Posted on June 11, 2019 by mariajoseathiemartinez
Siyamtelot is Okanagan and registered Stó:lō by marriage. Swelimeltexw is Stó:lō from Stsálles are Elders from Okanagan. They share their educational experience along with stories and teachings.
Siyamtelot is Okanagan and registered Stó:lō by marriage. Swelimeltexw is Stó:lō from Stsálles are Elders from Okanagan. They share their educational experience along with stories and teachings.
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 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 May 31, 2019 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.
Posted on May 22, 2019 by Trisha Campbell
Supervisor of Indigenous Education, Sarah Longman, discusses the programs she oversees for Regina Public Schools.
As the Supervisor of Indigenous Education for Regina Public Schools, Sarah Longman oversees the academic standing of all self-declared Indigenous students in the division, to ensure they are successful in acquiring the credits needed to stay on track to graduate. When it is identified that a student may need extra support, there are a number of ways this support is provided. There is an Indigenous Advocate Teachers Program, whereby trained teachers of Indigenous backgrounds are placed in high schools to monitor the progress of self-declared students. If needed, the Indigenous Advocate teacher will work with the student to get them back on track by contacting the parents/guardians and teachers to help identify the barriers that may be preventing a student from succeeding.
Another source of support for students is an Elders in Residence Program. The Elders provide cultural understanding and cultural affirmation for Indigenous students and are overall positive role models. Elders bring their knowledge and expertise into the classroom and they may help non-Indigenous teaching staff to navigate sensitive topics such as residential schools. Elders may also connect with families by teaming up with the Indigenous Advocate teachers and provide support to the student and family that are experiencing challenges in school or at home.
There is an Elders Advisory Council that advises the Board of Trustees for Regina Public Schools. These Elders offer cultural understanding and cultural knowledge that guide the Trustees when they are making decisions that impact Indigenous students and the community. A lot of work is being done to bring culturally affirmative resources into the schools to develop contemporary representations of who Indigenous people are – with the aim to eradicate and replace negative stereotypes about Indigenous people.
Longman hopes that in the years to come, there will be more Indigenous educators, Indigenous doctors, Indigenous engineers, etc., taking the best of the Western world and finding ways to utilize technology to promote and sustain who they are as Indigenous people.
Posted on by Lisa Jodoin
Blaire Gould, Director of Programs and Student Support Services at Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, discusses the oral language program and the assessment resources that they have created for the oral language education of young children.
Blaire Gould, Director of Programs and Student Support Services at Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, discusses the oral language program and the assessment resources that they have created for the oral language education of young children.
Posted on May 21, 2019 by Coty Zachariah
First Nations led education in community
The Akwesahsne Freedom School was started in 1979 by parents in the Mohawk community that saw a need to preserve their ways and play an active role in the education of the nation starting with the children. They wanted their kids to be educated in the language, to be raised with ceremony and culture on the land of their ancestors without the influence and interference of the Western world. This approach has lead to results such as an increase in speakers of Mohawk language, rejuvenation of cultural strength and familiarity, and the continuance of inter-generational hands on learning.
