Outputs

The Teacher’s Guide is intended to support educators using māskīkīy miskanaw: The Medicine Way and the MWAKWA app in the classroom. It presents four thematic modules that include teaching strategies with suggested connections to Manitoba middle years curricula in Social Studies, Science, English Language Arts, Health, and the Arts as well as Rocky Cree culture and language.

māskīkīy miskanaw: The Medicine Way is the third book in the Six Seasons series written by Rocky Cree storyteller William Dumas and illustrated by Rhian Brynjolson.

As the seasons change and the birds begin to head south, Ācapi Okimaw and his family make their annual journey to see relatives and teachers in the heartland. Family members each receive teachings and share their own knowledge with their mentors in this community. All expect for the youngest, Mwakwa, who hasn't yet chosen the skill that will define his miskanaw, or the path for his life.

As he helps his relatives prepare for winter, Mwakwa wonders what his gifts might be. His cousin Mikisiw wants to be a hunter and takes the lead on a moose hunt for the first time while the family is visiting, but Mwakwa knows he isn’t a hunter. He enjoys singing and sharing that with others, but how else can he contribute?

When Mwakwa meets his uncle Opimotiho, a stargazer and storyteller, he learns a new way of looking at the night sky. But will Mwakwa be brave enough to leave his family to become the stargazer’s apprentice?

Click here to view the Freeze-Up Moon Newsletter 2025

Click here to view the Hoar Frost Moon Newsletter 2024

Braith, Melanie, Grace Braniff, Amanda Laverdure, Benjamin Roloff. “Rethinking Authenticity, Legitimacy, and Agency in the Context of the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak Project”. Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature, vol. 28, no. 1, Aug. 2024, pp. 1-25, https://doi.org/10.21153/pecl2024vol28no1art1675.

For the first time, our first app in the Six Seasons series, PISIM, can also be downloaded for both iOS and Android devices. You can find PISIM in the App Store and in the Play Store.

You can now download our new picture book app AMO, the app version of Amō’s Sapotawan in the App Store on iOS and the Play Store on Android. The app features several interactive games, narration in Cree and in English, as well as an engaging soundscape.

The Teacher’s Guide is intended to support educators using Amō’s Sapotawan and the AMO app in the classroom. It presents four thematic modules that include teaching strategies with suggested connections to Manitoba middle years curricula in Social Studies, Science, English Language Arts, Health, and the Arts as well as Rocky Cree culture and language.

Click here to view the Wind Clearing Moon Newsletter 2023.

In this presentation, Six Seasons Research Associate Jill Taylor-Hollings speaks about her work with the Six Seasons Archaeology Team, and how the team worked with knowledge keepers and illustrators to provide historically and culturally accurate images and textual information in Amō's Sapotawan. Jill Taylor-Hollings is a Research Associate with the Six Seasons of the Asiniskaw Īthiniwak project at Lakehead University with the Archaeology Team (Leader Dr. Scott Hamilton). She was invited by the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society to present about the Six Seasons project at their online meeting. Jill is also the current President of the Ontario Archaeological Society, which is a 1000+ member organization dedicated to education, heritage advocacy and ethical archaeology. This presentation provided an opportunity to share information about the Six Season project but also research taking place at Lakehead University in Northwestern Ontario.