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Coyote and Buffalo

  Big Ideas: (time 9:55) Educators are encouraged to focus on four dominant themes throughout their planning and study of the story Coyote and Buffalo . The themes integral to the story are 1) self-regulation; 2) consequences; 3) respect; and 4) responsibility. The following are suggestions and information that will assist educators in meeting their learning objectives for their students. Backgrounder: Teachers are encouraged to read the summaries and reflections found in the book Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way that reference and relate to this story. Several important topics and concepts are mentioned, such as: Connection with the spirit world; Ancestors – continue to be a part of our lives; Desecration of burials and burial sites, the Vallican example; Respect for the dead/ancestral remains; Sinixt cultural practices and protocols around death and the grieving process; Living symbols of loss and deep inner pain; Decolonization;
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Takwiya

(time 9:55) Big Ideas: Educators are encouraged to focus on four dominant themes throughout their planning and study of the story Takwiya . The themes integral to the story are 1) storytelling as a story within a story; 2) informed decision-making; 3) loyalty and friendship; and 4) childhood: responsibilities, fun, and safety. The following are suggestions and information that will assist educators in meeting their learning objectives for their students. Backgrounder: Teachers are encouraged to read the summaries and reflections found in the book Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way that reference and relate to this story. Several important topics and concepts are mentioned, such as: Storytelling, teaching and supporting appropriate behaviour, life skills; Mob mentality; Learning: paying attention, listening, being respectful, questioning; Existence of evil in the world; Maintaining integrity when challenging others; Evolution as a process of moving through ex
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Chipmunk and Owl Woman

  (time 9:53) Big Ideas: Educators are encouraged to focus on four dominant themes throughout their planning and study of the story Chipmunk and Owl Woman. The themes integral to the story are 1) storytelling, 2) cultural appropriation, 3) trust, and 4) gratitude. The following are suggestions and information that will assist educators in meeting their learning objectives for their students. Backgrounder: Teachers are encouraged to read the summaries and reflections found in the book Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way that reference and relate to this story. Several important topics and concepts are mentioned, such as: Ceremony – evolution, devolution, a fluid process; Contemporary efforts to conjure up ceremony – ultimate disrespect; Stories – keeping cultural perspective alive; Medicine Wheel; Burial practices; Huckleberry Ceremony – clues to carry forward; Vision Questing – youth, sumix, spirit power, song; Certain privileges or abunda
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Educators Welcome and Introduction

Dear Educators, We would like to introduce you to the first in a series of instructional suggestions from  Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way.    Funding for the project was generously provided by Marilyn Burgoon in memory of her sister Yvonne Woods, by the Slocan Valley Legacy Fund and by Lori Barkley. Additional funding has also been received in 2020 from the First Peoples' Cultural Council and Heritage Canada to  support the Sinixt language aspects of this curriculum.     Honouring the oral tradition, Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way is a unique publication in that it is an audio file/book collection of Sinixt stories. The actual stories are available ONLY in audio form and may be downloaded using instructions provided with the purchase of the book. The book itself supports the audio files in multiple ways. This project is designed to present Sinixt culture and teachings to students and the general public. After engaging in a listening session to hear a story, the
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Oral Tradition: An Introduction

  We live in a storied landscape. The knowledge that has been here for thousands of years has been overlooked, ignored, or disconnected. This resource unit is an example of the oral tradition based on Sinixt First Nation whose legends, stories, myths, and parables relate to the many aspects of existence and subsistence. First Nations community utilized the oral tradition in their traditional educational process. This resource unit is an offering to assist educators in bringing the Sinixt Peoples into their classrooms and metaphorically out of extinction. The purpose of the unit is to provide educators and students with an experience of traditional, educational, and cultural practice that the Sinixt hold and value to this very day. Variation Aspect The linear frame of reference so prevalent in our modern-day society rarely accommodates two versions of a story without feeling the need to consider one correct, or more correct than the other. Variations in the oral presentations can,
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Coyote Quarrels With Mole

(time 5:23) Big Ideas: Educators are encouraged to focus on four dominant themes throughout their planning and study of the story Coyote Quarrels with Mole. The themes integral to the story are 1) matriarchy, 2) relationship, 3) communication, and 4) poverty/affluence. The following are suggestions and information that will assist educators in meeting their learning objectives for their students. Backgrounder: Teachers are encouraged to read the summaries and reflections found in the book Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way that reference and relate to this story. Several important topics and concepts are mentioned, such as: Matrilineal threads – the roles of the mothers and grandmothers; Smum iem; Protocols for women – sweat lodge, moontime; Babies seen as gifts to the village; Obligation to give in a positive way; Custom adoption by family members; Relevant artwork. Language: An introduction to some of the following words and phra
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