June Cultural Calendar Ideas

Congratulations, best wishes and warm hugs to this years’ AHS graduates and their families. We’re excited for your upcoming journey into kindergarten! A big thank you to AHS educators across the province who have invested time in preparing the children and families for this next step, as well as planning celebrations in their honour!

June is a month of celebrations for Indigenous Peoples.

National Indigenous Peoples Day coincides with the Summer Solstice, a day of spiritual significance for many Nations– a powerful day to celebrate Indigenous peoples and cultures! Administrative Lead for Munu Learning Centre AHS, Brenna Beattie (Métis) shares,  “We come together, all nations and celebrate our cultures on the longest day of the year, Summer Solstice. It is a day of pride, a day for us to celebrate what makes us Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) and proudly show off our gifts and traditions.” 

“Working at Aboriginal Head Start has shown me how to be proud of my heritage and love who I am. It has been such a gift to be in part of something that is dedicated to creating a space for children to be around their culture, have access to cultural items and be taught protocols/ traditional teachings. It’s a blessing to see children ask to be smudged or grab a drum and know how to honor the drum and animals, plants and people,” says Brenna.

 

The weeks leading up to National Indigenous Day are a time to bring joy by sharing the cultures and nations of the program. Invite families to share stories, dancing, singing, drumming, art, land-based learning. Share spontaneous dance parties listening to fiddle music or drumming, watch videos of dancers in their regalia. Invite your Elders and Knowledge Keepers to share why they think Indigenous People’s Day is important. Attend your local Indigenous day gathering as a group or if you’re participating in one, invite families to come say hi! Learn about the significance of the summer solstice and how some communities celebrate it. 

 “Most of all, enjoy your time, laugh, and celebrate our people!” says Brenna.

Pow Wows, Métis jamborees, tribal trails, summer Indigenous games, national assemblies and other outdoor gatherings will start this month and continue until early September.  Take the children out to in communities for these events and invite parents and Elders to join you! June 5th is National Inuvaluit Day.

Inuvik AHS brings in a wide variety of experiences/ elders and knowledge keepers to learn about Inuvaluit culture together.

Program Planning:

Full of celebrations, June is a busy month program teams to plan for. How will you tie nature and the outdoors into your celebrations? What Indigenous activities will be included? How will Elders and Knowledge Keepers be incorporated? What Indigenous foods will children and families have an opportunity to try?

Crafts:

Children can make gifts/cards for dads, uncles, grandfathers, and older brothers. Paint cups or mugs, shirts, or BBQ aprons. decorate a picture frame with button blanket or fishing themes. If you would like to include Button Blankets in your month you can find inspiration. 

Innovative Idea, Conayt AHS:

The Conayt AHS Infant toddler room went on a nature walk to create their craft project of gathering baskets.   

Sensory:

Have a water table full of (play) fish, red beads, or water beads (to look like fish eggs), and dip nets. Encourage the children to use the dip nets to fish and gather eggs in the nets. Have a sensory table also set up outside so the children can enjoy this type of play outdoors.

Science: 

Discuss Summer Solstice and scientific reasons for seasonal changes. Show pictures of the Strawberry moon which is the first full moon of the summer and last full moon of the spring.

Art Centre:

Display Indigenous art from your community! 

Include materials that would allow the children to replicate or be inspired by these art forms.  Ideas could include button blankets, bead work, baskets, patterns specific to your nations, totem poles, canoes, quill work, masks, animal hair tuftings, carvings, woven art forms with local dyes.

Health Promotion:

Invite community members, knowledge teachers, or Elders come into the center to teach the children how to make diverse types of Indigenous celebration foods. Post recipes to your website and send home food with families. Compile a recipe book of Indigenous foods from your program family’s recipes to send home in honour of National Indigenous Day!  

Teach the children how pemmicani, dried meat or fish is made, and send home a delicious gift in honour of Father’s Day. Add Pemmican Cakes into your June Calendar. 

Innovative Idea, Sas Natsadle AHS:

Sas Natsadle created an easy to make, refreshing treat for a hot summer day!  Spread yogurt out on a sheet pan, children can add fresh berries and granola, freeze and enjoy!

Here’s an Algonquin recipe for Corn, Blueberry and Wild Rice Salad from Greater Golden Lake First Nation. Check the link for more recipes, including Wild Rice Burgers, Cedar tea– perfect for graduation, Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

Innovative Idea, Talking Little Feet:

Talking Little Feet AHS in Grand Forks made smoked fish with the children!

