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Medicinal Plants of the Boreal Forest: Annotated Bibliography
Abigail Cochrane, who joined the Six Seasons project as part of the Indigenous Summer Scholars Program at The University of Winnipeg, created this bibliography of works about medicinal plants of the boreal forest.
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Amō’s Sapotawan Teacher's Guide now available for free here
The Teacher’s Guide is intended to support educators using Amō’s Sapotawan and the AMO app in the classroom. It can be downloaded by clicking on the headline above. 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.
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AMO app available on Android and iOS
You can now download our new picture book app AMO, the app version of Amō’s Sapotawan in theApp 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.
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Download the Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw Teachers Guide
Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw provides groundbreaking historical information about the culture and language of the Rocky Cree people around present-day South Indian Lake, Manitoba. It can be downloaded by clicking on the headline above. The Teacher’s Guide for Pīsim Finds Her Miskanaw focuses on midwifery, miskanaw, journey making, and storytelling. The lessons and activities in the guide support the learning outcomes included in Manitoba curriculum documents. The guide emphasizes the origins of First Peoples, their connections to the land, their culture, types of leadership, the value of oral culture, and the forms of interaction before and during early contact with Europeans.
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PISIM App available for Android and iOS
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.
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Six Seasons Indigenous research receives $2.5 Million
In 1993, the remains of a 25-year-old Cree woman who lived 350 years ago were discovered by two residents of South Indian Lake in northern Manitoba. The story of this ancestor as told through the archaeological research inspired renowned storyteller William Dumas to reimagine a week in her life at the age of twelve in the award-winning picture book, Pīsim Finds Her Miskanow, published in 2013. Now, a project to extend the reclamation of Asiniskow Ithiiniwak (Rocky Cree) language, history, and culture has been awarded a Partnership Grant in the amount of $2.5 million by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
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AMO app available on Android and iOS
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.
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Pisim Picture Book App
On October 24, 2019 the Six Seasons of Asiniskaw Ithiniwak collaborative research group celebrated the launch of the first picture book app in the Six Seasons series. A retelling of the 2013 story Pisim Finds Her Miskanaw, by William Dumas, the free app brings Pisim’s journey richly to life through full-colour illustrations, songs, interactive games, and cultural notes.
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"awaniki asiniskaw ithiniwak? Who are the Rocky Cree?" Gathering 2023
"awaniki asiniskaw ithiniwak? Who are the Rocky Cree?" was a three-day gathering that took place on May 26 – 28, 2023 at the University College of the North in Thompson, Manitoba.
This gathering focused on sharing knowledge of asiniskaw ithiniwak (Rocky Cree) language, culture, and history. It aimed to promote cultural awareness and foster a sense of shared identity, especially among young community members.
The asiniskaw ithiniwak are a distinct group of Cree-speaking people living in the northern boreal forest of western Canada. In Manitoba, the focus of the gathering, there are six Rocky Cree communities: piponapiwin (South Indian Lake); kisipikamahk (Brochet); nisicawayasihk (Nelson House); okawi mithikananihk (Granville Lake); pakitawahk anik (Pukatawagan) and kahkitinamiw (Black Sturgeon Falls).
Traditionally these communities maintained relationships among each other through travelling storytellers and annual gatherings. The Missinipe or Churchill River, considered the lifeline of the Rocky Cree, was the key travel route that connected them within their territory. As colonization eroded traditional relationships and significant hydroelectric development in the area altered landscapes and travel routes, communities became more isolated from each other and lost close relationships to each other and their identities as asiniskaw ithiniwak.
This is why the theme of identity was central to the gathering and seeks to support the cultural revitalization of asiniskaw īthiniwak.
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Rocky Cree Project Gathering 2015
In July 2015, MFNERC hosted a gathering for Rocky Cree Elders on the land at beautiful Paint Lake MB. One of the intended outcomes from the gathering was to eventually develop a history book for students at the junior high and high school levels, and for academic use. More information about the gathering at: mfnerc.org/2015/07/rocky-cree-elders-gather-at-paint-lake/
