Session 4 - Friday

D: Blackfoot Confederacy Public Art Initiative

Presenters: Jared Tailfeathers, Tamara Cardinal

An engagement session for Blackfoot Confederacy community members about Calgary Arts Development's (CADA) Blackfoot Confederacy public art Initiative. We are going to share a presentation about the project and the proposed ideas, and open to community members to talk to us after the presentation for more information or to answer questions. We want to make sure that the Blackfoot members feel included, can give ideas and feedback, share their stories of Mohkinstsis and that they can apply for the Public Art opportunity when the call goes out in early 2026. This project directly connects many of the conference themes: Honouring Our Heritage, Digital Storytelling, and Modern Tech Meets Tradition.

Session 4, McKnight West

E: Drama Games

Presenter: Nova Courchene

This interactive workshop will introduce participants to drama games designed with Ojibwe language, teachings, and traditional knowledge at their core. These exercises embed learning into the body through movement, repetition, and story, positioning theatre as a form of embodied technology — one that encodes knowledge in action and performance. Participants will engage in short rounds of these games in Ojibwe, then collaborate to adapt the structures with their own input, including Blackfoot language and teachings. The session will conclude with digital excerpts from askîy âcimona in Norway House Cree Nation, where performances are documented and shared to extend their reach. This integration of live practice with digital transmission illustrates how embodied and technological approaches can work together to sustain language, intergenerational learning, and cultural resilience.

Session 4, MacLeod Room

G: Using Traditional Knowledge in the High School Curriculum

Presenter: Verna Weasel Child

In this presentation, Kipiitaipoka-Apoyi Apapoka (Verna Weasel Child) will discuss ways of incorporating traditional knowledge into the high school curriculum. Learn how incorporating traditional Blackfoot perspectives, culture, and practices into the program of studies can create engaging and authentic learning experiences.

Session 4, Horizon

H: Land-Based Learning

Presenters: Tyler Drake, Melodie Hunt

This presentation will outline and examine the land-based learning program developed for Chief Old Sun School’s grade five and six students by Mrs. Hunt. Through this program, students learn about the Blackfoot way of life about their land, history, story and community within Blackfoot territory and our world today. Students attend a number of field trips with culturally and historically significant sites. With the guidance of Knowledge Keepers in the classroom and at field trips, students participate in activities including learning protocols before plant picking, the significance of the Majorville Medicine Wheel to the Blackfoot, a visit to Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, and a buffalo harvest and more. At the end of this experience, students participate in the “Lead by Example Cultural Sharing Day.”  Here they share their learning and experiences, as well as aspects of their Blackfoot history, culture, story, songs, dances, language and more with students from surrounding school jurisdictions of Siksika Nation.

Session 4, Canadian

I: Walking With the Buffalo Within

Presenter: Pam Sitting Eagle, Gerald Sitting Eagle

Walking With The Buffalo Within (WWBW) explores how traditional Blackfoot stories can connect people to their new age and ancestral identities. Bridging traditions and modernity requires a balanced approach. Integrating culture, language, and traditions into education fosters knowledge sharing, story telling, and craft techniques. Education is crucial for revitalizing culture, language, and identity. Explaining one’s language is vital through communication, expression, cultural identity, preservation, and knowledge. Language reflects a community’s history, values, and way of life, shaping how we communicate through verbal cues and sign language. This presentation explores how language is intertwined with identity, connecting people to their heritage and promoting a sense of belonging. In this way, language is the “new buffalo” for passing down stories, traditions, and knowledge through generations. Figurative language often conveys deeper emotions than literal language, allowing for richer emotional connections and interpretations. Hands-on culture activities are essential for keeping culture and language thriving through arts, ceremonies, and storytelling. They become a living culture supporting meaningful experiential learning through language. Without understanding cultural meaning, language can be lost, miscommunicated, and disconnected from its roots, thus resulting in language and culture loss..

Session 4, Barlow

R: Ani to Pisi Human Spider Web

Presenters: Roy Bear Chief, Therese Wiart Jenkinson, Tia Santana, Michelle Bamford, Jadyn James, Jolene Popadynetz, Lexi Hahn

This session explores Ani to Pisi (the spider web), a traditional Blackfoot creation story told by the late Clement Bear Chief and shared by Espoom tah Roy Bear Chief. The story carries powerful teachings of connection, care, and community, and comes to life through a land-based, interactive enactment. Building on the work of MRU graduate Tia Santana, a toolkit has been developed to support educators in facilitating Ani to Pisi in schools. Participants will view highlights from Human Spider Web Enactments at Chief Crowfoot School (Siksika) and Calgary Board of Education schools and will learn how to access free teaching resources. Fourth-year MRU students will also be available to support schools interested in bringing this story to life with their learners during the following year until April 2026.

Session 4, McKnight East