The Indigenous Orientation Toolkit (IOTK), initiated by Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, is designed to be a tool to enhance bridges between the Indigenous and newcomer communities and to educate them about Indigenous history, culture and contemporary realities. The IOTK also aims to combat oppressive beliefs and stereotypes about Indigenous peoples by seeking to build awareness, debunk myths, and develop an understanding of newly arrived immigrants and refugees and those who help them settle in Manitoba. The complete website (https://hopetoolkit.ca/) will soon be available with completed learning modules on seven different themes, access to additional resources, videos of our Healing Hearts episodes over the last year, and much more.
MANSO is grateful to our partners, including Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba, the University of Manitoba, and KAIROS Canada for their hard work and commitment to the IOTK project for newcomers.
We live and work on the original lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree and Dakota peoples, on Treaty 1 Territory, and on the homeland of the Métis. The gathering place where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet has brought the Anishinaabeg, Métis, Cree, Dakota, Anishinimowin, Dene and other peoples together for millennia. Indigenous Peoples have an enduring connection to this place, which we respect and honour in providing this important educational tool for newcomers to this area.
There are seven themes in the Indigenous Orientation Toolkit (IOTK), and links will be updated as they launch:
- Askii Akawa Asotamaatowin: Land and Treaties
- Gawiin Bimikawesiwin: Assimilative Policies (now available)
- Iyowadwakiya: Worldviews and Spirituality (coming soon)
- Gonezǫ Agót é Gogha: Resilience & Resurgence (in development)
- Ilagiit: Families (coming)
- Otipemisiwak: Métis Nation (coming)
- Anishinimowin: Connection to Land (coming)
Although the curriculum was designed with a Manitoba-specific focus, we hope that it may also prove to be a useful resource for language programs in regions across Turtle Island.
If you have used the curriculum in any way, either in a formal language classroom, in a more informal language or settlement context, or in one-on-one tutoring, we would greatly appreciate it if you would share your feedback in the survey below.
Teacher Feedback Form(Source: Pathways to Prosperity Canada, Promising Practice: Kichi-Asotamatowin: Land & Treaties EAL Curriculum)
