Literacy for Aboriginal Populations

Speakers at the forum stressed the critical importance of integrating literacy with Aboriginal values and culture, as well as respecting the centrality of Aboriginal oral traditions and different forms of literacy.

The presentations below explore what works in Aboriginal literacy programming.

  • The Mamawkamatowin Story: Everyone Working Together — Sandi Hildebrand and Marlene Scott
    This presentation looks at the story of how people interested in improving literacy levels came together from Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation to turn talk into action and respond to the literacy needs of their community. Sandi and Marlene walk participants through the development of a literacy plan for their community, and talk about some results of that plan.
    Webcast
    Presentation (Hildebrand) (PDF)
    Presentation (Scott) (PDF)

     

  • Early Literacy Panel — Hannah Natomagan, Bernice Lariviere, Rebecca Galloway, and Kathy Abernethy
    This panel presentation brings together representatives from northern Saskatchewan communities and the Saskatchewan ministry of education’s Early Learning and Child Care Branch who are involved in early-literacy programming initiatives. Hannah and Bernice are literacy-committee members of the Pinehouse community. Rebecca is Kids First Program Manager for ELCC in LaRonge. Kathy is responsible for the pre-kindergarten programs.
    Webcast
  • Hope for the Future: Lighthouse Literacy Interventions for Aboriginal Students — Brent Tookenay
    Struggling students who fall behind, fail courses, or are unable to learn in the traditional classroom setting are often facing barriers, due to low literacy functioning. Many Lighthouse projects in Ontario have improving students’ literacy learning as their focus. This presentation features secondary-school coordinators and board leaders recounting their experiences with helping students increase their literacy skills and progress to the destination of their choice.
    Webcast

     

  • Aboriginal Literacy Summer Camps — Philip Fernandez
    This session provides information about this innovative project that seeks to engage Aboriginal children and youth in a safe, fun, and activity-driven literacy-based summer camp. Presenter Philip Fernandez is manager of Aboriginal Programs at Frontier College.
    Webcast
    Presentation (PDF)
  • Making Education Work in Manitoba High Schools — Betty-Ann McIvor
    Six Manitoban Aboriginal communities and their local high schools have partnered with the provincial and federal governments to create a project that aims to increase the rates of high- school completion and postsecondary enrolment among Aboriginal students. This session provides an overview of the Making it Work project and shows how it has strengthened student retention and performance. Program models and concepts are presented, based on the “Medicine Wheel” teachings.
    Webcast

     

  • Literacy Lives Here: An Aurora College Video Project — Suzanne Robinson
    Drawing on experiences as an instructor in Development Studies at Aurora College in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Suzanne discusses a video project that is part of an outreach literacy course that celebrates and promotes education and literacy in the Western Arctic with northern students.
    Webcast

     

  • SAY Magazine: What We Should Know about the Reality for Aboriginal Youth — Leslie Lounsbury
    SAY Magazine is the largest national magazine for and about Aboriginal youth. Leslie’s session explores the concept, mission, and success of her publication, and its related initiatives. She provides current information on realities youth face and why literacy is a key issue.
    Webcast

     

  • Nunavut’s Aboriginal Language Certificate Program
    The Aboriginal Language Certificate Program demonstrates strategies for teaching Inuinnaqtun using oral language-fluency models with elders and younger-generation speakers. This program is having enormous success in the Kitikmeot region, where the Inuit language is most in danger.
    Webcast

     

  • Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies — Randell Morris
    This session covers the experience of SIIT in training and assisting First Nations and other young learners to gain the necessary skills to compete in Saskatchewan’s and Canada’s labour market. Randell Morris is the Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at SIIT.
    Webcast
  • Representative Workforce Strategies — Victoria Gubbels and Christel Gee
    This session focuses on the Aboriginal Employment Development Program of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of First Nations and Métis Relations, as well as the Pre-Health Professions Club at the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, focusing on medicine, dentistry, and nursing.
    Webcast

     

  • Pre-Health Professions Club — Dr. Gill White, Christel Gee, and Tara Littlechief
    This session presents a joint project among the First Nations University of Canada, the University of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, school divisions, the Saskatchewan health regions, and First Nations communities that provides opportunities for students to explore the health-care professions of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing, with mentorship opportunities in the health regions.
    Webcast
    Presentation (PDF)

     

