The Northern Indigenous Counselling 2 (NIC2) program is now being delivered in Yellowknife. All right! I donSA国际影视传媒檛 know about you, but I like sitting in a class with my classmates better than being home alone and seeing their faces on my computer.
Dene Wellness Warriors and Rhodes Wellness College are teaching more Indigenous students to become counsellors, and delivered the first three semesters all online. The remaining three semesters are best done face to face, so voila: the program is in Yellowknife.
Unfortunately, not all students are able to come to YK due to the financial difficulties of moving large families, and/or problems finding affordable housing in Yellowknife.
To accommodate all students, we are using a hybrid model with most students sitting in class and a few online. We have a physical classroom in the Precambrian Building in YK, with students sitting in a circle to honour traditional Indigenous ways. Right on.
We have an exceptionally large television and speakers in and around the circle with several cameras so that those attending class virtually can easily see everyone attending in-person.
During class, those online need to be on screen via Zoom at all times. They are also required to fully participate by asking questions, sharing information and even role playing both with others attending virtually and with those in physical class.
Cody Erasmus is back as the coordinator/classroom assistant; he graduated from the Rhodes Wellness College counselling program in Vancouver and just finished providing counselling services in the Tlicho region for over a year.
Cody was the coordinator for the first NIC program. He graciously agreed to come back when Melissa Lennie, who had been the coordinator since Northern Indigenous Counselling 2 began, was not able to move to Yellowknife. Yay, Cody!
Welcome back Cody, and many thanks for all of your hard work Melissa. Thankfully, Melissa will still be involved in the program. Yayyyy Melissa!
On-the-land camp
The next three semesters will include physical wellness, spiritual wellness, emotional wellness and various courses on advanced counselling.
To kick off physical wellness, an on-the-land camp was held to provide a great team building experience, provide space for reflection, career planning and pulling everyone together for the second half of the program.
Thanks to SFA and Rhodes Wellness College, every student was at the camp, just outside of Dettah at the B.Dene campsite.
The camp began on July 15 with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) drummers and a feeding of the fire ceremony, and it ended on July 19 with the YKDFN drummers. Very cool.
The group was treated to a history of the area and of the Yellowknives Dene, as well as the significance of the B.Dene campsite.
The camp was arranged to maximize cultural learning and activities as well as cultural development workshops and group therapy sessions. Students camped on site and were served delicious meals and healthy snacks daily.
In addition to daily educational sessions, students participated in cultural activities such as learning to make dry fish, fish scale art and mini drum ornaments. Plucking and preparing ducks was cancelled as the ducks did not cooperate. Eschia (take it easy, eh)!
Some students also cut out their grad stoles to start working on them together. Of course, no camp is complete without story-telling, canoeing, swimming and just pure fun and bonding through visiting and playing various games, such as board games and card games. Oh yeah, it was very hot, so they also made homemade fans.
People involved with making this a success included Dean Davey, Rhodes Wellness College provost; Melissa Lennie, NIC coordinator; Cody Erasmus NIC coordinator (July 15); Jean and Roy Erasmus, Dene Wellness Warriors (July 15-16); Alice Abel, Elder (July 17-18); Wilfred Crapeau and Alizette Lockhart, cultural workers; Charlene Liske, camp manager; and Bertha Drygeese, cook.
On the Monday following the camp, students met at the Precambrian Building classroom in Yellowknife to begin their physical wellness counselling course, which focuses on somatic therapy and will delve more deeply into harmonizing with nature. This six-week course was identified as the most important course by many NIC 1 students.
Many students commented on how the camp had been such a great bonding experience. What a wonderful way to begin the second half of the program!
It was an honour to meet the students in person and we look forward to more opportunities to visit the classroom over the next three semesters. We would like to wish our students success as they work on the second half of their program studies.
