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Northland receives funding for Indigenous language kits

Two proposals by the Northland School Division and the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authority (KTCEA) will receive funding for the creation of Cree and Dene language teaching kits from the Indigenous Languages in Education grant program. Images supplied by Northland School Division #61.

Support for the teaching of Indigenous languages is coming to Wood Buffalo.

The Indigenous Languages in Education (ILE) grant program will fund a special local partnership.

Northland School Division (NSD) partnered with the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authority (KTCEA) on two teaching proposals.

The first features teacher kits complete with manuals, worksheets, games, charts, and audio recordings to assist in teaching.

Cree and Dene language instructors from the NSD and KTCEA will compile the kits.

The grant will go towards the designing and printing of the kits.

Teachers will use the kits to educate students and future generations on Indigenous languages and culture.

Meanwhile, the second proposal is for resource development.

“This project involves creating sets of wooden building blocks for each school that colorfully illustrate culturally relevant images, syllabic symbols and their corresponding sounds,” said Lorraine Cardinal-Roy, Director of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Learner Success.

The grant will also help in the assembly and distribution of those resources.

“Reviving Indigenous languages in school communities is a priority for KTCEA and NSD,” said Pearl Calahasen, Deputy Superintendent, KTCEA. “The support from the Government of Alberta will help us enhance and localize Indigenous language instruction materials.”

The ILE supports Indigenous language and culture programs in early childhood to Grade 12.