Author Archives: AMANDATHERRIENIADELUCA

Strength-based programs for Indigenous youth

For my final weblog, I wanted to include some of the articles and resources that I have found helpful for my final project. I realized as I started working on it that I needed to look at programs and activities that have data to support their effectiveness. Many of these links are focused on if and how strength-based programs and extra-curricular activities can be beneficial for Indigenous Youth in Canada.

1. Uniting our Nations

I came across this program while reading an article by Crooks, Chiodo and Thomas (2009). Their article presents information about strength-based programs that are aimed at building and improving school engagement for Indigenous Youth. This article is particularly important for my final project because they presented concrete successes and failures of the programs based on student participation and feedback. Uniting our Nations is a range of programs developed for Indigenous students in the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ontario. The programs, which were developed in collaboration with Indigenous educators, students, counsellors, and community partners, include an elementary mentoring program, a secondary peer mentoring program, a grade 9 Four R Health program and a literacy test preparation program.

2. Engaging and Empowering Aboriginal Youth: a Toolkit for Service Providers

Another resource by Crooks, Chiodo and Thomas (2009) that I found interesting was this toolkit they developed. The objective was to explore how to make programs more relevant and empowering for Indigenous Youth. The information is broken down as such:

  • Section 1: Background and Overview
  • Section 2: Guiding Principles
    • Principle 1: Understanding and Integrating Cultural Identity
    • Principle 2: Increasing Youth Engagement
    • Principle 3: Fostering Youth Empowerment
    • Principle 4: Establishing and Maintaining Effective Partnerships
  • Section 3: Opportunities and Challenges in School-Based Prevention Programming
  • Section 4: Research and Evaluation

Focusing on the importance of a strengths-based approach in supporting Indigenous youth and helping them succeed, this toolkit uses case studies and analyses different programs to present ideas and strategies for how to create better programming.

3. McKellar Park Case Study

This article is a case study of the McKellar Park Central School in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where 50% of the students identify as First Nations. The school uses a strength-based approach in order to address issues of bullying and to support First Nations students. Of particular interest is their use of the Ambassador’s club, where students, selected by the staff, spend time with administration during selected lunch hours. They use the identified strengths to work on social skills and the students help come up with ways to improve certain aspects of their classes/school and to come up with activities for other students. The school also runs a New Experiences Program, in conjunction with the Children’s Centre Thunder Bay. Students meet once a week and parents/caregivers are invited. The workshops focus on the students’ needs, such as trauma, grief and coping skills. Both these programs have helped support First Nations students and have helped improve their school experience.

This paper presents the qualitative and quantitative data from the programs:

4. Participation in sports and cultural activities among Aboriginal children and youth

This article refers back to one of my links from the second module, the Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) of children and youth. Using information and data from the survey, Smith, Findlay and Crompton (2010) unpack the participation of Inuit, Metis and off-reserve First Nations children in sports and cultural activities. Participation is increased with regards to higher levels of parental education, time spent with Elders and involvement in other activities.

5. Tides Canada: Northern Well-Being

Tides Canada has a variety of initiatives aimed at encouraging northern leadership among young Indigenous peoples and fostering strong and healthy northern families. They also support the knowledge of natural resources in order to create sustainable communities. Their initiatives include: Arctic Funders Collaborative, Dene Nahjo, Northern Youth Leadership and Our Voices.

Aboriginal Tourism and Technological Language Tools

The Fraser River Journey video got me wondering what kind of options are available for those who would like to immerse themselves in communities, activities and experiences that would allow them to learn more about Indigenous cultures and languages. To my surprise, I discovered that there are quite a few websites that provide these opportunities.

How can visitors best explore Canada’s indigenous culture?

This article provides an overview of Indigenous experiences available in many provinces across Canada. From restaurants and hotels serving traditional food and displaying art from Indigenous artists, to museums and tours, there are many informational and educational options available.

Quebec Aboriginal Tourism

The Quebec Aboriginal Tourism Association’s vision is to “create activities that are conducive to the social and economic development of the Aboriginal communities of Quebec” (QATC, 2011). Through different forms of tourism, they help preserve and promote the traditions that are specific to the eleven Aboriginal Nations of Quebec. The website also provides information about the different Nations, as well as news, videos and images.

Aboriginal Canada

The Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada (ATAC) is a “non-profit organization that is committed to growing and promoting a sustainable, culturally rich Aboriginal tourism industry in Canada” (ATAC, 2017). The website provides information on First Nation, Metis and Inuit People as well as a breakdown of the various regions and provinces. There is also an extensive list of activities, experiences, villages, expeditions and hotels/lodges that are offered across the country.

 

One of the themes that has been discussed throughout the course is how and if technology can help preserve languages. I was shown a website and a program by my students that they use in their Cree Language class and I thought they might be helpful for those who are exploring this topic for their final project.

