Literacy within the community; Independence, Self Sufficiency and Self Esteem

By Barbara Gardner – 1st year MDP student

My work with the Literacy Department at Blue Quills has been exciting and rewarding; through assisting the department I am now more aware of some educational and employment challenges affecting the community as well as steps being taken through the institution to address the issues.

I assisted the department with several endeavors that will in some way address the multi-faceted issues.  Numbered among these was the preparation of a grant proposal which will see Elders and Seniors among the seven first nations communities that are on the board of Blue Quills First Nations College volunteering to teach literacy on Reserve.  This will be accomplished through story telling in the various First Nation languages spoken on the reserves. There will also be the production of books in all seven languages and English from kindergarten up to grade four.   

Additionally, I assisted in the planning and attended a workshop aimed at improving adult literacy in families on Reserve.  The objective of this program is to build self-esteem among the community members, instill cultural values as well as facilitate training in life skills to ensure employability, through improved literacy skills. It was heartwarming to participate in these discussions, recognizing that there is universality in the issues that affect all communities, however, the methods employed to solve these issues are what is uniquely different and based on the heritage and history in the community.

Children creating journals at the Boys & Girls Club

The focus interestingly of the literacy department was not only on adults, they also undertook community outreach with the Saddle Lake Boys and Girls Club.  Through the efforts of the College, the children Boys and Girls Club were able to see reading as fun, through the use of various craft projects; allowing them to use their imagination to create their own stories, using their own words and drawing pictures of how they feel and relate to particular activities.  During the activities, the cultural practices (smudging and sharing circles) and protocols were also taught/ reinforced.  I think these are excellent tools to teach the young, as they are more likely to remember and practice them because they learnt them in a safe and fun environment.

Through these various experiences, as a person of colour and from a marginalized group, I am appreciating that though we are different; collectively, we are the same.  As Indigenous peoples, we continually strive to ensure members of our communities improve their “lot,” become less reliant on the welfare or government aid, embracing our heritage and improving our self-esteem.     

Blue Quills - My Journey into Indigenous History: Spirituality, Inclusivity and Respect

By Barbara Gardner, 1st year MDP student

Barbara (L) with Blue Quills students

My field placement this summer is in St. Paul, Alberta at the Blue Quills First Nations College.  It is my belief that as a non-indigenous person in the field of Development Practice with an Indigenous focus, it is incumbent on me to learn all I can, first hand, by living and working within an indigenous community. Prior to my arrival, I had grand plans regarding attending community meetings and participating in social programmes with the ultimate goal being to strengthen my prowess as a researcher.  However, I have come to recognize that there is so much more to the total sum of individuals and therefore, I require more interactions and understanding of indigenous methods to adequately fulfill my goal.

My first interactions with the indigenous community was through their annual Culture Camp which is held annually on the College campus.  In addition to providing information to non-indigenous persons, it allows the indigenous community to reconnection with the environment and their history; refreshing and restoring the mind, body and spirit.                                                 

Cultural camp grounds

At this point in the field placement, what has stood out prominently for me is the collective determination within academia at the institution as well as other indigenous researchers to continually engage and strengthen their community members.  This is demonstrated through the participation of women, including Elders in research circles and academic planning, which are about women and their perspectives on development. Being present in meetings as well as other community gatherings has allowed me to appreciate the caring and nurturing being done in these communities to ensure continuity.  Hearing the views of the Elders, their plans and aspirations for the band members, has provided greater understanding about the need to preserve their cultural heritage and appreciate how this will impact development in the long term.  I was also struck by how inclusive and patient the members of academia, students as well as and the wider communities are regarding sharing information about their belief regarding the environment and their spirituality to aid me in my 

overall understanding of indigeneity. Being able to observe and 

participate in the circles and meetings has added another layer to 

my own development. 

Research circle participants

I am actively engaged in the work of the Literacy Department and my next blog post will provide an update as to my participation in the community workshops and seminars being planned.  This placement is proving a wealth of worthwhile experiences, allowing me to explore various aspects of the culture, how the decisions taken will potentially affect development planning and sustainability and importantly allowing me to experience personal growth outside of my comfort zone. 

 

Voices From The Prairies - Part Two

By Ginikachi Obah, 1st year MDP student

As my field placement at Blue Quills First Nations College draws to an end, I would love to say that it has been an amazing learning experience that has inspired and added a lot to my thought process. I would love to share this poem that centres on issues such as climate change, environmental sustainability and Indigenous knowledge.

Environmental Stewards

The sea rises as my mind is flooded with thought

The polar ice dissolves in human desires

The atmosphere is caught on the verge by human technology

The earth is entangled in the threshold of environmental degradation

 Development and prosperity leaves me at the mercy of climate change

I feel swept away by the tide of human development as tar sands and mercury cast shadows in my palace

I am gradually withering away in the oven of green house emission

I am ripped apart and I need compassion

I miss the nation of the buffalo because they built their consciousness round my interest

I am a seeker of life and spirituality but now must battle for survival in the hands of globalisation

I settle like dust in the mouths of human activists but my muscles are weak to human separatists

Hunters resort to mental gymnastics as they sing the hymns of ecological variation

The next generation is denied access to culture as the weather changes like clothes and keeps us on the edge

 The world needs an ethic of continued sustainability but the minds of men focus on continuous wealth

The willingness of humanity to tend to the earth is laid bare by the strings of environmental conquest

I run to the comforting arms of environmental stewards who nourishes my body and soul with ceremonies

Contemporary thoughts have not been able to put asunder where disembodied minds have continued to plunder

 

Kachi with members of the Indigenous Knowledge Senate

 

 

Voices From The Prairies

By Ginikachi Obah, 1st year MDP student

 

My current sojourn at Blue Quills has inspired my lost creativity in poetry which was re-enkindled by the amazing cultural experience in the college. I wrote the following poem to whisper in my personal feelings on the history of residential school and the cultural camp experience. 

Echoes From The Eagle Spirit Society

The reverberating sounds of the Drums and the sweet melodies

The wavering movements of the tree suggest that they enjoy the rhythm that they hear

Tepees and feathers creating an artistic view of cultural connotation

Men and women blown away in preparation

I can see generations connecting to the ways of their forefathers

I can see the land and its spirituality through the teaching of Neyihaw

Mother Earth smiles to the spirituality and reciprocity hovering round the indigenous mind

I can see disembodied walls coming together to create a wonderful atmosphere for social interaction

I can see children and youth strolling back to cultural identity

I can hear the healing process echoing through the circles

I see the world views flowing within my mind through the cultural teachings of ceremonies

When I stand in the mirror am drenched in the reflection of the similarities that exist between the two cultures

The similarities keeps crawling back like a recurring decimal each time am lost in cultural oblivion

Culture indeed is an art that sits patiently in our heart waiting to be expressed by ceremonies

Culture is a parrot or porte-parole that speaks volumes of our identity

Culture is the sustaining power of our four dimensions that keep our body and soul together

Culture was brutalised and kicked out in the hands of residential schools

Children becoming strangers to whom they are

Oh my God it killed their culture it killed their spirit          

It dismantled the social fabric of family and community

Like lost but found item my creativity has found me in this wilderness of cultural revitalisation

Which I wish to empty with my busy hands dancing to the songs of my creativity

These are the echoes from the Eagle Spirit Society

Ginikachi (L) with Ferlin McGillivery, Cree Language Instructor (R)