Between wrapping up Secret Path Week, new resources, and in-person events, there’s so much going on! We’ve added new resources to the Legacy Schools resources page to help you continue learning, growing, and teaching the youth you work with! We will also be visiting a variety of locations for in-person Artist Ambassador visits and conferences. We love seeing all the great reconciliACTIONs, so keep sending them our way so we can share!
Tech teachers and DWF presented ‘Learning How to Code Using Secret Path’ at BOLTT.
Renfrew Country District School Board has been doing incredible work with their Indigenous education department and technology teachers in creating lessons in programming and coding using Secret Path. These lessons are available for everyone to use on our website.
Did you know we have over 800 resources on our website broken down by curriculum, age groups, subject matter, and region? Take a look at our Legacy Schools Resource page to help with your lesson plans!
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G.R. Gritt is a Juno Award-winning, Two-Spirit, Transgender, Francophone, Anishinaabe/Métis artist. After living many years in Yellowknife and forming the band Quantum Tangle, they have recently moved back to Sudbury/Robinson Huron Treaty territory where they grew up. This homecoming coincides with a journey that they feel better represents them. With these changes has come a new voice both physically and in the growing magnetism of their songwriting. G.R. Gritt pulls effortlessly from the past to create soulful futurisms with their new sound that elegantly weaves the melodies using vocals, guitar and new electronic elements. They create both intimate and anthemic music that would fit in a folk club, a dance club and anywhere in between. |
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Our Lady of Peace in Brampton, ON had 290 students and staff collectively walk 415 km while proudly holding and wearing DWF items from their toolkit and booster kit.
Students from Onoway Elementary School in Onoway, AB collectively walked over 400 km as a school during their Walk for Wenjack. As they reflected during their walk, the students realized that the few hours spent walking together were only a fraction of the distance that Chanie travelled.
Grade 6 students at Wagner Elementary School in Nipawin, SK spent the day learning about residential schools and Chanie Wenjack. Each student was given an orange rock on which they wrote a message about their learning. They placed the rocks around the community on a walk around town. Students then created a piece of art inspired by Secret Path.
Students and staff at Brooklyn Elementary in Comox, BC completed a story walk through the forest behind their school. Parts of Chanie’s story were attached to trees where they stopped and talked about his experience. They invited their district Indigenous support worker on their walk to help facilitate these discussions. At the end of the walk, they all stood in a circle, acknowledged the territory they were on and shared what they could do to support reconciliation.
Thank you to everyone who has sent us their reconciliACTIONs! We love to see the great work you are doing, so please continue to send us your reconciliACTIONs so we can share them with our networks!
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Youth Ambassadors continue to be leaders of change and impact in their communities through reconciliACTIONs such as Giorgio’s Orange Belt Project.
Youth Ambassadors came together for the first Youth Ambassador Committee meeting of the year. The Committee ensures youth have the opportunity to share their ideas on how to improve and build upon all DWF programming and resources. The Committee members also help plan upcoming Youth Ambassador programming, as well as act as representatives for various DWF events. Recently, Youth Ambassadors took part in our DWF LIVE sessions for Secret Path Week by starting each session off with a land acknowledgement based on the region where they reside.
Throughout the year, Youth Ambassadors continue to create and facilitate reconciliACTIONs within their local communities. Here’s what some of them have been up to:
Giorgio created the Orange Belt Project where they crocheted orange belts to be displayed in public areas. Each belt includes a QR code that you can scan to access different resources specific to your community. The goal is to create ways to educate yourself, spread awareness, and engage the community. Giorgio watched movies and podcasts to learn more while making their crocheted orange belt. Learn more about Giorgio’s Orange Belt Project here: The Orange Belt Project
Sofia helped collect donations for a remote school’s extracurricular program with her school council. Sofia was able to sign her former high school up as Legacy School and helped to initiate the start of new conversations through the resources in the Legacy Schools toolkit. She also helped in writing a land acknowledgement for her grad ceremony and hopes that this is only the start of the reconciliation journey for her former high school.
Youth Ambassadors and DWF team members at the National Indigenous Peoples Day event on June 21, 2022. Belle is third from the right.
Belle has been focusing on her personal work and growth. She had the opportunity to dance at the war museum for Indigenous veterans. She also created her own land acknowledgement while teaching classes about drum making, hoop dancing, and Indigenous languages. Belle hopes that by building upon her journey, she will be able to share what she’s learned with others in a meaningful way.
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DWF team members, Lisa and Kayleigh, are joined by Vic Linklater, a DWF Artist Ambassador from the Indigenous Tragically Hip cover band, The Poets!
This month, DWF will be appearing at two conferences and hosting eight Artist Ambassador visits to Legacy Schools in the East and North!
We were at Bringing Online Teachers Together (BOLTT), in Ontario on November 10, showcasing some fantastic resources you can use with your students and youth to teach about Chanie Wenjack, residential schools, and Indigenous cultures while also getting youth coding.
We will also have a booth at Indspire for the National Gathering of Indigenous Education in Winnipeg, MB. Stop by and say hello, we’ve missed seeing you in person and can’t wait to connect!
Artist Ambassadors Leela Gilday, Morgan Toney, Don Ross, Fawn Wood, and Elder Dr. Bernie Francis have also been visiting Legacy Schools in PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, and Saskatchewan!
Inspired by Chanie’s story and Gord’s call to build a better Canada, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund aims to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Our goal is to improve the lives of Indigenous people by building awareness, education, and connections between all peoples in Canada.
Phone: 1-844-944-4545
E-mail: staff@downiewenjack.ca
Address:
PO BOX 749
OHSWEKEN, ON
N0A1M0
2022: A Year in Review 