It's about time we checked in with you
How is everyone doing out there? We know it has not been an easy Spring for most.
We pray that you are all safe and healthy.
During the pandemic, we have been reminded of some of the teachings our Elders and the ohkomak (grandmothers in Cree) have been sharing with us for years.
We are all interconnected. What we do now impacts all our relations, and our future generations.
We can choose to enhance or hinder through the way we live our life.We have a responsibility to defend the sacred.
We need to care for and respect our bodies, as they are a gift from Creator. Listening to the wisdom of your body is respecting that gift.
Now is the time to celebrate the gift of life, and the health of our families. Celebration of life should not be just when someone passes on.
The Circle Teachings team has been very lucky to have kept working on meaningful projects while sheltering in place
We are proud to work with the First Nations Health Consortium (FNHC) on their Annual Report design for the second year in a row. The FNHC's work is incredibly important to the wellness of First Nations children across Alberta.
FNHC is one of the first organizations in Canada to implement Jordan’s Principle - Child First Initiative, striving to ensure First Nations and Inuit children are not subject to delay, denial or disruption of services due to disputes between governments or government departments.
We have also been working on a commemorative booklet for the Bigstone Cree Nation Elders Lodge, which closed after over 20 years of serving the community this Spring. The Lodge provided a safe home-like environment for the Elders and hosted a variety of programs over the years. We're proud to help out with this project through writing and designing the booklet!
We're also working on a video for National Indigenous Peoples' Day on June 21. Under normal circumstances, we would be preparing to attend, participate in, and organize events to celebrate the contributions, cultures, and heritage of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Due to the seriousness of the Covid-19 crisis the celebrations for National Indigenous Peoples Day will be at home. We were asked to help create a video to bring the community together in celebration through film, so that presenters, performers, and community members could still contribute to the celebration.
Another exciting development is that Circle Teachings is working on a variety of multimedia projects with Mikisew Cree First Nation and its Elders. We are in the process of creating an app, videos, curriculum materials, a book, and even a cultural festival which will occur whenever it is safe to gather in numbers. Our goal is to support Mikisew Cree First Nation in preserving their heritage: their language, culture, the stories of their Elders, and their skills and arts. Both Mikisew Cree First Nation and Circle Teachings do this for the benefit of the future generations.
There are many more exciting projects on the horizon!
We are currently working on a Stories from the Kohkoms III calendar with the Kohkom Kisewatisiwin Society. The approach to this years' edition of the calendar will be different; each month will feature one individual kohkom's submission or stories. We look forward to adding another calendar to the series!
We are also working on the Multicultural Grandmother calendar. We are looking for submissions, especially from those who are in a "support bubble" with their grandmother, in lieu of organizing interviews right now between youth and grandmothers to keep everyone safe! Contact us if you'd like to submit, or if you know someone who would. Any and all grandmothers are welcome to submit some advice for the future generations, recipes, poems, or anything else they are inspired to offer for publication.
Thanks for keeping up to date, and look out for exciting updates soon in our newsletter!