  

Health Resource of the Month:

AHS educators promote healthy living practices such as experiencing gross motor activities daily in the outdoor environment!   For more ideas please see this months health links for educators on active play inspired by Inuit, Anishinaabe and Cree games!  This article shares ideas on reducing screen time, and check this one out for creative activities this summer!

Building Block / Construction Area:

Post pictures (at child level) of a traditional bison camp, canoes in rivers, long houses, inukshuks, Inuit cutting seal or caribou out on the land with ulus.

For example, each AHSABC program was gifted Red River carts that can be used in the block area. Add bison, logs, pieces of canvas, popsicle sticks, pieces of cardboard so children can build their own red river cart, travois, canoes, long houses, or smoke houses!

Dramatic Play Area:

Show regalia and set out Indigenous and traditional clothes for children to wear at the center: ribbon skirts, shirts, button blankets, mukluks, moccasins, traditional animal stuffies, cedar hats or ribbon hats. Please check with community Elders and Knowledge Keepers for traditional clothes protocols and practices of the nation.

Learn how to make a ribbon skirt! 

Make a camp area with books to be interactive: mending nets, hunting lodge, canvas tent, tipi, cabin, whatever this may look like in your territory. This could be inspired by bison, berry or fish camp– ask your Knowledge Keepers for stories!

Reading Area:

Post photos of grass, jingle dress or hoop dancers! Share images of children drumming or dancing from program’s territory. Add a wide variety of books displaying these activities from many nations: round dances, drum dances, jigging!

Circle Time:

Pass around different cultural items and have a discussion with the children. Encourage them to feel, smell, look at all the characteristics, and guess if it would make any sounds! Have a big PowWow drum, hand drum or Qilaut, available to teach the children to drum. Use a drum at circle time to teach songs, participate as a group, and have accessible during play time to encourage children to become familiar with the drum at their own comfort level. Incorporate gross motor activities that include Indigenous dancing!

Innovative Idea, Power of Friendship AHS:

At Power of Friendship AHS in Prince George, staff role model how to respect a drum and have discussions with the children on the importance.

Lofty Ideas:

For hotter days bring outdoor play ideas into your loft area inspired by gardens, harvesting areas, lakes and rivers, trap lines, or hunting territory.

Innovative Ideas:

Conayt created a Secret Garden in their Infant Toddler Room to promote teachings on the four sacred medicines. Sweetgrass, Cedar, Tobacco, Sage to smudge.

Physical Activity, Inuit Games:

Highlight Inuit culutre by sharing games that involve skipping, kicking and hopping– great for developing gross motor skills. Maria Ukaliq Storr, B.Ed. is the regional manager for NWT Inuvialuit AHS programs. Maria explains the importance of passing on Inuvialuit culture and language.

Each community has their own way of life– and way of learning, she says. “Singing and dancing are our oral stories of tradition and culture, reflective of stories of our hunting and gathering, living a way of life off our land.”

Daily practices through age-appropriate Inuit games and activities help sharpen and teach various life skills for survival and giving a sense of belonging and celebrating their unique culture, she explains. Western Arctic Inuit celebrations include Bannock-making races, drum dancing, and games: harpoon throw, high kick, and more.

Other fun outdoor Activities

Create a sundial and talk about the cultural significance. Show children how to measure their shadow with measuring sticks. Explore the changes that summer brings during walks, picnics, swimming, water play, games, gardening, or dancing outside.

Graduation Ideas: 

With graduation happening from June through to August, honour this transition in a variety of ways! Singing Indigenous language songs, drumming to honour children as they walk, invite Elders, community members and parents to be a part of this special day. Incorporate all children at the center, if possible, not just those graduating! This is a great opportunity for peer role modeling. Gift and present items to the children that represent your local teachings and territory. This could be a carved, painted, tufted, woven or beaded item, or something from nature! Books from your territory or nation are great gifts for grads. Reflect and acknowledge the growth of three-year-olds who will be returning the next year, rattles make a sweet gift for them, too. Serve celebration foods and have children help make Indigenous décor!

Coastal: Invite parents to learn how to weave cedar roses at a workshop before graduation– to present the cedar rose to their child at graduation. Decorate with cedar boughs, invite Elders or community members blanket the children, have a display or announce each child’s clan if applicable. You may also have children wear cedar headbands if this is part of your communities’ teachings. Drums parents have made in workshops can be painted by a community artisan to include children’s clans.

Interior/ Northern: Children can be presented or wear moccasins, ribbon shirts, ribbon skirts, hide vests or stoles, shawls, beaded pins that reflect their nation or your center ie. stars, flowers, infinity signs. They can also receive drums with a special image such as the center’s logo. The Indigenous languages of each child and or clans if applicable can also be used for décor, and gifts.

