A Cree First Nation Visual Image

Our project would involve the students at our school, the families in our community, the Elders, and the Chief and Council. We envision a video compiled of historical facts from our historical museum and storytelling that would include parts of the Resistance in 1885, the Battle at Cut Knife Hill, and important information about the leaders of the Cree Nation. We would include the students by showcasing art created by students from Pre-Kindergarten to Gr. 12. We would also video of the landscape of the reserve, dialogue in Cree and English, and an incorporation of the 4 seasons. We'd also include historical cultural explanations such as ceremonies, dancing, and food.

Update (March 10, 2013)

Since we started this project in September, we have pictures and video of the community in the fall and winter. We are looking forward to bringing the students to the historical centre in the spring to do some video recording at historical markers and to provide some dialogue for our project.

Update (May 5, 2013)

We are very excited that spring is here! Now that the flooding has subsided, we are looking forward to wrapping up the last 2 months of school and our project. The students recently participated in a Discovery Education First Nation LiveStream in which they were able to share parts of their culture with drumming, singing, dancing, food, and art.


The students participated in a LiveStream to share their culture with other classrooms around the world. There were viewers from Canada, the United States, and overseas (Thailand). The URL to watch the LiveStream is: http://new.livestream.com/DEN/events/1980147

Update (June 30, 2013)

We had an amazing day twinning with students from Maidstone school on June 18th. The students started off the day with an icebreaker name game in which they had to find people to fill in a square based on the description. Then, the students grouped up to work on an art project. The Maidstone students were taught about ledger art and were shown art projects that our students completed this year on butcher paper made to look like hide. On the hide were drawings that were significant to Cree culture. Everyone had a chance to recreate their own hide artwork. The students had a short recess break and then participated in Cree hand games lead by our Cree teacher and her son. It was a lot of fun to watch the students play in this game and to see some of the Maidstone boys take turns drumming. During lunch, the students ate what they brought with them, but were also invited to try some potato flour soup, broccoli soup, and fresh made bannock, courtesy of our school cook. After lunch, we took buses up to the Poundmaker Historical Centre. At the centre, students were met by our school Elder, who told a short story about Chief Poundmaker and his life in the area. We also got to see artifacts in the museum, visited Chief Poundmaker's resting place, and read the plaques posted on the various monuments on Cut Knife hill regarding the 1885 Resistance. Once we returned to the school, we enjoyed some freezies and called it a day. All of the students and teachers agreed that it was a very educational and enjoyable day, and are looking forward to continuing our connection in the new school year.

Update (December 29, 2013)

We apologize for the delay in finishing our project. There were many parts of the video that we were hoping to add but were unable due to time constraints. With that said, the final video product is posted and available to watch through Google Drive (http://bit.ly/1ek0VRn).
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in this project. We hope you enjoy the video, and if you'd like to provide comments, or connect with a class in our school, please contact us at [email protected]