Artistry of the Land: Ancient Stories and Art of Our First Nations People

Task

Four classes of grade 2 & 3 students from 3 nonnative schools located just south and west of Calgary, Alberta were interested in learning about the culture of the First Nations People of their area. They wanted to experience the importance of the land and also the artistry of the ancient stories, clothing, dwellings and artifacts of the Blackfoot, Stoney and T’Suu Tina people. The students from Okotoks began to gather information about the Blackfoot who reside in their area. Students from Millarville Community School began to learn about the Stoney. Red Deer Lake students joined the project and started their journey to understand the T’Suu Tina. The background learning would be shared online and then the students planned to look for similarities and differences between the cultures. They wanted to learn from each other. This inquiry based telecollaborative project is student directed and teacher facilitated. Throughout this study, the students and teachers have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of land and territory, ancient stories, the artistry of clothing, dwellings and artifacts of the Blackfoot, Stoney and T’Suu Tina. Through this project the children gained an understanding of the First Nations People of their area learning the importance of respect and harmony.

Congratulations to Lorraine Flavelle, Pam Irving, Barb Martin and Richard Gaskell as co-honourees of the international 2001-02 SIGTel Online Learning Award. The teachers and children of Dr. Morris Gibson School, Millarville School and Red Deer Lake School worked with Galileo Educational Network on this award-winning project.