fbpx

Penny Couchie and Sid Bobb – Indigenous Arts Education

Aanmitaagzi, an Indigenous arts company. Seeks out many ways to have/supports both direct and indirect learning.

Aanmitaagzi, an Indigenous arts company. Seeks out many ways to have/supports both direct and indirect learning.

Northern Manitoba Mining Association: Freda Lapine

The Northern Manitoba Mining Academy provides access to its world-class facilities for field-based undergraduate courses, as well as graduate students and researchers doing field work. Full sample preparation and comfortable on-site accommodations are provided for a minimal cost to students and scientists in all natural and environmental sciences. The program integrates life and essential skills […]

The Northern Manitoba Mining Academy provides access to its world-class facilities for field-based undergraduate courses, as well as graduate students and researchers doing field work. Full sample preparation and comfortable on-site accommodations are provided for a minimal cost to students and scientists in all natural and environmental sciences. The program integrates life and essential skills components into conventional wilderness safety training to develop the foundational skills that are critical to successful employment. Graduates are expected to secure entry-level employment in mining and environmental industries including assisting in early mining exploration activities. Other graduates will advance to formal prospector training. “Our organization has a vision of building community capacity through the wilderness safety and intensive prospector training programs,” said Chief Jim Tobacco, Mosakahiken Cree Nation, and president, First Nation Mining Economic Development Inc. “It will help to boost creativity to find the next big mine within our ancestral lands.” The province is partnering with First Nations Mining Economic Development Inc., University College of the North, Northern Manitoba Mining Academy and Workplace Education Manitoba to deliver wilderness safety training for up to 40 individuals from four participating communities: God’s Lake Narrows First Nation, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Marcel Colomb Cree Nation and Mosakahiken Cree Nation.  http://www.miningacademy.ca/#welcome

Social Media as a Language Teaching Tool

Solomon Ratt uses Facebook to engage students and community members in learning Cree.

Solomon Ratt, Cree Language Professor at First Nations University of Canada, discusses how his Cree Language Facebook group has helped students and community members learn Cree. A few years ago, Solomon began engaging his Cree language student’s, outside of regular class time, by creating Cree language videos for them to learn and practice. He uploads Cree language videos to the Facebook group, and now the group has grown from students to community members, and eventually to global learners. A community formed within the Facebook group and now more people than ever are logging on and engaging in learning Cree. Solomon hopes that alongside technological developments the Cree language will be revitalized and reclaimed.

Banuts’ukuih: Indigenous-led Experiential Learning at the University of Northern British Columbia

The Banuts’ukuih (meaning, canoe coming to shore in Lheidli) project is an example of the experiential learning opportunities led by Indigenous instructors in partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia. Other experiential courses have involved creating a pit house, decolonization through land stewardship, and moose-hide tanning. These courses offer Indigenous and non-Indigenous post secondary […]

The Banuts’ukuih (meaning, canoe coming to shore in Lheidli) project is an example of the experiential learning opportunities led by Indigenous instructors in partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia. Other experiential courses have involved creating a pit house, decolonization through land stewardship, and moose-hide tanning. These courses offer Indigenous and non-Indigenous post secondary students the opportunity to learn about Indigenous cultures through participation in cultural activities – such as carving a cottonwood canoe. In addition, these courses allow for the transmission of oral traditions – such as the Lheidli T’enneh story of ‘Astas and the Salmon. https://www.unbc.ca/experiential-learning

Neeched Up Games

Neeched Up Games plays a unique role in educating students and teachers about Indigenous history and culture in Saskatchewan.

Owner of the social enterprise, Neeched Up Games, Janelle Pewapsconias, leads youth leadership and empowerment workshops, creates apps, and promotes role playing games that teach students and adults the history of Indigenous people in Canada. Pewapsconias hopes to bridge knowledge gaps between Canadians and Indigenous people in order to better understand Indigenous history, decolonization, identity, culture, empowerment, and sense of belonging. The Neeched Up subscription pack is available to teachers to both support their learning and to help them teach about treaties and reconciliation. To learn more about Neeched Up Games and the 2-4 hour workshops visit: https://neechedupgames.wordpress.com.

The Summer Program in Property and Customary Law at the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan

Program Coordinator, Kathleen Makela and Director, Larry Chartrand discuss the Indigenous Law Centre’s Summer Program.

The Indigenous Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan offers The Summer Program in Property and Customary Law, which is an eight-week graduate program offered to Indigenous law students from across Canada. The program covers Property Law and Customary Law which count towards their first year credits and makes their workload during the first semester of law school a bit more manageable. Specifically, students learn about property law and skills to be successful in law school, such as: legal writing, legal analysis, how to brief on cases, and legal memos. Since 1973, The Summer Program has been successful in increasing the number of Indigenous people studying and practising law in Canada.

Since this story was created much has changed at the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. The Summer Program in Property and Customary Law no longer exists and has evolved into a new certificate program. For more information and for lists of publications please visit the Indigenous Law Centre.

Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP)

SUNTEP is a teacher education program that focuses on Métis education and student success.

Janice Thompson is the Program Head for the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP). SUNTEP is a four-year, fully accredited Bachelor of Education program offered by the Gabriel Dumont Institute in cooperation with the Ministry of Advanced Education, the University of Regina, and the University of Saskatchewan. Prospective students can find campuses located in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Regina. The education program is designed around Métis education, cultural revitalization, and language reclamation. The program’s foundations are centered around relationships, academic and personal supports, and land-based learning. Currently, SUNTEP is the only post-secondary academic program in the country that offers Michif as an approved language credit. Thompson believes that, like First Nations education, Métis education needs to be mandated by the province so that Métis history, identity, language, and culture are no longer an after-thought. Equality in education means that our education system must be inclusive of all Indigenous groups, Inuit, Métis, and First Nations, and be mandated by our provincial government.

Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre – Circle of Voices Program

Jennifer Bishop and Marcel Petit highlight the transformative process that occurs during the Circle of Voices Program.

Since 1999, each year the Circle of Voices Program has offered fifteen participants, ages 15-24, a safe place to learn about theatre and career pathways while exploring identity through cultural learning. The youth are immersed in learning from cultural and arts-based leaders in an after-school program from October to March. Participants come to the program ready to push their boundaries and change patterns for personal growth and development. Participants often leave the program with the cultural knowledge and skills needed to have confidence in their abilities and their voice. They also develop close relationships with their peers and mentors that sustain them in their personal and professional endeavors.

*Photo credit goes to GTNT and Cory Standing.

Indigenization at the University of Saskatchewan – Making Our Institutions Culturally Safe

Rose Roberts, Education Development Specialist (Indigenous Engagement and Education) with the Indigenous Voices shares with us the importance of the initiative. 

As a member of the Indigenous Voices team at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Saskatchewan, Rose Roberts helps faculty and staff in the process of indigenization. She supports faculty in learning about the true history of Indigenous people in Saskatchewan while also valuing Indigenous and Western knowledge within our educational institutions. Rose Roberts reminds us of the saying, “before we can have reconciliation we have to know the truth.” The university is transitioning its courses to be inclusive of Indigenous paradigms and offer multiple ways of learning.

Follow the link below to learn about the Traditional Garden on campus.

https://teachingtest.usask.ca/traditional-garden/index.php

The institutional commitment to indigenize academia has been integrated into the University of Saskatchewan’s institutional plan. Take a look by following the link.  

https://teaching.usask.ca/curriculum/indigenization.php#WhatisIndigenization