feature fridays

The Path of the Elders is a Cree culture and history education game that highlights the story of the Mushkegowuk and Anishinaabe Peoples of North-Eastern and North-Western Ontario, Canada, and the signing of Treaty No. Nine (James Bay Treaty) in the Indigenous territory known as Nishnawbe Aski Nation (People’s Land). The goal is to provide an understanding of the historical times in which Mushkegowuk and Anishinaabe Peoples signed Treaty No. Nine, and how this treaty has impacted the lives of the Indigenous Peoples.

There is a lot to explore on the website with photos, videos, stories, and teacher resources. Through The Path of the Elders, you can learn about the traditional and cultural values of the Mushkegowuk and Anishinaabe Peoples!

Pieces is a podcast series about a young man's journey to understand his Indigenous identity. Since the day he was old enough, Jeremy knew he was different. A mix of Indigenous and white heritage, he has experienced life through both vantage points – as well as the stereotypes. Join 19-year-old Jeremy Ratt on a journey of self discovery as he seeks to understand his roots and all of the distinct “pieces” that form who he is today.

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Pieces features several topics that focus upon cultural resurgence and navigating one's identity. The podcast has two seasons with five episodes each that highlights Jeremy's journey of understanding his cultural identity.

The film Stories Are in Our Bones is by Janine Windolph and made available by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). In this layered short film, filmmaker Janine Windolph takes her young sons fishing with their kokum (grandmother), a residential school survivor who retains a deep knowledge and memory of the land. The act of reconnecting with their homeland is a cultural and familial healing journey for the boys, who are growing up in the city. It’s also a powerful form of resistance for women.⁠
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The National Film Board of Canada has access to a vast collection of FREE Indigenous-made films!⁠ Discover the NFB’s rich online collection⁠
of Indigenous-made films!⁠

Ask Auntie is a girl-specific program. Girls aged 10-14 are invited to go on a wellness journey, where they will learn about a holistic, Indigenous understanding of health and their bodies, connection and relationships, culture and the history of colonization, and what it means to be a strong Indigenous girl. Once groups complete their journey they are invited to hold a rite of passage ceremony or other celebration to honour the girls, their journey, and their accomplishments.⁠
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This website is an online resource for young warriors like you, so please take some time to explore through each section listed above. Whether it's watching cool videos made by other Indigenous youth, or learning about culture and identity, or what it means to be a young warrior in today's society - there is something for everyone!⁠

There are around 70 distinct Indigenous languages in Canada, falling into 12 separate language families. While in many places there has been decreased transmission of languages from one generation to the next, recognition of this has led to efforts by Indigenous peoples to revitalize and sustain their languages. Canada, and North America more generally, represent a highly complex linguistic region, with numerous languages and great linguistic diversity.⁠
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The Indigenous languages resource provides information about geographic distribution, language families and linguistic areas, linguistic diversity, dialects Indigenous sign languages, and Indigenous language revitalization.⁠

The Four Directions Teachings is an engaging interactive website where people can experience Indigenous knowledge and philosophy. FourDirectionsTeachings.com honours oral traditions by creating an environment where visitors are encouraged to listen with intent as each Elder/Traditional Knowledge Holder shares a teaching from their perspective on the richness and value of cultural traditions from their nation. 

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The Elders and Traditional Knowledge Holders represented on the site are: Dr. Reg Crowshoe and Geoff Crow Eagle (Blackfoot Teachings), Mary Lee (Cree Teachings), Lillian Pitawanakwat (Ojibwe Teachings), Tom Porter (Mohawk Teachings), and Stephen Augustine (Mi’kmaq Teachings). The website is a great resource to connect with First Nations teachings and culture!

The Kids Hurt app by Aboriginal Children's Hurt and Healing Initiative helps youth understand and express pain and hurt from a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual perspective. The interactive app will allow children and youth to articulate their pain and hurt through stories and descriptions while remaining stoic in their pain expressions. ⁠
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The Kids Hurt app is not meant to diagnose pain but rather enhance the two-way flow of communication from patient and family to clinicians. Indigenous youth may not relate to or resonate with the pain assessment processes used in mainstream hospitals and clinics. The app is a more interactive way to measure pain that will be easier and more culturally relevant for Indigenous youth to use in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms. ⁠

Owaves is a wholistic calendar designed to factor in your circadian rhythm into your day. With facile functions and a visually appealing layout, plan the next 24 hours of your day! The Owaves app provides 8 categories that you can choose from when adding in a task for the day

The app provides 8 categories to choose your activities from when adding in tasks for the day: love, move, work, eat, sleep, relax, play, and flow! ⁠

Each of the options provides a recommended amount to strive for each day to help with promoting a wholistic and balanced day. You can also customize the emojis you can use for the symbols, so you can make your planner exactly how you would like it to be!

Flora is a new way to stay off your phone, clear to-do lists, and build positive, life-changing habits. Whenever you want to make progress toward your goals, grow trees in Flora! With great animations and graphics, the app is very user-friendly for all people!

Flora is designed to help you keep off of other apps such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat while you are planting your tree. Start your focus timer to plant your tree, but if you leave the app your tree will not grow! While planting your trees, you can also pause when needed and work collaboratively with friends in growing your forest.

You can also view the daily, weekly, or monthly statistics of your activities in Flora to find opportunities to improve your time-management and planning skills.

Structured helps to split your day into small tasks and increase your productivity. With a visually appealing day planner, that combines calendars and to-do lists with an easy-to-use interface you can take on the day!

You can set on notifications that share when a task has started and when it should be finished so you never miss a task and always stay on track! 

Users are also able to customize the planner to their liking. Structured offers options to create subtasks and notes to ensure optimal organization. You are also able to customize the colours and symbols options as well! 

Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Their mission is to help people find and share books they love with their community. See what books your friends are reading. Through Goodreads you can track the books you read, get personalized book recommendations, find new authors, and interact with amazing fellow book lovers! 

In honour of Black History Month, here are some of the most popular YA Black authors: Angie Thomas, Nicole Yoon, Leah Johnson, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 

Smiling Mind is an app that shares mindfulness programs and practices that are categorized by age and environment! They offer programs for stress, sleep, focus and concentration, wellbeing, relationships, performance, sports, and mindful eating. These programs are designed by mental health professions to give you the best support in many aspects of your life. If you're looking to incorporate mindfulness practices into your daily life, This app has you covered!