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PWK High School Sweetgrass Culture Camp

All grade 7 and 8 students attend this fall culture camp in Wood Buffalo National Park. Here they learn land-based skills, canoe safety, traditional medicines and much more. This camp is supported by the local school board and community.

All grade 7 and 8 students attend this fall culture camp in Wood Buffalo National Park. Here they learn land-based skills, canoe safety, traditional medicines and much more. This camp is supported by the local school board and community.

PWK High School Winter Camp

PWK Highschool in Fort Smith holds an annual winter expedition where students learn traditional trapping, fishing, and hunting in a safe, continuous manner. The facilitators are local Elders and knowledge keepers.

PWK Highschool in Fort Smith holds an annual winter expedition where students learn traditional trapping, fishing, and hunting in a safe, continuous manner. The facilitators are local Elders and knowledge keepers.

Tluuwaay ‘Waadluxan Mathematical Adventures

The book, Tluuwaay ‘Waadluxan Mathematical Adventures, is designed to expand our awareness and relationship with the land, sea and sky – and transform possibilities for teaching and learning mathematics. Cynthia Nicol, one of the co-editors who collaborated with the authors of the book (teachers and community members of Haida Gwaii), is an Associate Professor in […]

The book, Tluuwaay ‘Waadluxan Mathematical Adventures, is designed to expand our awareness and relationship with the land, sea and sky – and transform possibilities for teaching and learning mathematics. Cynthia Nicol, one of the co-editors who collaborated with the authors of the book (teachers and community members of Haida Gwaii), is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Education. She shares some of the math activities and examples in the book that involve the bentwood box, the canoe, historical dates and timelines from the People’s perspective, and more. To learn more or how to get a copy of the book, visit: http://www.sd50.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/colour-poster-final.pdf.

Neecheewam Inc. – Whole Person Learning

Cheyenne Chartrand, Spiritual Care Provider at Neecheewam Inc., explains Neecheewam’s approach to education.

Neecheewam Inc. goes beyond pedagogical programs in an effort to redefine concepts of treatment, emphasizing cohort and peer education through an “extended family” that results in whole person learning. Whole person learning requires moving beyond the text book to include academic, professional, emotional, and spiritual growth.

Manitoba First Nation Science Fair: We couldn’t survive without science

Students with a passion for science showcase their work at the Manitoba First Nations Science Fair

Rockford McKay has been flying to northern communities for over 20 years demonstrating science to students in remote communities. And he has never seen an Anishinaabe or Cree pilot, but that will change. The Manitoba First Nation Science Fair is now in its 18th year. Only 20 students came to the first fair; last year there were over 500. Many come once, say ‘I can do that’, and return with their own science projects. Rockford blends traditional and modern science. He uses a snowshoe to illustrate engineering and problem solving; he has a portable planetarium to demonstrate astronomy and navigation. It’s just a matter of time before students from the Manitoba First Nations School System are flying, building, and designing those airplanes.

On The Land Learning, Old Crow Yukon

Bridging the western educational world with local First Nation culture and traditions .

In this interview Francis Ross talks about the on the land learning program in Old Crow Yukon. This program is designed to achieve educational curriculum in a First Nation lens. This program fully utilizes local First Nation knowledge, culture, and traditions and fuses it with current western education curriculum. The approach allows students to become more comfortable by learning with familiarity using Fist Nations tools, methods and ways of life to meet educational goals. This program creates a bridge between the two worlds many First Nation people experience as a hardship.

Neecheewam Inc. – White Butterfly Program

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.

Aurora College-Inuvik: Student Life and Wellness

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.

Principal, Dene Tha’ Community School

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.

Jingle dresses, moccasins, math, and science: There’s room at Opikihiwawin to learn about it all

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.