From Learning to Launching: A Creative Spin on Social Entrepreneurship in Canadian Territories
Over the past six months, the NWT Literacy Council, Yukon Literacy Coalition and Ilitaqsiniq teamed up to create a hands-on social enterprise training program for Northerners across all three Territories.Social enterprise training programs do more than just teach people how to make and sell products. Entrepreneurship is a topic rich in opportunities to engage every one of the Skills for Success in a practical way. At the same time, the program highlights the importance of community impact for a business and helps emerging artists enter the market. It provides a…
Happy NWT Literacy Week!
Our team is excited to kick off one of our busiest weeks of the year: NWT Literacy Week! This year the theme is Connecting Generations. We are highlighting how literacy and communication can connect people of different ages, and how knowledge is shared from one generation to another. Just as we believe that parents and families are children’s first teachers, we also believe that children and young people can teach their elders. We hope you take time this week to learn, and share your learning with people of other generations. Check out our social media for a…
Connecting on the Land in Denendeh
It has been a couple of weeks since I returned from the COLD (Connecting on the Land in Denendeh) Forum Camp with Northern Youth Leadership (NYL). I was invited by Steph Woodworth (NYL Project Director) and Goliah Makletzoff-Cazon (NYL Project Coordinator) to be one of the many community mentors at this camp. From February 9 to16, I spent time with youth from all three territories at Camp Connections, creating and sharing stories together. Youth living in the North have incredibly meaningful stories to share, and the climate crisis is urgently inspiring more…
Celebrating Canadian Agricultural Literacy Month: Why It Matters
Every March, Canada observes Agricultural Literacy Month, a significant event dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of agriculture among Canadians. The goal is to foster a profound connection between our communities and the agricultural sector, highlighting its critical role in our daily lives and the economy. The history of agriculture in the Northwest Territories (NWT) is a rich and complex tapestry, woven with the contributions of diverse peoples and cultures. This narrative unfolds against a backdrop of stunning landscapes and…
Celebrating Black History Month: Honouring the past, inspiring the future
In February, Canadians come together to celebrate Black History Month, a time to honour and remember the rich culture, achievements, and contributions of Black Canadians. This year's theme, "Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations”, invites us to learn about the stories of Black Canadians whose strength and creativity have left a lasting impact on our society and throughout the world. It also encourages us to recognize the pioneers of the past and to inspire and support emerging leaders within the community.…
Dene Kedǝ Hedetsı́tó, (Holding onto our Language)
Hello, my name is Cathy Modeste-Short. I'm happy to be with you to talk about Indigenous languages. One of our elders, the late Paul Baton, said "We are not supposed to lose our language. We have to preserve it and protect it. That is the way it should be." Another elder said to be careful to listen when people tell you something. Pay attention to the words. Watch the speaker's expression and their mouth so you can understand their meaning. They may be giving you words that must be remembered so you can use that knowledge in the future. It may save your…
Resilience Through Language
There is a teaching I love about Indigenous resilience and the strength of the braid. The braid has three strands, each representing an important aspect of our resilience as Indigenous peoples. First, our connection to the Land. As Indigenous people, our connection to the Land is everything. The Land is sacred. Mother Earth gives us everything we need, and in return it is our job to care for Her. That sacred connection is at the forefront of an Indigenous world view – it is the lens through which we look at the world. The second strand represents…
Language is Connection
Language is about connection: connection to the Land, connection to our values, connection to one another. It's no wonder, then, that our languages were systematically targeted by colonization. Although I grew up hearing the language around me at a young age in Deline, once my family started moving to different communities every few months, that consistency was difficult to maintain. When we settled down for a while in my dad's community of Tulita, I was grateful for the Indigenous Language and Culture class we had at the school. But without the language…
NWTLC Holiday Book Picks, Part 3
This is the third and final segment of our annual holiday book picks blog series. This is always a fun list for our staff to compile and we end up adding to our own To Be Read lists from reading each other’s suggestions! We wish you a wonderful holiday season, full of great stories. Be sure to check out the last two blog segments here and here. The Misewa Saga by David A. Robertson The Misewa Saga is described as a “Narnia-esque” fantasy rooted in traditional Indigenous stories of the sky and constellations. The book tells the story of Morgan and Eli…
NWTLC Holiday Book Picks, Part 2
This is the second instalment in our holiday book picks series. We hope you are enjoying reading about our favourite books of 2024, gifts we are excited to share and books we can’t wait to read! Check out last week’s blog here, and visit again next week for our third list. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer As an Indigenous Scientist, Kimmerer dives into her Potawatomi cultural and spiritual heritage with her knowledge as a botanist to weave together a new perspective on how plants and the current ecosystem communicate with…
NWTLC Holiday Book Picks, Part 1
Each year our team creates a blog series highlighting our favourite reads of the last year, books we are looking forward to reading over the holiday break, or books we plan to give as gifts this year. We hope you enjoy these first suggestions and check back each of the next two weeks for the rest of the series. Wonderfully Wired Brains by Louise Gooding I am excited to explore this book with my neurodivergent children. This book explains brain function in lots of great illustrations, helping children understand what happens in our brains, and how it impacts…
Giving Tuesday -- The world’s largest generosity movement
The NWT Literacy Council is a non-profit organization and a registered charity. We are funded by various levels of government (municipal, territorial and federal), as well as foundations, industry, and partnerships with other organizations, to carry out projects within the NWT that focus on many different aspects of literacy. These include Family Literacy, Youth Literacy, Adult Literacy, English Language and Literacy for Newcomers to Canada, Indigenous Languages support, and the list goes on. You might wonder: if this organization is funded,…
Building baby’s library and early literacy skills
When I started at the NWT Literacy Council in August 2015, I was a 23-year-old recent graduate. This feels like quite a long time ago now! Over the years I’ve worked in a few different positions and on a variety of projects at NWTLC; but I started off in one of our flagship programs, which is Family Literacy. To say I learned a lot during this time would be an understatement. I learned about emergent literacy skills in babies and toddlers, the importance of talking to your baby using rich and varied language (including “serve and return” interaction), all…
Cultivating Community: A Social Enterprise Engages Youth in Tulita
This summer we partnered with Indigenous-owned Yellowknife-based business, Ever Good Medicine, to help pilot a unique program for youth in Tulita. The outcome of this collaboration was the launch of an immersive four-week training that blends traditional knowledge with practical business skills, all aimed at empowering youth as stewards of their culture and the next generation of Indigenous entrepreneurs. The program ran in Tulita from July 22 to August 16 and engaged a cohort of nine youth. At the core of this social enterprise is Ever Good Medicine’s…
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Learning Resources
Each year, NWTLC compiles and shares a list of suggested learning resources related to the history and ongoing impacts of the Indian Residential School System. As an educational organization, this is a small step in our commitment to ensure we work towards understanding the truth, and working with our Indigenous partners as we walk towards reconciliation. We publish this list as a stepping stone for you to use in a day of learning and reflection on September 30, and then refer back to throughout the year to continue learning and sharing. This year we put out…