Indigenous Science - Education - West
INDIGENOUS SCIENCE

Education

West

Indigenous Ways of Knowing Through Education 

Education is positioned in the west, to represent emotion. Often, it is through emotional connections that learning (and therefore knowing) becomes relational and relevant.

The west also represents water and tides – the connection between the moon and the Earth. Spark focuses on multiple ways of knowing science through the interconnectivity and complexities of knowings between the cosmos and the land.

For Students

Tipi Curriculum

In collaboration with Wood’s Homes, Blackfoot Elder Treffrey Deerfoot and University of Calgary Education postdoctoral students, Spark recorded a tipi video with associated protocols, accompanied by math and science curriculum.

More on Woods Homes

Indigenous Student Support

Spark creates relationships and mentorship opportunities with local on-reserve schools to deliver and engage in programming. For more information, please contact Kori Czuy, Manager, Indigenous Engagement.

Contact Kori

For Teachers

  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Spark Learning Lab

Spark Learning Lab supports teachers as they expand their skills and knowledge.

The series has Indigenous ways of knowing and Indigenous pedagogy woven throughout. Sessions include, for example, the importance of space and place, and learning through narrative.

Register for Sessions

For the Public

  • ONGOING PROGRAM

Road Trips

Road Trips bring together groups of learners to explore the land we live amidst. This is a great opportunity to also connect with the Indigenous ways of knowing and science of the land, hosted by Indigenous community members.

Road-trippers have visited Lake Minnewanka, to learn about the Spirit of Water from Daryl Kootenay, Arial Crawler, Travis and Terry Rider, as well as hear stories and experience land-based learning from the Snow family in Morley, as hosted by Kyle Snow. They have visited Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site to put up a tipi, learn tipi math and hear stories about the Blackfoot Trickster Napi, from Garret Smith and Family. Another trip was to the Okotoks Erratic (or Ohkotok in Blackfoot) where visitors heard Blackfoot stories of the significance of the Rock and the land.

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  • EVENT SERIES

Indigenous Science Nights

Visitors learn about Indigenous ways of knowing and science from Treaty 7 Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Youth. Mohkinstsis, the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, along with the true intentions of Treaty, represents the coming together of multiple cultures, peoples and backgrounds, to become stronger together through diverse perspectives and worldviews. These evenings are catalysts for creativity, innovation and building relationships!

Learn More

Reconnecting with the Land

TELUS Spark Science Centre acknowledges it is situated on the Ancestral Lands of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), and Traditional Lands of the Tsuut’ina First Nation, the Îethka Nakoda First Nation, and more recently the Otipemisiwak Métis.

Land Acknowledgement