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Story Topic: Primary (K - Grade 8)

Kindergarten to Grades 8/9

Significance of the Number Four in Indigenous Worldviews

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Steffany Salloum

Lynn Cote discusses a circular worldview model and discusses the meaning of the sacred number four. 

Lynn Cote was a guest speaker at the Regina Elders Gathering held in February 2020. Cote spoke about the importance of stories and language learning. Lynn Cote is a Saulteaux woman and educator from Cote First Nation, located north of Kamsack, Saskatchewan. In this clip, Cote discusses the importance of the number four in Saulteaux worldview and the importance of the circular worldview model. The worldview defines our relationship with the spirit land and all spirits that inhabit it.

Dene Culture and the Catholic Church

Posted on by Steffany Salloum

Comparing and recognizing similarities between Dene beliefs and the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

Margaret Reynolds, a Dene woman from English River First Nation, shares about the differences in Dene beliefs compared to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, with an audience at the Prince Albert Elders Gathering in March 2020. Reynolds explains how the Catholic Church was domineering in the north and people have lived without their traditional culture for a long time. She understands that the Cree, Dene, Saulteaux in Saskatchewan all believe in the same way and these beliefs have parallels  beliefs of the Catholic Church. Thankfully though, a lot of Dene traditional ceremonies, songs, and drum are coming back after being suppressed for so long.

Dene Language Lesson

Posted on by Steffany Salloum

Margaret Reynolds shares a quick Dene language lesson focusing on the t-dialect.

Margaret Reynolds, a Dene woman from English River First Nation, shares the Dene language with an audience at the Prince Albert Elders Gathering in March 2020. First, she explains that Saskatchewan has 2 dialects the k-dialect (Black Lake, Fond du Lac, Stony) and the t-dialect (English River, etc.). She discusses the Denesuline language, sharing some words and meanings between dialects, acknowledging that there are over twenty Denesuline dialects across the country!

Dene Hand Games

Posted on by Steffany Salloum

Elders and Knowledge Keepers from northern Saskatchewan demonstrate how to play a Dene Hand Game.

Elder Martin Broussie and Daniel Alphonse from Black Lake First Nation with Allan Adam and George MacDonald from Fond du Lac demonstrate how to play a Dene Hand Game at the Prince Albert Elders Gathering in March 2020. The Dene Hand Game is a guessing game where individual players or teams of players hide objects in one of their hands. The other team must guess which hand the object is in in order to score points – be careful though, points can be stolen!

A Case Study and an Assessment Framework for Land-Based Learning

Posted on by Steffany Salloum

Cree immersion and culture camps offer participants a culturally responsive education.

Founder of kâniyâsihk Culture Camps and initiator of the Cree Immersion School at Ministikwin Lake Cree Nation, Kevin Lewis is an Indigenous academic who has brought what he has learned about educating back to his community. Lewis is committed to land-based learning and Cree education and hopes to ensure his programs provide people, young and old, with a culturally responsive education. In order to evaluate these programs, he enlisted a colleague as an external reviewer who has experience establishing Maori schools and language centres in New Zealand. By evaluating both the school and the culture camps Lewis is learning about what students and parents are feeling, wanting, and thinking about these programs, which has informed how the program changes and adapts over time. The case study is considered a snapshot of the programs at a particular moment in time, and when the case study is combined with the Structured Assessments Framework for Land-Based Learning at kâniyâsihk Culture Camps, it becomes a model for evaluating such programs.

Art Petahtegoose – Thinking in Our Language and Our Role in Creation

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.

Land-based science and culture camp- Holly Burke

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Lisa Jodoin

Youth participant, Holly Burke, talks about the land-based youth camp at Killdevil Mountain in Grose Morne National Park. The science and culture camp is facilitated by Qalipu First Nation. 

Youth participant, Holly Burke, talks about the land-based youth camp at Killdevil Mountain in Grose Morne National Park. The science and culture camp is facilitated by Qalipu First Nation. 

Se’t A’newey Kina’matino’Kuom – Audrey Benoit

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Lisa Jodoin

Audrey Benoit, Vice-Principal of Se’t A’newey Kina’matino’Kuom in Miawpukek First Nation describes how they celebrate and support Indigenous culture in their school. 

Audrey Benoit, Vice-Principal of Se’t A’newey Kina’matino’Kuom in Miawpukek First Nation describes how they celebrate and support Indigenous culture in their school. 

Simplifying Cree Language Lessons by Focusing on One Word

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Steffany Salloum

Cree words are packed with meaning and can be used as an entire language lesson.

Simon Bird is the Director of Education for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and he shares his wealth of knowledge teaching Cree. He says, there are people in our communities who want to teach Cree and there are many more who want to learn it. He describes that you can teach an entire language lesson with one Cree word. For example, the word mistatim or misatim means big dog and refers to a horse. The concept of big dog exists within other Indigenous languages (Lakota, Dakota, Ojibway, Saulteaux, etc.) which shows how the horse was introduced to Indigenous people, and that dogs were part of their lives before horses came along. This language lesson brings in elements of history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships, as well as, transportation and culture of peoples. In his discussion he gives an overview of a number of other Cree words that can be used in language lessons. Bird is a leader in his community and believes that if we study the language you will realize its significance and the roots it has in our culture and society – you will begin to appreciate who we are as people.

Resources: 

kâniyâsihk Culture Camps at Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Steffany Salloum

Founder of kâniyâsihk Culture Camps, Kevin Lewis believes that land-based education is an important way for Cree and non-Indigenous people to (re)connect with culture and identity.

Within the last two decades, the kâniyâsihk Culture Camps at Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation have evolved from providing fall culture camps where participants took part in fishing and hide tanning to offering camps throughout all seasons and to anyone who wants to learn nehiyo (Cree) culture. Founder, Kevin Lewis explains that at kâniyâsihk Culture Camps participants take part in land-based learning that involves connecting with Elders, knowledge keepers, land keepers, medicine keepers, and berry pickers in their community. By sharing this wealth of knowledge with participants they begin to learn how to be self-sufficient and independent. Some of the many things done at camp include: learning Cree; harvesting plants for medicines; fishing and snaring; hide tanning; preserving moose, deer, elk, and fish; woodworking and building dog sleds, toboggans, birch bark canoes, snowshoes, and paddles; dog sledding; and participating in the Sun Dance, Sweat Lodge, and Chicken Dance ceremonies. The camp offers an immersive experience in nehiyo culture and Lewis hopes that more culture camps become available to people, especially for those living in urban areas.

Click here for more information about kâniyâsihk Culture Camps.