Co-Curricular Making: Honouring Indigenous Connections
to Land, Culture and the Relational Self | February 2024

Way' SSHRC Project Educators, Community Partners, Research Partners, and Research Assistants,

What a week it has been here in the Okanagan with so many changes in the weather! It was wonderful to see many of you online a few weeks ago as we explored how the "co" is showing up in our classrooms and communities. We look forward to seeing you again on February 28 for our final online learning for this year with Kelly Terbakset, IndigenEYEZ.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob at the Kelowna Art Gallery, there is still a chance to see the exhibit until February 18, 2024. This exhibition offers a personal encounter with one of the leading carvers of British Columbia’s Northwest Coast.

We also wanted to let you know about the 2023-2024 Project Funding for Classrooms for educators to support classrooms in advancing reconciliation. The funds can be used to support educators (and their students) to deepen and enlarge their understandings of Syilx culture with teachings that connect land, culture and understandings of self in the world. Participating SSHRC Educators (individuals or teams) can request up to $500 to fill small resource gaps. Educators who receive the funds will share their project at the Forum on May 1^st (see info below).

We are looking forward to hosting our second Working the Ideas Forum. On Wednesday, May 1, we will host two experiences: 1) round table conversations where educators can share stories of the lived terms of co-curricular making in their classrooms and 2) an evening event with elders, community members, local and national scholars comprising Indigenous educators and curricular theorists. We hope that you can join us!

If you have any questions or feedback, we would love to hear from you.

Sincerely,
SSHRC Facilitation Team

Syilx Language 

We are exiting smuqwəqwtan (time of the snowfall) and moving into spaqt (time of everything white). 

Plese visit the Okanagan Nation Alliance Resource Page

Food for Thought and Action

Nakulamen (what we do): Evening Storytelling "How Names Were Given" | Hosted by Kelowna Museums. February 25, 2024 (1-2:30 pm) Winter is a time for storytelling. Immerse yourself in the captikʷɬ of How Names Were Given. This program is great for kids and families, as well as anyone looking for a deeper understanding of this story.

Nakulamen (what we do): Evening Storytelling "How Names Were Given" | Hosted by Kelowna Museums. February 29, 2024 (6-7:30 pm) Participants will learn about plants and medicine, sample wild tea, and make their own blend to take home. Plant samples have been respectfully collected on the land by syilx Knowledge Carriers. The na’ʔk’ʷulamən series is presented by syilx elders/knowledge keepers in partnership with Wildrose Cultural Traditions.

Family Day at Sncewips February 19, 2024 (10am-3pm) Storytelling with Coralee Miller and crafting  inspired by traditional practices. They will be giving away take-home crafting kits so that you can make your very own ‘Birch Bark’ basket at home!

IndigenEYEZ workshops Join kinSHIFT for an immersive and experiential workshop series that supports settlers to build the foundation for building relational skills for engaging respectfully and meaningfully with Indigenous peoples.  Elements of Truth: Before Reconciliation is an opportunity to deepen your understanding of colonialism's impact on Indigenous peoples and open your heart to change. Truth before reconciliation is an opportunity for all of us to learn from our past, to begin to step into our fuller potential in the present, and to re-imagine a better way forward together. Workshops start April 18. Register on Eventbrite or email enquiries@kinSHIFT.ca

Okanagan Basin Water Board is accepting applications to its Water Conservation and Quality Improvement (WCQI) grant program for 2024. Applicants can request between $3,000 and $30,000. Program Guide, including scoring criteria and other detailed information, and application forms can be found at www.OBWB.ca/wcqi. This year’s application deadline is Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, 4 pm.

For more information about our community partners please visit their sites: Okanagan Nation Alliance, IndigenEYEZ, Kelowna Art Gallery, and Kelowna Museums. Do you have an event that you would like to share? Please email the SSHRC PG facilitation team.

Co-Curricular Making Resources

The purpose of these curricular resources is to deepen local understanding of all who visit, and to enhance educators’ knowledge and capacities toward curricular unlearning (decolonization) and Indigenization. All materials and resources included on this site are publicly available.

Co-Curricular Resource Site

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