5 Free Educational Interactive Websites with an Aboriginal Focus

Are you looking for innovative ways to connect your students to Aboriginal culture and history?

While creating On the Path of the Elders, we found a surprising lack of interactive online resources for educators trying to integrate Aboriginal content into the classroom.

While there are numerous excellent websites devoted to providing information about various issues relating to First Nations, few sites try to engage directly with Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal youths.

So, to save you from further frustration, here are 5 quality resources to get you started in your search:




1)  On the Path of the Elders  (PathoftheElders.com)

A graphically sophisticated site (and this blog's namesake), PathoftheElders.com immerses you in the culture and history of the Mushkegowuk Cree and Anishinaabe Ojibway of Northwestern and Northeastern Canada.

An innovative role-playing game lets you experience a variety of cultural practices while learning traditional skills and values: you can hunt a bull moose, learn about medicinal plants, ride in a canoe, lay trap lines, and renegotiate Treaty no. 9 (James Bay Treaty).

Furthermore, this comprehensive site features a number of rich historical resources, including video and audio clips of interviews with Elders, an essay on Treaty No. 9 written from an Aboriginal perspective, an interactive treaty map, and archival photographs.

PathoftheElders.com includes downloadable Teachers’ Guides for grades 4-10.
 

2)  FourDirectionsTeachings  (www.fourdirectionsteachings.com)

FourDirectionsTeachings.com is a visually captivating celebration of First Nations’ oral traditions. 

You can listen to a diverse array of audio narratives from five indigenous cultures: Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibway, Mohawk, and M’ikmaq. The narratives are enhanced by engaging animations that vary in style and format. Written transcripts are also provided, and the narrators' full biographies are available.

FourDirectionsTeachings.com includes a downloadable Teacher’s Resource kit divided into three learning groups: Junior (grades 1-6), Intermediate (grades 7-9), and Senior (grades 10-12).


3)  Native Drums  (http://www.native-drums.ca/)

As its name suggests, Native Drums is a wide-ranging site devoted to exploring First Nations’ music and culture.

This easy-to-navigate website features interviews with Aboriginal musicians, detailed explanations and pictures of a variety of Aboriginal drums, a gallery of masks from the Pacific Northwest cultures, and a wide array of myths and stories. By tracing the significance of the drum through various Aboriginal societies throughout Canada, Native Drums provides an engaging and unique exploration of First Peoples’ traditions and cultures.

Native-drums.ca includes downloadable Teachers’ Resources for grades 9-12.
 


4)  Native Dance  (http://www.native-dance.ca/)

A sister site to Native Drums, Native Dance is a comprehensive examination of First Nations’ dance traditions from various regions all over Canada.

In addition to browsing through a large collection of pictures and reading in-depth interviews and articles about different dances’ historical and cultural significance, you can watch over 100 videos of regional dances. Eight Aboriginal cultures are featured, including the Mi’kmaq, Innu, Algonquin, Eeyou, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Dene, and Kwakwaka’wakw.

Native-dance.ca includes downloadable Teachers’ Resources for grades K-12.


5)  Dust Echoes  
http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/

Unlike the previous four websites, Dust Echoes does not have Canadian content. However, it is worth checking out its series of beautifully crafted animations that depict 12 Australian Aboriginal narratives.

Not only can you watch these twelve depictions of traditional oral narratives, but you also have the option of creating your own one-minute versions of the stories. Each narrative is accompanied by a study guide, online quiz, and glossary.

While less comprehensive than the other resources, Dust Echoes is an excellent introduction for discussing different Aboriginal cultures with young children.


Do you know of other resources you would like to share?

Collette Jackson, Content and Marketing Specialist at BlackCherry Digital Media, is writing on behalf of On the Path of the Elders, a free online educational resource that explores Cree and Ojibway history and culture, and the signing of Treaty No. 9.

Check out On the Path of the Elders at pathoftheelders.com.

For more information, email us at info@pathoftheelders.com

Created in partnership with BlackCherry Digital Media, Archives Deschâtelets, the Doug Ellis Collection at Carleton University, Our Incredible World (Pinegrove Productions), the Mushkegowuk Council, Neh Naak Ko, the Archives of St. Paul University, Carleton University, and Wendy Campbell, Educational Consultant (Learning Methods Group).

This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. Created with additional financial assistance from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and the Inukshuk Fund.