Session 5 - Friday

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 5, MacLead 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, Barlow

K: Honouring Culture, Strengthening Connection: Networking Family School Liaison Counselors in Indigenous Education

Presenters: Cara Blackwater, Shane Wells

Family School Liaison Counselors (FSLCs) serve as a vital bridge between home, school, and community—especially within our respective Indigenous communities, where relationships, cultural understanding, and trust are foundational. This session invites FSLCs (School Counselors, Wellness Programs) to come together in a space grounded in respect, reciprocity, and shared learning. This session aims to bring together FSLCs from diverse educational settings to build a professional learning network focused on best practices, foster inclusivity, innovation, and mutual support. Participants will engage in structured networking, share successful initiatives and common challenges, and co-create strategies to enhance family engagement, mental health supports, and community partnerships. By fostering collaboration within the Blackfoot Confederacy education districts , this session seeks to strengthen the collective capacity of FSLCs to meet the complex needs of our students and families. Attendees will leave with new connections, practical tools, and a shared vision for elevating the impact of family-school partnerships.

Session 5, McKnight West

M: Calgary Public Library, Indigenous Services

Presenters: Kelli Morning Bull, Jasmine MacGregor, Sarah Buffalo

Indigenous Services was developed out of Indigenous Placemaking and the Elders Guidance Circle program. These programs helped shape the way in which the Calgary Public Library engages and collaborates with the Nations of Treaty 7 and the urban Indigenous community in Mohkinstis. In the earlier stages of development, the Library had some humbling moments that forced them to reevaluate how they were approaching the work of reconciliation and connecting with community. This ultimately became the framework for the Library's strategic plan when working with Indigenous communities.  In this session the audience will learn about the thoughtful approach on how these programs were vital to the development of Indigenous Services and how it guided and created a path to how the  Library shares information on cultural knowledge and protocols, consultation with community, education and learning opportunities for schools, organizations and those taking part in their personal and professional journey of Truth and Reconciliation.  Today, we continue to learn through the guidance of the Elders, knowledge holders, cultural educators and community to support the work in libraries. This presentation will include digital images and videos of how the library offers services, programs and opportunities to learn, contribute to revitalization of Indigenous languages, and the public programs and events offered to Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the Calgary Public Library. 

Session 5, McKnight East

W: Blackfoot as a Second Language: Learning to Read and Write Blackfoot Using the Blackfoot Syllabarium

Presenter: Mona Melting Tallow, Sissakiikayaakii

As a third-generation Residential School survivor and an educator with nearly three decades of experience, I am deeply committed to the revitalization of Indigenous languages. Currently serving as Registrar at Natosapi Community College, I have completed intensive Blackfoot literacy and culture studies as part of my B.Ed., as well as graduate coursework in leadership, technology, and trauma. This presentation explores the use of the Blackfoot Syllabarium as an accessible and effective tool for teaching Blackfoot literacy to second-language learners. The Blackfoot Syllabarium, originally developed by Anglican missionaries, utilizes English phonetic approximations to represent Blackfoot sounds. Instruction involves introducing learners to the syllabic symbols, practicing pronunciation, and composing simple texts. Emphasis is placed on understanding the unique sounds and accents of the Blackfoot language to support accurate reading and writing. Participants are able to read and write basic Blackfoot words and sentences using both English and syllabic scripts. While initial proficiency can be achieved through guided practice, continued engagement and exposure are necessary to develop fluency. The survival of the Blackfoot language—and other Indigenous languages—depends on innovative and accessible teaching methods. The Blackfoot Syllabarium offers a practical solution for second-language learners, fostering a sense of belonging and cultural identity. By equipping students with literacy skills in their ancestral language, we contribute to the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous heritage.

Session 5, Theatre