Wolf Creek Public Schools launches Indigenous Culture Camps this year
The new camps pair Indigenous students with Elders and Knowledge Keepers for land-based learning across the central Alberta division.
Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) has introduced Culture Camps this year to give Indigenous students immersive, hands-on cultural experiences at school. The camps are taught alongside WCPS Elders and Knowledge Keepers with support from the division's Indigenous Education and Reconciliation team.
Director Shelagh Hagemann said the initiative began after students asked for more time with Elders, who wanted youth connected to the land through land-based teachings. Topics covered include Métis history, traditional crafts and games, traditional dance, tipi teachings and medicine wheel teachings.
Schools across the division have recently gathered students for camps hosted in Ponoka, Lacombe and Blackfalds. In December, Indigenous students from Mecca Glen School, Bluffton School, Rimbey Elementary School and Rimbey Junior Senior High School travelled to Ponoka Elementary School for a Culture Camp focused on cultural topics taught directly by Elders, Knowledge Keepers and Indigenous teachers.
Maskwacis Cree Elder Josephine Small said the approach has reached more students than a classroom setting could, calling it a meaningful way to carry out the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action. Elder Bert added that the camps are helping awaken students' connection to their cultural identity. WCPS plans to continue Culture Camps alongside a related program called Mini Camps across the division.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.