GAA-WIIKWEDAAWANGAAG: RECONNECTING WITH ONE’S SPIRITUAL SELF

MFNERC 3RD Annual Inter-School Pow Wow

Participating schools are required to register their students and designated chaperones. Please complete the attached registration form and fax it to Marie Strong at 204-843-2269 or by email to cultureclass2018@outlook.com.


ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
Students will:

  • Have an opportunity to come together to share their gift of dance
  • Learn about powwow protocols
  • Engage in networking and relationship building
  • Learn about their history and identity as First Nations people.

TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, MEALS, LOGISTICS, ETC.
All schools will be responsible for their own travel arrangements and other accommodations.
Meals will be provided for students and chaperones on the day of the event, April 11, 2024.


TENTATIVE PROGRAM FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024
Location: Isaac Beaulieu Memorial School, Sandy Bay First Nation, MB
10:00 am: Opening Remarks
11:00 am: Grand Entry
12:00 am: Lunch
1:00 pm: Dancer Categories
4:00 pm: Retire staffs

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Welcome to the MFNERC Lighting the Fire Student Contests!

Essay Theme:
We are calling all students from MFNERC/MFNSS schools! It’s your time to shine. We’re inviting you to voice your vision for the future of education. We want you, the students, to share what you want to see in your schools. What would inspire you in your learning journey?

Video Theme:
Lights, camera, action! Showcase the unique spirit and pride of your First Nation or school. What makes your First Nation or School Special? What do you see or experience that makes you proud?


Entre now and let your voice be heard!
Submission deadline: April 15, 2024.



For more information contact Sandy Bruyere sandyb@mfnerc.com

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The symposium will take place February 21-22, 2024 at Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park.

Manitoba Aboriginal Languages Strategy (MALS) was created to promote, revitalize, and support Aboriginal Languages throughout Manitoba. Ancestral knowledge, as carried in our languages, songs, stories, community histories, and other key practices and customs, connect and bridge generations. The languages of First Nations, Métis and Inuit teach us about who we are as a people. Language creates a strong connection from the past to the present and helps shape Indigenous identity. We recognize the importance of land and the role that the land plays in connecting to our language and history. We also recognize that learning can take place beyond the walls of a classroom.

We invite an interactive approach to share language and welcome individual workshop sessions that may include, but are not limited to:

  • Aboriginal writing systems
  • Teaching language in the digital age
  • Language apps
  • Teacher apprenticeships & Aboriginal language immersion programming
  • Local initiatives & best practices
  • Grandparents and our languages
  • Teaching Aboriginal languages
  • Community based Aboriginal languages programs
  • Language and the Land
  • Language program models
  • Language Resources
  • Stories, songs, and teachings
  • Sharing research and policy related to Aboriginal languages

We invite Knowledge Keepers, Elders, educators, students and other interested community members to this year’s conference.

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To: MFNERC High School Teachers and their classrooms

Date: Thursday, January 18, 2024

Location: Microsoft Teams

Time: 10:00AM – 11:00AM

We invite you to join us in the excitement surrounding the release of MFNERC’s very own Rachel Beaulieu’s upcoming documentary, “A Cup of Cold Water.” This compelling film explores a significant narrative that echoes through history. It follows the remarkable journey of Alfred Kirkness, an advocate for the final resting places of former residential school students.

Long before this issue made headlines, Alfred Kirkness was an advocate, championing the dignity and respect of the final resting places of former students. His determined efforts, captured in “A Cup of Cold Water,” not only exposed the neglected condition of the cemeteries at the Brandon Residential School site but also ignited a worldwide recognition of this issue, underlining the far-reaching impact of his advocacy.

To Register for the screening, please click on the link below ⬇️

https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/88ce7e57-d9db-41a9-9bb9-022be65bdf6a@1aec7176-66da-4b90-ace5-598755438554

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MET Number is a unique identifier assigned to each student upon registration with Manitoba Education for record-keeping purposes. This number remains the same from kindergarten to Grade 12 and is different from any student number assigned by a local school division.

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WHO WE ARE
First Nations Early Learning and Child Care (FNELCC) provides guidance to support developing, expanding, and enhancing Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) programs in all 63 First Nations in Manitoba. ELCC programs include child care, Aboriginal Head Start on Reserve, and a variety of parent-child programming for First Nations children 0-6 years of age and their families.
The strategic plan for FNELCC is informed by the collective wisdom of our partners, Elders, communities, leadership, parents, and families. The strategic plan centres on eight priority areas of action, which we call our Beads. The work of implementing these beads is called our Beadwork, and is guided by the child-centred principle that every decision, every investment, and every action we take in the work of the First Nations Early Learning and Child Care mandate must be made with our children’s best interests in mind.


CONFERENCE GOALS
This year’s theme highlights our ways and our Beadwork as FNELCC moves forward with this imperative work to support and strengthen Early Learning and Child Care. The work ahead also requires many hands, as it is a shared responsibility, including our partners among all our systems that support children, parents, and families.

