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Educator Resources
FEATURED RESOURCE
Iye Ohdakapi:
Their Stories Manitoba Dakota Elders
Services & Delivery
FEATURE
The Instructional Resource Library has a range of teachings supports for MFNERC and MFNSS staff.
Join us to celebrate the voices of five First Nations languages of Manitoba! The Foundational Language Acquisition Video Seriesย features 160 conversational videosย in Anishinaabemowin, Anisinimowin, Dakota, Denesuline, and Ininฤซmowin. The series focuses on real-life, task-based conversations rooted in daily activities and cultural teachings.
The Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre Inc. invites all MFNERC and MFNSS schools to apply to host the Seasonal Land-Based Youth Education Gathering (Summer), formerly known as the Land-Based Youth Games.
MFNERC will provide financial support to one selected host school to coordinate a three-day land-based youth gathering that brings together middle years and senior years students from participating schools. This event will celebrate First Nations culture through land-based activities and games designed to strengthen the skills and teachings rooted in land-based education.
Schools interested in hosting are asked to submit a proposal that includes the following:
Please fax or email the attached proposal form to the attention of Ashley Kinsman, Administrative Assistant, at ashleyk@mfnerc.com or by fax at 204-477-4314 by Friday, April 17, 2026.
Schools are encouraged to select gathering dates toward the end of the school year, during May or June.
Juanita Prince-Miller was a strong-minded Dakota woman, born and raised on the Dakota Tipi First Nation. She came from a lineage of Chiefs. Her maternal grandfather, Michael Pashe, was the Chief of the Dakota Tipi First Nation, and her paternal grandfather, Rufus Prince, was the Chief of the Long Plain First Nation. She pursued a career in hairdressing for over 20 years. Eventually, she was elected Councillor for Dakota Tipi and stayed in that role for many years, working both jobs.
To read the full article, visit https://mfnerc.org/communications-hub/magazine-2-2/
Timothy โTigerโ Reeves was ecstatic when his team, the Oak Park Raiders, won the AAAA Anavets Bowl, taking home the championship trophy for high school varsity football in Manitoba.
To read the full article, visit https://mfnerc.org/communications-hub/magazine-2-2/
Everyone should learn ASL, according to Destiny Cordell, an ASL instructor/ASL support worker at the Resource Centre. American Sign Language, usually referred to as ASL, is the most common sign language used in North America by Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Destiny and her colleagues, Via Jade Merasty and Emil Easter, make up the ASL unit at the Resource Centre. They are committed to creating classroom environments where First Nations students who are Deaf or hard of hearing can learn to their full capacity.
To read the full article, visit https://mfnerc.org/communications-hub/magazine-2-2/
On November 18โ20, language instructors from 16 First Nations in Manitoba gathered in Winnipeg for the Resource Centreโs specialized training in language teaching and cultural preservation in schools.
To read the full story, https://mfnerc.org/communications-hub/magazine-2-2/
Registration is now open to all MFNERC and MFNSS affiliated schools!
The Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre is pleased to announce the Lighting the Fire Conference 2026 will be held at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre in Winnipeg, fromย May 6th to 8th, 2026.
The theme for Lighting the Fire 2026, โFirst Nations Education: Our Stories,โ speaks to First Nationsโ cultural reinvigoration and intergenerational healing and the power of their rich oral traditions and worldviews to enhance and support todayโs classrooms. Oral traditions are increasingly recognized for their critical role in transmitting ancestral knowledge, environmental ethics, and community histories. Through storytelling, Elders and Knowledge Keepers impart life lessons, values and philosophies, and a sense of identity and belonging.
Residential schools and the intentional suppression of First Nations stories created a rupture in knowledge transmission, but the Resource Centre and its member communities are actively working to restore the crucial links between past, present, and future. A good education helps students know who they are and where they come from and better prepares them for a lifetime of learning. In many First Nations cultures, to be a good person is to find your Creation-given talents and use them for the good of your people. For educators, this means giving each student the opportunity to learn what their talents are and increase their ability to use them.
A culturally relevant approach to learning fosters pride and resilience among First Nations youth, making their education more relatable and meaningful. True learning takes place when multiple perspectives are heard, allowing for a more complete understanding of shared history and a path toward meaningful reconciliation. The theme โFirst Nations Education: Our Storiesโ is a celebration of First Nationsโ enduring resilience.
On March 12 and 13, students from across Manitoba gathered for a two-day Heritage
Fair, celebrating the rich histories, Treaty stories, languages, and Traditional Knowledge of their First Nations. This event provided a meaningful platform for young learners to engage with their past,
reflect on their present, and shape their future.
To read the full article, visit https://mfnerc.org/communications-hub/magazine-2-2/
The history and purpose of residential schools is a difficult subject to gently deliver to students. With this challenge in mind, members of the Resource Centreโs Residential Schools Working Group developed a series of age-appropriate books and teacher guides to address this tragic era of Canadian and First Nations history. The finished project is being distributed to member schools as a bundle called Manitoba Residential Schools: Resource Bundles for Nursery to Grade 12.
To read the full article, visit https://mfnerc.org/communications-hub/magazine-2-2/
For three weeks in January, 10 Manitoba First Nations School System (MFNSS) schools participated in the Data Dunkers program, which seamlessly integrates basketball with data science education. This innovative initiative, sponsored by Dell Technologies and the PS43 Foundation, empowers students to explore data science through the lens of a sport they loveโengaging them in physical activity and
the world of data.
Data Dunkers offers students in Grades 5โ12 a unique opportunity to learn foundational data science skills by analyzing basketball statistics. The programโs curriculum encourages students to explore data by identifying key questions, gathering and cleansing data, and presenting their findings. This hands-on approach makes learning interactive while fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
