The BC Aboriginal Child Care Society (BCCACS) hosted its Annual Provincial Training Conference from February 20-22, 2025. The year’s theme was “We Are One: Braiding Our Knowledge” with the aim of “weaving diverse perspectives, knowledge systems, and traditions into a collective whole.” Four members of the Aboriginal Steering Committee at HELP including Elder Duane Jackson, Lori Huston, Sheila Grieve, and Laranna Scott attended.
Sheila and Laranna both ran workshops on topics close to their hearts. On Day One, Sheila ran “Creating Tools and Art for Tactile Exploration” that led participants through the process of designing and creating tactile tools to foster creativity and accessibility within programming. On Day Two, Laranna led a workshop called “Expanding Our Circle: Family Support Institute of BC” with a panel consisting of the not-for-profit society Family Support Institute of BC. Within the theme, the panel illustrated how the society is braiding knowledge together by expanding its circle and building its capacity to better support Indigenous children, youth, adults and families across BC.
As a keynote speaker, Lori presented Nurturing Indigenous Childhoods Through the Practices of Ceremony. As the Project Manager and Curriculum Developer for the “Nurturing Childhoods Through Indigenous Ways of Knowing” Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), and a PhD student under Dr. Hare’s guidance, together they have woven Indigenous teachings into the MOOC’s curriculum. The keynote inspires you to consider how the care of young Indigenous children can be viewed as a ceremony—one that mirrors the love and care Indigenous families and communities have for their children. By grounding early learning practices in relationality, land, reciprocity, and protocol, we believe educators can help foster thriving children who will contribute to stronger, healthier communities and relationships with each other, the land, and the world (Waters et al., 2024). Elder Duane reflected that the keynote on Lori and Jan’s work “speaks directly to the interdisciplinary approach to early childhood education and development, and the holistic approach to raising children from Indigenous cultures.”
As a whole, the conference was an invaluable space shared with those around the province working to incorporate diverse ways of knowing to improve the lives of Indigenous children, youth, and families.
Written by Dakota Anderberg
Dakota Anderberg is the Indigenous Community Engagement Coordinator at HELP. She works with the Senior Manager of Indigenous Initiatives to develop, build, and maintain meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities and organizations.