ᒥᔮᐧᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ miywâcimowin (a good story)

ᒥᔮᐧᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ miywâcimowin (a good story) is a pilot course developed by Lyndon Suntjens for ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᕀ amiskwaciy Academy in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᕀ ᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton). The course was designed for a cohort of 18 students, who spent every school day together for the duration of the 10 week program. The class started on April 17th and concluded at the end of the 2023 school year. The students had the opportunity to obtain their English 10.2 credits along with 10 single credits from courses that were all Land-based focused and taught from an Indigenous perspective. The students wrote daily reflections about the Land-based teachings. They acted out plays, read short stories, works of fiction and nonfiction by Indigenous authors. Students traveled by bus every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to participate in different Land-based experiences. Mondays and Fridays were for indoor classroom work. Students were expected to transfer the knowledge that they gathered on the Land into various written assignments in order to complete the class. The 10 one credit courses were supported by Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and organizations like Spirit North, the City of Edmonton (Parks Division) and the Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Centre. The courses allowed us to get out and learn in unconventional ways to the Western education model but in ways that would be viewed as traditional to Indigenous people.