  • Elements of Successful Transition to Postsecondary — Larry Gauthier
    Larry Gauthier, Director of Student Success Services at the First Nations University of Canada, discusses the Student Transition and Retention program. The program is designed to facilitate student integration by providing Aboriginal students with the critical skills, aptitude, and attitude necessary for success.
    Webcast

     

  • e-Channel Literacy for Aboriginal Learners — Michelle Eady
    Experience e-Channel Literacy for Aboriginal learners, its successes and challenges, and the way the program is delivered. This session includes a synopsis of indigenous learning on a global level, demonstration of the synchronous platform, and video clips of the great work done with adults and children.
    Webcast

     

  • Igniting the Power Within
    The Igniting the Power Within Steering Committee is a remarkable partnership between First Nations, Métis, and government that is delivering a series of four-level certification workshops focusing on workplace essential skills and information and training related to prior learning assessment and recognition, tailored specifically for an Aboriginal audience.
    Webcast

     

  • Success has Many Faces: Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council, Workplace Essential Skills — Diane Cohoon
    Building on the foundation of the highly successful Ready to Work program, this presentation describes the next stages in developing workplace literacy in a variety of communities.
    Webcast
  • First Nations Create Their Own Newspaper — Elmer Eashappie and Glenda McNab
    In this presentation, Elmer, a journalist with the Regina Leader Post, reflects on the negative image he believes Aboriginal people have received in the mainstream media, where he did not see himself reflected. This session reviews how Elmer worked with Glenda McNab of the Gordon First Nation on a newspaper that told positive stories of Aboriginal people, with the Regina Leader Post printing and distributing the paper.
    Webcast

     

  • Saskatchewan Aboriginal Literacy Networks: Pre-Literacy Learner Engagement Model — Jacob Roesler
    This session focuses on the development of a pre-literacy engagement model that will engage learners in a process of self-discovery around Aboriginal ways of knowing, utilizing all eight identified science intelligences. Jacob, an Opaskwayak Cree Nation member, has extensive experience in Aboriginal rights and Treaty Land Entitlement.
    Webcast

     

  • Somebody’s Daughter I — Presentation in Inuktitut by the Kivalliq Inuit Association
    Somebody’s Daughter is a cultural healing and learning program for women, survivors of residential schools, and those affected by the residential-school experience. It takes place on the land and incorporates literacy-development and healing exercises through writing workshops.
    Webcast

     

  • Dads’ Connection — Tam Miller and Peggy Adamack
    This presentation explores Dads’ Connection, a program at the Regina Correctional Centre to support fathers who are separated from their children. The program provides fathers with an opportunity to learn about literacy development, parenting, communication, and cultural identity. Tam and Peggy are literacy educators who have developed community-based literacy initiatives for families.
    Webcast

     

  • The Circle Project — Ann Perry, Marilyn Blondeau, Sherry Cochrane, and Jenny Strongeagle
    This session provides an inside look at Regina’s Circle Project, discussing how it works from a community-based perspective that uses a holistic approach, with a primary focus on Aboriginal learners.
    Webcast
  • Music Inherited: Inuit Throat Singing — Lois Suluk-Locke
    Lois presents the history of throat singing and its meaning within Inuit culture. Inuit throat singing is a form of entertainment among Inuit women. This traditional activity has resurfaced in Inuit communities in the last 20 to 30 years. Lois was raised in Arviat, Nunavut, and learned throat singing as an adult. She has travelled abroad as a cultural performer.
    Webcast

     

  • Aboriginal Leadership — Dr. Jacqueline Ottmann
    The presenter describes the relationship between Aboriginal leadership and education, specifically, literacy and language learning. Because Aboriginal leaders have a large circle of influence, they have a tremendous capability to effect positive change in education. Jacqueline, of Annishinabe heritage, is a faculty member in the Department of Education at the University of Calgary.
    Webcast
  • Future Paths — Janet Uchacz-Hart
    The Future Paths project bridges the gap between the hopes and dreams of young people and the workforce needs of communities. Saskatoon Public, Greater Saskatoon Catholic, and Prairie Spirit School Divisions, along with White Buffalo Lodge, Credenda High School, and community-based organizations, are host sites for this project, partnering with Career Cruising and Futures 4 Kids (North Carolina) in developing a career-development tool, the first of its kind in Canada.
    Webcast
  • Aboriginal Literacy — Noella Steinhauer
    Noella is an Albertan educator of Cree heritage. Her presentation focuses on the need for educators to honour and validate different forms of literacy apparent in First Nations/Métis/Inuit populations (FNMI).
    Webcast