EastCree.org

EastCree is a website dedicated to the language, spoken mostly in the James Bay area of Northern Quebec. The site has been running since 2000 and has information for two dialects: the Northern dialect and the Southern dialect. There is a stories section in which “you can hear the language and in the texts subsection you can also read it in syllabics. We are restoring old tapes of Cree stories as well as collecting new ones” (eastcree.org, 2017). The site also provides information about grammar, lesson and games to learn Cree syllabics and vocabulary, as well as terminology and dictionary pages.

Field Linguist’s Toolbox – East Cree Syllabics

The Field Linguist’s Toolbox is a program designed by SIL International. This nonprofit organization is trying to encourage sustainable language development. Through research, translation and training, they put together a data management and analysis tool for field linguists.  Below is an example of the toolbox that is installed on the computers at the school I work in and was created from numerous contributions from people within the school board. It includes key words, the East Cree Syllabics, the East Cree Southern spellings and English definitions. This is an interesting application of how technology can help preserve language.

Programs for Indigenous Youth in Canada

For my second post in Module 2, I wanted to share some of the websites I did not list in the discussion board that I have found for my project on extra-curricular activities and school based programs designed for Indigenous Youth in Canada.

1. StatCan Participation in Sports and Cultural Activities
Using information from the Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) of children and youth, StatCan compiled information about Aboriginal youth participation in sports and cultural activities. The survey includes important data that made a connection between youth that participated in sports and those that also participated in extra-curricular activities. The survey also explains that the use of an Aboriginal language and spending time with Elders are connected to participation in cultural activities.

2. Indigenous Youth Futures Partnership
The Indigenous Youth Futures Partnership is based out of Carleton University and is a seven-year SSHRC-funded partnership grant. They work with First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario. The objective of the program is to encourage young community leaders by enhancing cross-generational relationships, empowering youth voices, strengthening cultural identity and helping sustain communities.

3. IndigenEYEZ

IndigenEYEZ hosts youth camps for Indigenous youth and adults in BC. The program uses the Creative Community Model to empower and inspire future community leaders. They integrate a holistic approach, by integrating four essential relationships: with self, with others, with nature, and with culture. They host annual summer camps and offer customized community workshops.

STEM and Coding

We’ve been discussing how and if technology can be used to preserve elements of Indigenous culture. While doing research for my project, I found two programs that integrate culture/language with STEM and Coding.

  1. inSTEM

Actua has a STEM outreach program that has an Indigenous Youth in STEM program called inSTEM. It aims to create community-centered programs that are culturally relevant to engage First Nations, Metis and Inuit students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

First Nation Resource Magazine has an interesting article that outlines the program really well. Find it here, on pages 8-11.

  1. Codemakers

Also offered by Actua, the Codemaker program allows students to explore computer science though coding. I found this particularly valuable as a resource because one of the projects they did in Iqualuit involved using digital programming skills to remix traditional throat songs.

Here is an article about the program.

Here is a short video of the program in Iqualuit:

Module 1 – Technology in Quebec Cree Communities

After doing the readings for Module 1 and learning about the importance of place, and based on the experience I have working and living in a Cree Community for a bit over three years, I am interested in the programs and opportunities that introduce, use and promote media and technology, not just in K-11 education, but in various aspects of community life.

I wanted to include N’we Jinan, because they have a big presence in the community I live in. They have visited my school and created music videos with our students. The writing, production and filming processes are truly amazing!  However, others have already mentioned the program, so I will leave it out.

1. Minority Media

Minority Media is a company based in Montreal that creates virtual reality games. They have focused on introducing a new type of video game genre: empathy games. In 2014, they released Spirits of Spring, a game that centers on a young boy, Chiwatin, and his friends in Northern Canada who are trying to come to terms with bullying.

Minority Media also created a virtual reality game for the Cree School Board to help young students learn Cree Syllabics. With the help of a girl named Niipiish and her dog, students learn new words in a really exciting way. I’ve played this game and watched my students use it. It is a very interesting way for them to practice their language.

2. Mikw Chiyâm
Mikw Chiyâm is an arts program with the goal of increasing student retention and engagement. Professional Canadian Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists are in residency at an appointed CSB school for a 7 week program. There are four residency cycles per school year, which allows the students to be exposed to a variety of artistic forms. They collaborate with local artists and students to help them express their voices creatively. While this program is not explicitly about technology, certain of the artists-in-residence have this as their specialty and incorporate it into the program in various ways.

3. Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute

The Cree Cultural Institute is a museum with information and artefacts aimed at preserving and passing on Cree traditions, knowledge and values. Almost everything is accessible through the website. Visitors can virtually explore categories such as hide and fur preparation, moccasins and mittens, and snowshoes and toboggans. There are descriptions, images and even videos. There are also different zones, such as The Community’s Way of Life and The Land Has Memory. The museum even has an app!

4. The Nation: Cree News

The Nation is an independent Aboriginal news publication that covers and reports on stories about and impacting residents of the James Bay area in northern Quebec and Ontario. In addition to news and events, The Nation website also has an extensive list of Cree Legends, available in both English and Cree.

5. EIJBRG

Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government website provides a wide range of information about this region, such as a brief history, the territory and their services. The publish reports on important issues such as drinking water, as well as news. The website also live streams events, such as elections and council meetings.