NIEA is bringing an interactive Native history learning opportunity to the 50th Annual NIEA Convention & Trade Show

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- KAIROS Canada, a healing organization, was invited by the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) to conduct facilitator training for staff and partner organizations in April. Now, NIEA is bringing this groundbreaking participatory learning opportunity as a large scale one day only workshop to the 50^th Annual NIEA Convention and Trade Show on Oct. 9^th in Minneapolis, Minn. Registration is limited to the first one hundred registrants.

"As a former classroom educator, I immediately saw [the blanket healing exercise] as a critical learning experience for all educators, students, advocates, organizations and professionals working with and for Native education," said Kurrinn Abrams, NIEA Education Specialist.

About KAIROS Canada
The KAIROS Canada Blanket Healing Exercise (KBE) is an "interactive and participatory history lesson" with content and information gathered from elders, healers, and educators. In 1996, the Canadian Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (CRRCAP) recommended education about Canadian-Indigenous history. The exercise was developed and has since been conducted thousands of times by Indigenous groups around the world in different languages.

NIEA Indigenous Empowerment and Resilience Project
"A learning method that addresses the genocide of indigenous people, land loss, stolen children, and education inequalities aligns with our mission and purpose and it also aligns with the realities of Native people today," said Diana Cournoyer, NIEA Executive Director.

NIEA started facilitating the exercise as the NIEA Indigenous Empowerment and Resilience Project. The first workshop was held in June with a small group of Administration of Native American (ANA) employees. As a federal department who services and supports Native communities, the training informed both Native and non-Native employees of federal Indian policies and how those policies have affected Native communities today. Michelle Suave (Metis and Seneca Nation) an ANA employee participated in the facilitator training NIEA hosted in April.   

"It seemed surreal that we were just steps from the nation's capital, where so many of the policies, laws, and broken treaties that were ratified harmed and continue to harm Indigenous communities and individuals. Yet, the conversations that emerged were full of hope and healing," said Suave.

REGISTER: Limited availability! Attend the NIEA Indigenous Empowerment & Resilience Project at the 50^th Annual NIEA Convention & Trade Show, visit  https://niea.site-ym.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1266363.

Media Contact: Geneva HorseChief-Hamilton, [email protected] 

SOURCE National Indian Education Association

Related Links

http://www.niea.org