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 by Kevin Fitzmaurice
Chris Pheasant is from Wiikwemkoong First Nation and has dedicated his life to Indigenous Education. Over the course of his career, Chris has been a Guidance Counsellor, Teacher, Principal, and College Faculty member. Indigenous education is Biimaadiziwin, a way of living. Indigenous knowledge is ingrained in the language of the people and its relationship with […]
Chris Pheasant is from Wiikwemkoong First Nation and has dedicated his life to Indigenous Education. Over the course of his career, Chris has been a Guidance Counsellor, Teacher, Principal, and College Faculty member. Indigenous education is Biimaadiziwin, a way of living. Indigenous knowledge is ingrained in the language of the people and its relationship with the environment, the land, the water, the air, our spirit. It is a wholistic education that encompasses the four quadrants of being and understandings of natural law. In these and other ways Indigenous Education differs from Western Education and it is important to be aware of and to be respectful of these differences.
Posted on April 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 May 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 February 15, 2020 by Ruby Thompson
Examples of formal and informal Indigenous Education from a ‘student of life’ who describes the importance of language and land-based learning.
Examples of formal and informal Indigenous Education from a ‘student of life’ who describes the importance of language and land-based learning.