OUR BEADWORK is defined as:
1. Reclaim First Nations Languages and Culture
2. Promote Healing-Centred Engagement
3. Ensure High-Quality and Professional Development
4. Strengthen Community Capacity
5. Adopt First Nations Ways of Evaluation
6. Ensure Transparency and Accountability
7. Strengthen the Early Learning Community
8. Adopt a “Children First” Principle


“We do not need to reinvent the wheel. We have the wheel.

It is our way: it has always been our way.”
-Elder Eunice Beardy


CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
Our target audience includes childcare programs, Aboriginal Head Start programs, Nursery and Kindergarten programs, and other programs that support young children and families.


Registration now open to the Public!


To find out more and access our Registration Form:

Click Here to Register
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On November 8th, 2023, the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre was presented with the inaugural National Indigenous STEM Award for excellence in advancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in First Nations schools by award sponsor Let’s Talk Science.

The award was presented at the First Nations Education Administrators Association (FNEAA) conference at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg. Let’s Talk Science president and founder, Bonnie Schmidt, appeared virtually during the award ceremony, saying, “We are pleased to sponsor this year’s award to the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, recognizing their excellence in Indigenous STEM and supporting First Nations schools through their programs, services and science fairs.”

The National Indigenous STEM Award was handed to the Resource Centre’s executive director, Charles Cochrane, by the provincial Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning, Nello Altomare, who stated, “I was honoured to join Tammy Webster, Director of Equity with Let’s Talk Science, to present the National Indigenous STEM Award to the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre at the FNEAA conference this year. This award recognizes the organization’s excellence in advancing Indigenous STEM initiatives in First Nations schools throughout the Province.”

The Minister has also acknowledged the importance of the Resources Centre’s work in bringing STEM education to First Nations schools.

“Ensuring First Nations schools have access to STEM education is so important. STEM education provides students with knowledge in core subjects of sciences and math, as well as important skills that will serve them well in any career path. As the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning, it is my goal to ensure every student in Manitoba has the resources they need to succeed. I am grateful to organizations like Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre for the excellent work they are doing, and I look forward to continuing to work in partnership to expand opportunities for First Nations students across Manitoba,” Minister Altomare says.

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The Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC) established a First Nations Early Learning Working Group (FNELWG) in 2010. The working group was comprised of First Nations representatives and representatives from various provincial and federal government departments. The FNELWG has evolved since 2010, and MFNERC would like to focus on First Nations representatives to better reflect language and culture as a priority in First Nations early learning programs.

We are seeking two representatives (male and female) from each of the five language groups from MFNERC/MFNSS member schools. Only those from member schools will be eligible.
You are invited to submit one name to act as a representative for the FNELWG. The group meets three times a year to discuss areas related to early learning. The FNELWG will establish new Terms of Reference at the first scheduled meeting to guide the work of the FNELWG. The FNELWG will advise and guide early learning projects and review project development and/or resources for the early learning team.
If you require any further information or have questions regarding this invitation, please contact Susy Komishin at 204-595-1290 ext. 2131 or by email at susyk@mfnerc.com.

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Recently, the MFNSS held a Minecraft Design Challenge at the RBC Convention Centre as part of the Esports program.

In teams of 3-4, First Nations students from MFNSS schools designed and built interconnected themed escape rooms that featured problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The winning team, from the Sargeant Tommy Prince School, constructed a replica of a residential school, complete with signposts and teachings and a graveyard respecting past generations. The winning game held numerous challenges that forced a player to interact with the map and learn about the history while problem-solving to escape to the next room.

During the eSports challenge, students were asked to blend game-like elements into their builds (find the button, pressure plates, red stone contraptions, lava traps, platformers, and more!). It also played on students’ design process, as they needed to play through their builds and test their game elements to ensure they worked, set spawn points so that the player knew the starting and endpoints, and each room needed to increase in difficulty. Furthermore, the creative mode map students were utilizing borrowed the resource/behaviour packs from the Manito Ahbee Aki map, which meant they could search their inventory for things like the 7 Sacred Teachings animals, local wildlife and vegetation, place teepees, NPC’s dressed in traditional clothing, and craft birch bark canoes.

The MNP accounting firm sponsored a lunch for students and chaperones, the MESA (Manitoba Esports Association) sponsored the venue at the RBC Convention Centre through a provincial grant, and Comicon gave all of the students and staff free passes to Comicon. Tourism Winnipeg also attended the event, wanting to highlight the MFNSS event and position Wpg as an Esports destination in Canada.

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We recently held the first Youth Land-based Numeracy Fair, hosted by the MFNERC Numeracy Team and supported by Language and Culture facilitators, at St Vital Park in Winnipeg. The land-based activities aimed to provide a culturally responsive education, connect to numeracy concepts, and develop math skills in a fun learning environment. Over 50 students from a number of First Nations schools took part in some land-based learning as well as lessons relating to language, numeracy, science, and much more. Here are just a few photos from that great day of fun and learning.

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