Powwow 101 - a three part series with Sissy Thiessan Kootenayoo

Get ready for the Powwow with Sissy Thiessan Kootenayoo in this three part introduction to womens’ (Two Spirit, Non Binary & other identities included) Powwow dances from Yellowhead Institute. As she does her hair and puts on her regalia, Sissy shares stories about her participation in Powwow dancing and explains different aspects of her regalia. You can learn more about Sissy at her website Wase Saba Experiences or on Instagram @wasesabaexperiences

In part 1 Sissy speaks about the Traditional and Jingle dances.

In part 2 Sissy speaks about Fancy Shawl Dancing and speaks about her journey to (re)connect with her traditions, given the disruption which happened in her family as a result of colonization. She welcomes all audience members including non-Indigenous peoples to participate in intertribal dances, while reminding viewers that it is important to not just jump into dancing and wearing regalia, but that there is a process grounded in community that should be respected by anyone taking up traditional dancing.

In part 3 Sissy begins with a smudge and demonstrates some of the dances she carries.

Looking for a virtual field trip to a museum?

Have you heard of Aanischaaukamikw (Cree Cultural Institute)? They are physically located in Oujé-Bougoumou, Quebec but have an excellent online presence which students of many ages will enjoy exploring.

The institute’s main collection is of items belonging to the James Bay Cree. You can take a Virtual Reality Tour on their website or have students view and learn about individual items in their collections.

For instance, here’s a Baby Charm made by Bella Joly in the 1960s out of thread and wood, or this spoon made of bear hip bone by an unknown maker.

If you click “Browse” in the main menu, you can sort the objects by both materials used and creator.

Oujé-Bougoumou is itself a great community to learn about - as its design was guided in the 1990s by famed architect Douglas Cardinal.

Honouring Our Bundles YouTube Channel

Honouring Our Bundles has a YouTube channel with videos that feature stories from various Indigenous knowledge keepers and Elders. Below I have listed just three from Honouring Our Bundles that might be of interest to your students, but I recommend taking a look to see what might be of interest to your students.

Prior to sharing them with your students, I suggest watching this video where William Buck addresses teachers directly, and speaks about how to respectfully and accurately include Indigenous stories (or tellings) in your teaching.

  1. Trees in the Winter by Isaac Murdoch

    This is a short two-minute video from storyteller and knowledge keeper Issac Murdoch. Issac’s Ojibway name is Manzinapkinegego’anaabe / Bombgiizhik and he is from the fish clan and is from Serpent River First Nation.

2. Origin of the Canoe by Wilfred Buck

Wilfred Buck is a Cree astronomer and science educator.

3. The Moon by Tehahenteh Miller

This four-minute animated film is a telling from Tehahenteh Miller (Six Nations).

Author Read Aloud - It's a Mitig! by Bridget George

I was delighted to learn about this video read aloud with Anishnaabe author-illustrator and graphic designer Bridget George. I love the bright and lively images, and how the rhyming text flows seamlessly between Ojibwe and English. I think students from K to 3 might enjoy the story the most.

Bridget also includes a small introduction to herself and the book at the beginning of the video, and shares her aim for the book to help families who are (re)connecting with their culture.

The video is featured on X University’s (formerly Ryerson University) YouTube channel XU PowWow. You can watch Bridget read the book below and/or purchase this resource for your classroom at goodminds.com

Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again

Have you or your students heard of Mary Two-Axe Earley? Mary, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) elder from Kahnawake, was an activist and a pioneer of the modern women’s movement on this land. You can learn more about her here, here, and here.

If you have access to a CAMPUS subscription through the National Film Board, beginning this month you will be able to view Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again and have access to the study guide which connects this film with Civics/Citizenship and Indigenous Studies, and is geared towards students aged 14+.

Watch the trailer, which includes footage of Mary standing her ground against an obstinate Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau.

Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again looks at gender discrimination in the Indian Act and connects it to the crises in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, by centering Mary’s story of activism.

In this clip, members of Mary’s family read the letter from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs which informed her that she had been stripped of her Indian Status after marrying a White man.

More links and information

Here is a link to the Q & A with the filmmaker, Courtney Montour, herself a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake. Montour explains the context behind the film, including the use of the term “Indian” and Canadian law under the Indian Act. You can also read this interview with Montour from October 2021 from the Toronto Star.

  The film has won multiple awards including

  • Best Documentary Short American Indian Film Festival (2021)

  • Documentary Short imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, (2021)

  • Best Director Weengushk International Film Festival (2021)

Finally, you can view this short video from Historica Canada, who highlighted Mary Two-Axe Earley as part of their Women in Canadian History series. This video might be suitable for older Primary students as well.

Watch the Historica Canada feature on Mary Two-Axe Earley.