FR
FRANÇAIS
TRANSMISSION
A platform developed from the perspective of
First Nations and Inuit

This section invites you to join the circle of transmission which involves sharing and a holistic view of learning. For First Nations and Inuit, the concept of transmission is essential, because it’s through transmission that learning takes place and also how Elders share their knowledge and wisdom.

Kokom

When you arrived on this platform, you were undoubtedly welcomed by Kokom. It should be mentioned that, although the character of Kokom is inspired by a real Anishinabe elder named Celine Thusky, from the Barriere Lake community, we give her original words in order to achieve the educational objectives pursued by this digital platform. Some of her words may differ from her thoughts in a constant way: here, we’re talking about a role as in theater, cinema… These words are steeped in ancestral knowledge that has been passed down orally for millennia on Turtle Island. We would like to express our reverence for all the elders who have made this sharing possible. Although in her welcoming speech Kokom only mentioned First nations, for her, all indigenous peoples were represented.

To see all of Kokom’s knowledge, click here!

Enjoy your journey through our cultures!

Kendra Montour, Ratihén:te High School Kanehsatà:ke

The welcome video for this Web platform sets a pace that reflects who we are. It’s meant to be an immersion in the territory dear to us. Through this video, we want to introduce you to our values, our way of life and our visions of the world. The length of the video, the use of orality, the welcoming of an elder, the images and sounds have all been carefully chosen in order to engage your senses and bring you to the state of mind in which we are in territory. We want you to experience our relationship with time and nature, which is very different from one culture to another.

Illustrations

The illustrations, for this web platform, were created by ilnu artist Andréa Tremblay. The 11 nations were therefore represented from the artist’s perspective. Occasionally, landscapes, animals and cultural elements differ or are shared from one community to another. This is important to keep in mind as you explore nations.

Andréa Tremblay

Drawings

You may have noticed that several children’s drawings also visually accompany this platform. During the call launched by the FNEC to schools, students were invited to create drawings that represents their culture for them. We hope that these drawings can also inspire you and engage you in valuing cultures for all children.

Taylor Theoret, Ratihén:te High School Kanehsatà:ke

Oral traditions and Indigenous languages

Indigenous languages are oral languages that didn’t have a written representation until the arrival of Europeans. They’re languages of imagery based on observations of the territory. For Europeans to communicate with the First Peoples, the guardians of the territory they falsely believed they had discovered, these newcomers tried to develop a writing for the native languages. They used the alphabet they knew to transcribe the sounds they heard. This is why the spelling of words like Kwe (hello) or Kokom (grandmother), among others, differs from one community or nation to another. Despite our languages having been transcribed into written form, oral tradition remains to this day, the primary method for cultural transmission among the First Nations and Inuit.

Sage Harrington, Ratihén:te High School Kanehsatà:ke