At KRSS we have been looking for ways to encourage students to come into the AbEd space.

We have started engaging students through cultural foods. Earlier this year we shared 3 Sisters Soup, bannock, and pizza topped with rosemary, dried cranberries, and bison. This month we have had pemmican, bison jerky, and frybread available for students to try. While many students were familiar with frybread and jerky, they were wary about trying pemmican. By the end of the month, we had students (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) coming in and requesting pemmican for a snack between classes.

We did a survey to see which was the preferred flavour out of: Maple Strawberry, Maple Blueberry, and Maple Saskatoon Berry. Students preferred the maple saskatoon flavour.

We are also trying to expand student’s knowledge of Indigenous languages. We previously had 1 button posted by our door with a Ktunaxa word/phrase recorded on it. We had many curious students who would stop by just to press the button. This month, we purchased additional buttons and have recorded the same word in multiple languages. Our current word is “Sunshine” recorded in Ktunaxa, Nsylixcen, Secwepemctsin, Michif, and Ucwalmicwts (Interior Salish- Lil’wat). Students are enjoying hearing the word in multiple languages and noticing similarities and differences.