range of representational practices, including, but not limited to, film, oral histories, documentaries, surveys and maps, and legal discourse analysis, and their importance to the Indigenous land rights process generally, but with a focus on British Columbia and the Lower Fraser Valley in particular. This program is available to high school graduates and/or adult learners and is offered in Chilliwack, BC, during the summer as an intensive four-week, three-course, twelve-credit associate certificate. Click here to learn more about the certificate program.
Posted on 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 June 3, 2019 by Lisa Jodoin
Dr. Rochelle Côté, Sociologist and Assistant Professor at Memorial University, discusses her work incorporating community-based learning into post-secondary education and the importance of holding university classes at local friendship centres.
Dr. Rochelle Côté, Sociologist and Assistant Professor at Memorial University, discusses her work incorporating community-based learning into post-secondary education and the importance of holding university classes at local friendship centres.
Posted on May 31, 2019 by Mary Ellen Simon
Chris Shawanoo speaks about the role of the NRNC in providing holistic educational opportunities to the Niagara urban Indigenous community.
Chris Shawanoo speaks about the holistic programming provided by the Niagara Regional Native Centre (NRNC) to urban Indigenous community members, as well as the start of the Indigenous school Soaring Eagles. Shawanoo uses personal stories and passes down teachings given to him to illustrate the importance of holistic education and western education. Walking in two worlds involves cultural revitalization to ground an individual to a strong identity while providing culturally sensitive educational opportunities to combat systemic oppression, colonization, and poverty. Recognition is given to the importance of a non-western education as well as the importance of language revitalization.
Shawanoo also speaks about NRNC’s partnership with the Catholic District School Board to start up Soaring Eagles Indigenous school as a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. He uses stories and teachings to illustrate the holistic education model to answer questions about Indigenous education.
Posted on by Lily Desmoulins
Tyler Armstrong speaks with Denise Baxter, Vice Provost of Aboriginal Initiatives, at Lakehead University. Aboriginal Initiatives offers many programs and services to Indigenous students attending Lakehead University. These include Culturally grounded counselling services; Transition coordinators; Aboriginal mentorship; and the Elders’ Committee.
Tyler Armstrong speaks with Denise Baxter, Vice Provost of Aboriginal Initiatives, at Lakehead University. Aboriginal Initiatives offers many programs and services to Indigenous students attending Lakehead University. These include Culturally grounded counselling services; Transition coordinators; Aboriginal mentorship; and the Elders’ Committee.
Posted on by Tina Trombley
Holly Rae Yuzicapi uses Indigenous cultural art techniques to teach about Indigenous history and culture, identity, personal expression, and defining relationships to the land.
Holly Rae Yuzicapi is a proud Dakota/Lakota woman from the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation in southern Saskatchewan. She is an instructor of cultural arts, traditional food, and traditional games, facilitating workshops for all ages throughout Canada and the United States. Her workshops are predominantly offered to schools, from early elementary to high school, and have been adapted for teacher professional development engagements.
The cultural arts workshops are offered over the course of several classes so that students understand the history of both culture and art, establish their own connection with what they are learning, and to ensure their spirit is engaged while their mind and body are expressing themselves through art. In her workshops, she focuses on cultural parallels instead of cultural differences and discusses six common elements of culture: language, kinship, process and transferring of traditional knowledge, connection to the environment, ceremonies and celebrations, and forms of expression.
For Yuzicapi, it is essential that individuals come to understand their identity and cultural art engagements offer a gateway to connecting identities to art forms of expression. She harvests traditional and natural materials like: porcupine quills, fish scales, and moose hair for quillwork, beadwork, and embroidery. Yuzicapi’s workshops enhance school programs by using art to build cross-cultural understanding while being infused with Indigenous history and art.
