Indigenous Maps in Remote Schools
The Project Title : The Map To My School
The Goal: To put maps into remote Canadian schools.
The Project: The Art For Aid Project recognizes the importance of the Indigenous place name map.
The map was created by the American-Canadian Centre at the University of Maine. The map contains cultural place names in the local Indigenous language, and beneath the name is the meaning of that name.
This is a link to the map information and purchasing site:
https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2018/02/26/new-map-honors-indigenous-place-names-canada/
Personal Statement: when I unrolled this map for the first time, and saw that all the provincial borders were removed and there were traditional names of places written all over it, I was deeply moved. I became emotionally invested in this project from that very moment.
When students look at this map they will connect to it and be interested in it. This is a brilliant tool of communication and learning.
The Art For Aid Project and those who support quality educational resources in remote communities believe in the importance of this initiative.
What Can You Do? The greatest asset in a fundraising campaign is connectivity and a long life - the more it's shared and talked about the longer the campaign lives. Please donate what you can to help us reach our goal and share, share, then share some more.
Goal: $5,000 or more
Budget: I will use the funds raised to purchase maps through the website and have them shipped to the remote community schools. This will be coordinated from The Art For Aid Project office. See the website to determine where maps have been distributed so far. https://www.artforaid.ca/contracts. We are aware that we will need more than the ask to reach every community.
" The Map To My School" initiative is an important contribution to the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.
Demographic: There are currently 292 Canadian remote Indigenous communities with a total population of approximately 194,281 people. Our hope is to ensure at least one map reaches every community.
Feel free to reach out to us with requests for information, support for your effort or of course, to make a donation to this campaign. Please share our efforts with your co-workers and friends.
We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support of the people who have helped The Art For Aid Project put art supplies into remote communities over the past 6 years. We hope to continue supporting remote community education needs until the wonderful day when our services are no longer required.
Miigwetch. Thank you so much.
Colleen Gray
Artist/Founder - The Art For Aid Project www.artforaid.ca
Coming Home To Indigenous Place Names in Canada.
Sample of James Bay section of the map to show detail.
