Protocol Teachings – The Family Centre

In the nêhiyaw worldview, health and wellness are understood as miyo pimâtisiwin, or ‘living the good life,’ and is achieved by seeking mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical balance. miyo pimâtisiwin is a way of being and a commitment to living and practicing in accordance with nêhiyaw ceremonies, teachings, and values.

Through active participation in this 1-hour workshop, participants will:

• Develop an understanding of the relationship between ceremony and healing

• Understand the significance of and meaning behind offering protocol

• Learn how to respectfully approach Elders and offer protocol

To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings

Seven Sacred Teachings – The Family Centre

The Seven teachings provide the foundational directions for living miyo pimâtisiwin (living the good life). Each animal has shared teachings with us, and it is through them that we learned how to behave in the world.

In this 2-hour workshop, participants will:

• Experience a smudge and understand how smudging places oneself in a sacred space, readying the participants to enter into a healing relationship

• Receive teachings on the Seven Sacred Teachings

• Learn how the Seven Sacred Teachings are applicable in many different contexts and how they can be used to better support and engage Indigenous children, youth, and families

To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings

Smudge Teachings – The Family Centre

We believe that any individual who has been given the gift of the smudging ceremony by an Elder or knowledge holder has the responsibility to practice that gift with the children, youth, and families they work with.

In this 1-hour workshop, participants will:

• Experience a smudge and understand how smudging places oneself in a sacred space, readying the participants to enter into a healing relationship

• Receive smudging teachings and understand how to respectfully enter into ceremony

• Gain the confidence to lead a smudge with groups of people

• Participants who attend will be able to better support and engage Indigenous children, youth, and families through ceremony.

To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings

Teaching Traditional Parenting – The Family Centre

This immersive experience, facilitated in ceremony, provides an overview of Indigenous parenting concepts and practices, including the history, legacy, and intergenerational impacts of colonization on parenting.

In this 6-hour workshop, participants will:

• Learn about moss bags, cradleboards, swings, baby rattles, Indigenous stories, and tipi teachings

• Gain a deeper understanding of nêhiyaw parenting from an Indigenous worldview

• Acquire practical tools to help their service users integrate these concepts into their homes

The core of this workshop was developed by the late Janet Fox from the Onion Lake Cree First Nation.

To register: TFC – Indigenous Teachings

Red Road Healing Society

Red Road Healing Society Offers a number of courses and sessions for Indigenous community members, please contact them for more information. See some of the available offerings below: 

• Addiction Services

• Adolescent Programs

• Akicita Youth Program

• Annual Events

• Baby Bonding 

• Baby, Think It Over

• Career Development

• Children’s Programs

• Collective Kitchens

• Counseling 

• Crafts

• Culture Night

• Educational Services

• Family Programs

• Family Violence

• Workshops

• Grandparents Circle

• Grieving Workshops

• Healing Circles

• Health Services

• Home Support

• Housing Program

• Legal Services

• Literacy

• Longhouse Family Night

• Outreach 

• Parenting

• Prenatal Workshops

• Prevention Programs

• Referral

• Rhyming

• Seasonal Events 

• School Outreach

• Social Services

• Soup and Bannock

• Speakers

• Storytelling

• Substance Prevention

• Summer Kids Camp

• Summer Workshops

• Survivor Workshops

• Tipi-Making

• Tobacco Prevention

• 12 Step Work

To register: Red Road Healing Society - Contact

Indigenous Wellness Parenting Program – Ben Calf Robe

A strength-based program that supports parents to build valuable skills and healthy relationships with their children while honouring traditional Indigenous Ways of Knowing.

Parents will enhance their parenting skills in a positive, effective, and enjoyable way while honouring our Indigenous Ways of Knowing. Parents will learn strategies on how to best connect with their child(ren) and have a rewarding parent/child relationship. 

Our program is designed to support trauma informed persons served. We believe in using a strengths-based approach – persons served are led by their own strengths in which determine their outcome. Together we can decolonize our mind, body, and soul through a holistic traditional way.

Some Parenting Topics Include:

• Structure & Routine

• Residential School System

• Impacts of Intergenerational trauma

• Developmental stages of life

• Emotional Regulation

• Medicine Wheel Teachings

• Identity/purpose/culture

• Stress Management

• Communication

• Family Violence

• Grief and Loss

• Self-Esteem/Self-care

• Anger Management

• Conflict Resolution

• Attachment & Bonding

• Relationships & Boundaries

• Parenting Styles

• Behaviour Management

• Traditional Sharing Circles

To register: Ben Calf Robe – Indigenous Wellness Parenting Program

Indigenous Canada – University of Alberta

Learn the complexities of Indigenous history in Canada and the struggles they face in preserving their well-being in modern society.

Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores the different histories and contemporary perspectives of Indigenous peoples living in Canada.

From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores complex experiences Indigenous peoples face today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.

Indigenous Canada is for students from faculties outside the Faculty of Native Studies with an interest in acquiring a basic familiarity with Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationships.

To register: Coursera – UofA Indigenous Canada