If you want to volunteer, to help out with the Walkabout program and learn the background for your own future teaching, come to the volunteer session on Monday, September 23rd @ 12 pm, in Scarfe 201. Continue reading “Volunteer for the Teacher Education Walkabout”
What is Walkabout?
Walkabout is a nine-week team health and wellness challenge that promotes regular exercise in social settings.
This year’s Walkabout forges a virtual route among BC’s school disstricts. Walkabout participants are invited to ‘virtually’ enter their school disctrict and learn a little of them.
Thus, Walkabout is a cultural journey as well as a physical journey, a journey undertaken with one’s imagination as well as with one’s feet. Learn about the BC’s school districts with friends and enhance your physical well-being while doing so.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to all the 2013 Walkabout walkers! March 24th marked the last day of a nine-week journey through the lens of Indigenous communities. We hope you have enjoyed the immense diversity of Indigenous culture in BC. Come to the closing ceremony at the UBC First Nations House of Learning on April 3rd at 12:30pm! We have prizes and wonderful catering from Salishan Catering. We look forward to seeing you there.
New Feature on Walkabout Map
You can now follow teams on their journey on the Walkabout Map on the home page. Just have a look at our virtual map and you’ll see the little ‘green walkers’. Bannockburners are in the lead!
What is the number ‘7’ I’ve seen in some Indigenous words?
How many of you have driven along the Sea to Sky Highway and have seen this picture below?
Credit: Inside Vancouver
Have you every wondered what the number ‘7’ means? So did I! I visited the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center in Whistler and asked them what it means. It represents a pause, they said. It is also referred as a ‘glottal stop’.
You can actually buy the Squamish-English language dictionary from Amazon.
Skwxwu7mesh Snichim-Xweliten Snichim Skexwts
Discovering BC through the lens of Aboriginal people!
How would you like to discover BC through the lens of Aboriginal people? You can learn about their arts & culture, hospitality and outdoor adventures as you travel throughout BC. Come have a look at www.aboriginalbc.com for your next trip!
Arctic Air
Did you know that the TV series “Arctic Air” is filmed in BC for some episodes? It has been filmed in Pitt Meadows for a few scenes.
It is a one hour TV series set in the Arctic, with several Indigenous actors; Adam Beach, a well known Aboriginal actor, Kevin Loring from the Nlaka’pamux First Nation and several others. Lytton First Nation is one of the band members of the Nlaka’pamux First Nation which you will be visiting along the walking route.
Catch an episode at: www.cbc.ca/arcticair
Killer whale scratching her back on the beach
If you are going to be visiting Alert Bay during your walk, you can read about Corrine Hunt, the designer of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic medals. She was born on Alert Bay and is a member of the Raven Gwa’wina clan from Ts’akis, a Komoyue village on Vancouver Island. Her grandmother gave her name, “killer whale scratching her back on the beach.” She also designs many pieces of artwork and jewelry.
She also designs the arms of eyeglasses which can be seen at: www.claudiaalan.com/aya.php if you would like a new stylish look!
You can learn more about her work at www.corrinehunt.ca
Do you have an iPhone?
Did you know that you can download a free app for the Hlgaagilda Xaayda Kil language, the language of the Haidi, on Haida Gwaii?
- “The Skidegate Haida Language app is a media-rich bilingual dictionary and phrase collection comprised of words and phrases archived at the online Aboriginal language database FirstVoices.com. Word and phrase definitions are illustrated with audio recordings, images and videos. Editing features allow users to customize content by replacing default multimedia with personal pictures, videos and sounds using either the camera and microphone built into their device or images from their onboard photo collection.” (Description of the app from iTunes)
Download it for free at: itunes.apple.com/app/hlgaagilda-xaayda-kil/id474664985?mt=8 and learn a few phrases as you go for your daily walk!
The Year of Indigenous Education Walkabout: 2013 Launch Event
Did you know that only three out of 10 people do enough exercise, but eight out of 10 of us think we do? The “Walkabout” project at UBC seeks to bridge this chasm by combining physical activity and fun with educational learning through nine weeks of tracking participants’ daily physical activity, converting it into steps, and then into kilometers to see how far we walk. On January 16th, the Faculty of Education’s “Walkabout” committee launched its 7th annual program highlighting fitness-steps to a healthier individual and community. This year’s event is co-sponsored by The Year of Indigenous Education initiative (www.yie.educ.ubc.ca).
Students, teachers/principals, parents, community members, and UBC faculty and staff have formed 27 teams of five. Each team member uses a pedometer to keep track of distance walked each week over a 9-week period. At the official launch, Dr. Mark Edwards shared with enthusiasts key motivations to our healthier selves: the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) say 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles/8 Km) can give you a healthy heart and reduce body fat. Fitness educators offer even more revealing news. Based on the classification of pedometer steps to determine physical activity in healthy adults, 4,000 or less steps/day points to a “sedentary lifestyle “; 6000 steps/day is considered “low active”; 8,000 steps/day denotes “somewhat active”; 10,000 steps/day constitutes “active“; and 12,000 steps/day equates to being “highly active”. Most of us only walk 4,500 steps a day.
Not only does the 2013 Walkabout encourage personal wellness; as a learning activity, the project also offers a ‘virtual’ or ‘online’ opportunity to increase participants’ awareness and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, communities and organizations throughout British Columbia. Jessica Dunkley, a graduate student worked with over 75 Indigenous communities, organizations and centers to acquire their approval to be virtually visited during the 2013 Walkabout Tour. To name a few, are the Xa’xtsa Nation, Secwepemc Museum, T’it’qet Nation, Westbank First Nation, Heiltsuk Nation, Chalo School- Fort Nelson, BC Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN), Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center, and Metis Nation BC. Participants can answer on-line questions about the different partnering communities, collect visa stamps for their team ‘passport,’ and win prizes. Watch for the results at the April 3, 2013 Closing Ceremonies to be held at the UBC Longhouse.
Donna Lester-Smith