Posted on March 12, 2019 by Richard Stecenko
After attending EmpoweringU sessions, students know how to open up a bank account, budget, apply for student loans, bursaries, scholarships and thrive at university.
After attending EmpoweringU sessions, students know how to open up a bank account, budget, apply for student loans, bursaries, scholarships and thrive at university. Coming from the north, Cindy could not believe the quantity of healthy food you could buy for $120. “If you were to buy that stuff up north, it would have been, like $300, $350. It was really nice to know that you could actually spend such little money and have a lot of food.” EmpoweringU runs its programs in Migizii Agamik; it’s a place where Indigenous students from all over get together. It’s a place to study; you talk about back home; it’s nice, warm and like family. You learn how to live on a budget.
Posted on March 11, 2019 by Jeremiah Sharpe
Neecheewam’s White Butterfly Program works with young people to improve their lives.
Neecheewam’s White Butterfly Program sees child behaviour as another language that need to be learned. Their staff look at the children they work with as a whole, an important philosophical concept of Indigenous education, which they believe to be an integrated component of daily life.
Posted on March 6, 2019 by Kaitlyn Walcheske
Cheryll Welke shares about her community involvement volunteering in schools by talking about her Métis culture and identity.
Cheryll Welke volunteers in classrooms in High Level, Alberta to engage with students through the sharing of moose meat and bannock and talking about the significance of Métis contribution to Canadian society. Welke wants Métis youth to be proud of who they and understand how much Métis people have contributed to the development of Canada.
Posted on by Jiah Dzentu
Aurora College’s Inuvik campus has two large McPherson tents where a variety of activities take place. Elementary schools, high schools, Elders, and community members use this space. Some activities include medicine walks, fish camps, and story-telling.
Aurora College’s Inuvik campus has two large McPherson tents where a variety of activities take place. Elementary schools, high schools, Elders, and community members use this space. Some activities include medicine walks, fish camps, and story-telling.
Posted on by Pam Greene
The Principal of the Dene Tha Community School, Carlito Somera, discusses the school’s commitment to holding fall and winter Cultural Camps for students in grades 4-12.
Carlito Somera is the Principal of the Dene Tha Community School located in Treaty 8, in the community of Chateh, Alberta, northwest of High Level. Somera discusses the Dene Tha’s Cultural Camps offered both in the fall and winter. During the fall camp, students from Grades 4-12 attend the Cultural Camp held over a five day period. There are many academic outcomes that are attached to the Cultural Camps. High school students earn and gain credits as part of the curriculum.
This land-based learning portion of the curriculum includes the Dene language and culture. With the leadership and support of local Dene hunters and language specialists, students learn how to prepare, cut, and dry meat. Students also participate in other cultural activities such as berry picking, willow gathering, storytelling, and playing traditional hand games. In the winter, the Cultural Camp is held at Bistcho Lake. Students travel by vehicle on ice roads to the summertime fly-in fishing location and stay in cabins during their visit. Some of the cultural activities taught are how to ice fish.
Posted on February 27, 2019 by Richard Stecenko
Opikihiwawin’s programs create a positive sense of identity and belonging and help adoptees and foster people build relationships in the Aboriginal community.
Based on Dr. Martin Brokenleg’s theory of reclaiming youth at risk, Opikihiwawin helps Aboriginal adoptees find where they belong and helps them on their journey home. ”We have a wide range of programs for fostered and adopted youth,” says Darlene Daniels. “The goal is to find their sense of self-identity, where they belong, and what their gifts and talents are.” Opikihiwawin has partnered with the University of Manitoba and arranged for Indigenous people in various programs like medicine or dentistry to mentor and tutor young people so that they flourish in school and are not intimidated by math and science.
The paintings, Super Hero, Parenting, Education, and Language, were created by Opikihiwawin participants; they were inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action.
Posted on by Charity Gladstone
The SENĆOŦEN Survival School and Language Apprenticeship programs value our history and teach the ways and beliefs of our W̱SÁNEĆ homeland and worldview.
SENĆOŦEN Survival School: This program is a fully SENĆOŦEN immersion experience (EWENE W̱ENITEM ḴEN SḰÁL – no English Language is spoken) for Children 5-6 or at the Kindergarten program level. Our program teachers meet the Ministry Prescribed Learning Outcomes of the Kindergarten Curriculum. Children will spend 3.5 hours in classroom Learning the Kindergarten Provincial Curriculum through a SENĆOŦEN medium. For 2.5 hours per day, children will also learn through engagement with nature in the playgrounds and forests around our school and at beaches and culturally significant places. Children can enter the LE,NOṈET Immersion stream at this level.
SENĆOŦEN Language Apprenticeships: The goal of the Mentor-Apprentice Program is to facilitate the development of fluent speakers of SENĆOŦEN language where fluent speakers are partnered with committed learners in an immersion environment in the home and on the land. This is a one-on-one language immersion program. A “mentor” (a fluent speaker of a language) is paired with an “apprentice” (learner).
Posted on by Charity Gladstone
An examination of the historic and current issues relevant to First Nations land use and community planning.
This course looks at land use and community planning in First Nation communities across Canada from a variety of perspectives. The course includes an examination of the history of First Nations planning in Canada; review of the portions of the Indian Act relevant to planning and land use; current trends in First Nations planning (comprehensive community plans and land codes); treaties and planning; and local government – First Nations relationship building. The course aims to acquaint students with the issues that shape current practice in land use and community planning in First Nations across Canada, with a focus on BC.
Posted on by Marisol Campos Navarrete
Bob Lovelace offers a distinction between Indigenous Education and Aboriginal Education, the shift from an ‘Indigenous Rights perspective’ to an ‘Indigenous Responsibility perspective’.
Robert (Bob) Lovelace is a former Ardoch Algonquin First Nations Chief and is the originator of on-campus, blended, and online community and higher education courses related to Indigenous and Aboriginal Education. He has been key in the creation of the Indigenous Studies Minor in Queen’s University and served as the founding manager for the Four Directions Aboriginal Student Centre as well as the lead facilitator for the Annual Aboriginal Studies Symposium in this institution. Here, Lovelace discusses the importance of looking into the future, and his perspectives on the current state of Indigenous Education in Canadian Institutions.
