OJI:SDA’ SUSTAINABLE INDIGENOUS FUTURES CAMPAIGNIndigenous Elders & Teachers Fund
Be part of creating an educational opportunity that brings Land-based / Native teachings and curriculum to the mainstream
Campaign Target
Our Goal
Our goal is to partner with Indigenous knowledge carriers (Elders) and K-12 teachers to co-construct a Land-based curriculum that can be piloted while it is being developed during the 2022-2023 school year.
Our Impact
The outcome of this campaign will lead to transformed learning spaces for youth, families, and educators where Indigenous communities are seen, heard, healthy, and thriving, and our Earth is respected and cared for.
The envisioned outcome will be that teachers will develop the knowledge, insight and skill to create robust curricula that unpack the legacy of misinformation pertaining to Native peoples and foster the development of a deeply ingrained relationship between people and the natural world.
As direct participants of the program, we will provide important lessons about the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences and support youth to show up as their most authentic selves.
Who Will Benefit?
Indigenous knowledge carriers (Elders) will receive equitable compensation to help guide our framework and the teachers we partner with in upstate New York for their commitment to learning cultural literacy and decolonial environmental stewardship.
The teachers we partner with to attend training, co-construct the Land-based curriculum, and pilot the curriculum during the 2022-2023 school year.
The students will participate in innovative ways that are relevant to the real-world needs and goals of youth, their families and will increase Indigenous representation in the fields of Technology, Engineering, and Sciences (STEM).
Additionally, we are working with teachers to provide STEM skills and equitable educational environments where all students can succeed.
Your support will help us launch in August 2022
We will invite our Elders to join us for the inaugural gathering for teachers in August of 2022. During the OJI:SDA’ Center for Intergenerational Learning gathering, educators will learn the fundamentals of the OJI:SDA’ Framework, work collaboratively and independently to co-construct a multidisciplinary Land-based curriculum that can be utilized as soon as the school year starts.
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We are an Indigenous women-founded and led organization. We come together from diverse nations to collaborate in creating responsive educational experiences focused on reconnection to our traditional teachings, storytelling, and media literacy empowerment.
We promote tools for self-healing and community support, through Land relationships and curricula for public schools that are rooted in Indigenous perspectives.
The highest percentage of people protecting the Earth are Indigenous peoples. The foundation of their cultural worldview is rooted in this responsibility and teachings of living in symbiotic equilibrium with the Earth.
To connect the world with this perspective, to honor the people and turn these teachings into everyday practices, is the shift of world perspective that will save our planet and help us to be healthier beings on it.
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Healing and liberation from settler colonialism can happen when educational institutions move towards an understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems as well as embed Indigenous practices and values in daily instruction.
The environmental challenges and exclusionary practices of educational institutions require a shift in consciousness that fosters respect for the Land and cultivates positive relationships between people and all other species.
Indigenous models of education provide a powerful tool for transforming systems of learning and promoting intercultural understanding, inclusivity, cooperation, and collaboration between Indigenous and non-native peoples.
Providing an educational experience that supports youths' perspectives to be more rooted in land relationships promotes good self-care practices within them, kindness in relation to others, and informs practical lifestyle choices that take the earth and environment into consideration.
