First Nations, Metis, Inuit Education
Level 1 Indigenous GamesIn September of 2019 I had the honor of attending a 3 day course where I was introduced to various Indigenous games. We spent three days learning the games, the culture, the respect, and the craftsmanship of various games. Then we completed a written test to solidify certification to teach level 1 of the games.
Montana Traditional Games Council |
Gallery From Indigenous Games Workshop
First Nations Children's Songs PD
Sherryl Sewepagaham is of Cree-Dene ancestry from the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta. She holds a Bachelor of Music Therapy and a Bachelor of Education. She is a part of the First Nations trio called Asani. She has written many of these children’s songs herself.
The ones that she did not personally write have been shared with her by various Indigenous groups across Alberta and British Columbia. She has given us the permission to share these songs and to pass along their story. At this session we were taught many beautiful and engaging First Nations songs to sing with our kids. Every year the kids love using their chop sticks to play the stick songs with me! |
Other PD Over the Years
February 2nd, 2018 - ATA "Walking Together" Blanket Exercise: learning 500 years of history in a visual and impacting way. In this workshop I appreciated how everything was extremely visible - you could see "land" being taken away as blankets were crumpled and you could see the devastation to population as people were being eliminated. I especially appreciated the positive reinforcements near the end where accomplishments were celebrated and corners were folded outwards again to show gains that have been made recently. I reflected upon the feelings I had during that exercise, and I remembered feeling so uncertain and deflated - like I had no power to overcome whatever reality was about to be given to me. I also recall feeling distrust towards the facilitators and I didn't trust that they weren't going to eliminate me or my possessions next. Overall it was a very powerful workshop.
October 10, 2017 - First Nations Learning - Smudge, Understanding Aboriginal identity, Assimilation study, TQS study and exploration of resources
MOVE & PLAY THROUGH TRADITIONAL ABORIGINAL GAMES: (Feb. 20) Lethbridge College Be Fit for Life Centre gave us a great presentation about how easily traditional aboriginal games can be used to get kids excited about fitness, but also while teaching them about traditional native cultures. I decided to go to this session because I am currently finishing up the "Living with the Land" unit in Social Studies 4 and I have been wanting to do some traditional aboriginal activities as a "wrap up". I loved how the ladies described the importance of respectively gathering proper materials, and how they gave us the "original significance" of why each game was created. I think that I will try to integrate some of these games within the next few weeks and I know that my kids will love playing these games and hearing why the natives played them!
WE GOT SOME CATCHING UP TO DO (Feb. 20) Shelagh Rogers gave a speech to us about the importance of recognizing the hurt that we have cause our indigenous peoples, and about the importance of having genuine interactions with these people in order to close the gap of separation that we currently have. Her speech talked a lot about reconciliation following the era of Residential Schooling and how we need to recognize our past flaws, have sorrow for our dark history, and look at how we can contribute to making sure that we support success for those who are still suffering from this era, and how to ensure that we never repeat history. The quotes that stuck with me the most during her presentation were "why would we deny ourselves the pleasure of aboriginal company?" and "why wait for a tsunami to become helpful to one another?". I thought that it was a very insightful presentation!
October 10, 2017 - First Nations Learning - Smudge, Understanding Aboriginal identity, Assimilation study, TQS study and exploration of resources
MOVE & PLAY THROUGH TRADITIONAL ABORIGINAL GAMES: (Feb. 20) Lethbridge College Be Fit for Life Centre gave us a great presentation about how easily traditional aboriginal games can be used to get kids excited about fitness, but also while teaching them about traditional native cultures. I decided to go to this session because I am currently finishing up the "Living with the Land" unit in Social Studies 4 and I have been wanting to do some traditional aboriginal activities as a "wrap up". I loved how the ladies described the importance of respectively gathering proper materials, and how they gave us the "original significance" of why each game was created. I think that I will try to integrate some of these games within the next few weeks and I know that my kids will love playing these games and hearing why the natives played them!
WE GOT SOME CATCHING UP TO DO (Feb. 20) Shelagh Rogers gave a speech to us about the importance of recognizing the hurt that we have cause our indigenous peoples, and about the importance of having genuine interactions with these people in order to close the gap of separation that we currently have. Her speech talked a lot about reconciliation following the era of Residential Schooling and how we need to recognize our past flaws, have sorrow for our dark history, and look at how we can contribute to making sure that we support success for those who are still suffering from this era, and how to ensure that we never repeat history. The quotes that stuck with me the most during her presentation were "why would we deny ourselves the pleasure of aboriginal company?" and "why wait for a tsunami to become helpful to one another?". I thought that it was a very insightful presentation!