Every community is unique and end-of-year celebrations are a perfect time to show off your nation’s individuality!

Innovative Idea, Hulitan AHS:

 Staff assisted children at the Hulitan AHS to weave their own cedar headbands.

Traditional Parenting Idea: Aboriginal Mother Center- Rose Nguyen

Parent Meeting Plan: Weaving Cedar Headbands for Children’s Graduation

Duration: 2 hours

Focus: Traditional Parenting through Cedar Teachings and Ceremonial Preparation

1. Who will support and do the teaching for the Parent Meeting Plan?

• Elders or Knowledge Keepers.
• Elders or Knowledge Keepers can do smudging the center with Cedar before the meeting. Then we can sing traditional songs and do drumming. After that, we can pass the talking stick around to introduce our name and nations to get to know everyone.
• After introducing, the Elders or Knowledge Keepers will share cedar teaching about how to harvest the cedar bark, how to choose the right tree, how to honour the land. They can also share their stories about cedar or they can show us some cedar items if they have.
• The participants: parents, grandparents, caregivers or teachers.
• For everyone to learn new and hands-on experiences and want to learn about traditional parenting.

*Also, we need to prepare the materials in advance because the cedar bark strips need to be soak in water for a few hours.

2. What are the learning outcomes you are hoping for?

By the end of the parent meeting, we are hoping that the families will:

• Understand the spiritual and cultural meaning of cedar in Indigenous community.
• Learn a hands-on traditional practice: cedar weaving.
• Strengthen connection to traditional parenting values.
• Build relationships in their community and reflect on the importance of parental roles in weaving cedar band with their children.
• During the session, we encourage the parents to share their stories with their children if they want.
  
  

3. What foods will be served?

• Snack will be served during the session such as: toast with wild berries jam, herbal tea like cedar or rose hip tea.
• Lunch will be served after the session: fresh Bannock or frybread with Three Sister soup.

*Checked for any dietary restrictions or food allergies to be shared when handing out the RSVP.

After the meeting, the Elders or knowledge Keepers will close the circle in a good day with prayer and wisdom words.

What we can send home for families:

• Books about Cedar, such as “Stand like a Cedar – by Nicola I. Campbell” for parents to read at home for their children
• A printed version of the Cedar Teaching that is shared in the meeting

Elder involvement:

Invite Elders to teach/remind children of drum protocols, and teach language for children to use at Grad. Knowledge Keepers can help prepare medicines to be used and share teachings and use with families.

Elders can teach children to drum songs, and lead them in performing at celebrations!

Invite Elders to Graduation events as honoured guests, with thank you gifts to be presented and words to honour their contributions to your program for the year! Remember to send special invites out to Grandparents/Aunties/Uncles!

Parent Involvement: 

Parent Board: Display a Map of Canada and have each family mark which community they are from. (Different colored star per family) Share a write-up and picture of each family to celebrate the diversity of all who attend the program!

Create a display of pictures to pay respects to the important male role models in the children’s lives and from the community! Host an event in honour of the children’s dads, uncles, Elders, older brothers and grandpas. A fish fry at a local park, lake or river? Floor hockey, swim time, movie and popcorn night, bannock pizza making contest?

Host a celebration meal! So many delicious ways to celebrate– pancake breakfast, stew and bannock lunch, muffin and coffee breakfast to go, BBQ Bison Burgers or deer sausage in the outdoor play space.

One way to accommodate June’s busy schedule is to tie special events together. For example, a special song at graduation could be dedicated to male role models.

Outreach/Activity Kits:

Create a kit to be sent home in honour of summer solstice, Father’s Day, or Indigenous Peoples’ day!

• Cultural family craft, such as strawberry moon themed beading
• Indigenous children’s book, heart berry themed,
• Popcorn and movie night treats
• Recipe and ingredients for a Indigenous foods inspired recipe
• Sunday brunch recipe and supplies
• BBQ kit for families to host their own camp out (marshmallows, flashlight, glow sticks, nature guide or activities suggestions to do in nature, camping foods and snacks)
• Backyard BBQ Meal supplies (smokies, bison burgers, buns, BBQ tools, BBQ sauce)
• Card games, horseshoes, basketball, or football for take-along outside activities!
• Family cleansing/ smudging kit, with Elder teachings
• Indigenous foods recipes: pemmican, salmon hash , wild strawberry shortcake, or wild blueberry sauce.