A collaboration between Piikani Youth Empowerment Strategies (Piikani Nation Secondary School and Peigan Board of Education) and the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta has received funding from the Internet Society’s Beyond the Net program. The project, titled Exploring digital literacy through the Piikani Cultural and Digital Literacy Camp Program, builds on a pilot project held in 2017. As noted on the Internet Society’s website:
The Piikani Cultural and Digital Literacy Camp Program is a community-based Indigenous digital literacy initiative in southern Alberta. The project involves researching and developing appropriate forms of Blackfoot (Piikani) digital literacy. Community partners, students and education administrators from Piikani First Nation in Southern Alberta will collaborate with university researchers to investigate and test digital literacy practices and resources. This will be done through an educational program that blends 2 phases of classroom/online learning (covering 3 modules each) with hands-on activities and experiential learning at a 3-day/3-night camp. Students from Piikani Secondary School will learn about Piikani culture while documenting their experience using digital ICT.
The project is a collaboration between Blackfoot Traditional Elder Herman Many Guns, the Peigan Board of Education, Piikani Nation Secondary School Principal Crystal Good Rider, Piikani technology coordinator Ula Shirt, Piikani Secondary teacher Aaron Devine, Dr. Rob McMahon from UAlberta’s Faculty of Extension, and other community members who participated in planning, facilitating, and teaching in the camp.
The team is thrilled to work together again, after developing the project last year. We thank the Internet Society for supporting our project.