New and Noteworthy

If YES, then CIER has the perfect opportunity for you!

What is the opportunity?

A 3 to 5-day digital storytelling workshop where YOUTH get to tell their stories and learn how to create digital stories. CIER will share these stories about the traditional foods on a new interactive website we are developing about traditional foods, environment and the future.

CIER has partnered with the Centre for Digital Storytelling, Toronto for this workshop. See examples of digital stories here:

• Rigolettimiugvunga 
• Six Nations Echoes 

Who Do We Want to Partner With?

An enthusiastic First Nation and school that want to share their voices about the importance of traditional food, the environment, health and the future.

A community and school that can continue to use the digital workshops to continue to create stories to share. That’s right – we have two digital labs for your school to keep!

What Are We Looking For?

• A committed high school and First Nation
• A minimum of 10 tech savvy YOUTH ages 13-17
• An enthusiastic teacher (or teachers) to work closely with us
• A school interested in connecting these topics to their curriculum

What Is Involved?

CIER will come to your community to deliver a 3 to 5-day workshop on digital storytelling. Opportunities for this visit are:

• March 19 – 23 
• March 22 – 26 (weekend opportunity to involve family)
• March 26 – 30

Before you respond to this opportunity, make sure your First Nation and/or teacher are available for one of these time periods!

Does This Sound Like Your Community?

If you think your First Nation and/or high school should be our partner, please contact us by end of day Wednesday, February 16th, 2012 and let us know:

• Why your First Nation should be involved?
• What time period (noted above) works the best?

Thank you to those who expressed interest in CIER’s partial sponsorship to attend the AFN National Water Conference. Congratulations to the two individuals who were selected! This opportunity closed on January 25th, 2012.

Through our First Nation Fish Habitat Program (FNFHP) funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the CIER is pleased to offer a partial sponsorship to help interested Manitoba First Nation individuals attend the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Water Conference to be held March 5-7, 2012 at the Marriott Edmonton at River Cree Resort in Edmonton, Alberta. For more information about the conference please visit the conference website. 

Who Should Attend?

We are interested in sponsoring individuals who are engaged in areas related to water such as fisheries technicians, educators, water monitors, land managers, and fishers to name a few.

What Do We Provide?

Through the FNFHP we are able to provide sponsorship for 2 people to attend which includes conference registration, hotel and airfare up to a maximum amount.

How does the Selection Process Work?

In order to make the selection of the 2 individuals a fair process, we are asking interested people to answer one question to assist us in making the selection decision. Selected individuals will be notified on Friday, January 27th, 2012 and details worked out at that time.

Are you Interested?

If you are from a Manitoba First Nation and interested in attending, please contact us by end of day Wednesday, January 25th, 2012, and let us know: Why you are interested in attending the AFN National Water Conference?  Please include details about how this conference can assist you with the work that you do in your First Nation.

Thank you to those who expressed interest in CIER’s partial sponsorship to attend the AFN National Water Conference. Congratulations to the 2 individuals who were  selected! This opportunity closed on January 25th, 2012.

Rivers and lakes across Canada are under threat from aquatic invasive species. They can be any living organism (e.g. fish, mollusks or plant) introduced to the water that displace native species, sometimes destroying entire food webs and costing millions in damage. We can all help protect our waters from these invaders by learning to recognize them, keeping boats and equipment clean, and volunteering with an invasive species monitoring program.

CIER is connecting with First Nation and Métis fishers in Lake Winnipeg and in the Winnipeg River Water Basin to explore their interest in forming an Aboriginal Early Detection Network for Aquatic Invasive Species. Through this network, Aboriginal fishers – with their unique knowledge and extensive experience on the water will connect with researchers and water stewards. By working together, the network will seek to detect and respond to invasive species before they can become a problem.

Join us to be part of the solution! We are looking for:

• Fishers (commercial or otherwise), who want to learn more about participating.
• Community members or leaders, who want to learn more and promote the project.
• Teachers or educators, who wants to teach youth about the importance of their watershed and the impact of invasive species.
• Land or water stewards, who can provide resources and expertise.
• Concerned citizens, who want to assist with the project in any way they can.

Please contact us  today to get involved.

This project is being undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada.

Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du Governement du Canada.

We are pleased to share the user-friendly First Nations Integrated Watershed Planning volumes with you through the online, on-demand printing service Lulu. Please visit Lulu to order any or all of the six guidebooks in this series.

• Getting Started (also available as a free PDF download)
• Volume 1: Describing Your Approach: Know Yourself
• Volume 2: Building Partnerships: Collaborative Relationships
• Volume 3: Knowing Your Watershed: All Our Relations
• Volume 4: Achieving Consensus on the Plan: Design the Plan
• Volume 5: Bringing the Plan to Life: Follow Through  

Looking for Watershed Planning Training for Your First Nation or Organisation?

CIER also developed and delivered a two-day training workshop on First Nation Integrated Watershed Planning using the guidebooks.  If this is something your First Nation or organisation is interested in please contact us.

Stay Tuned!

In September 2011, CIER delivered a series of four webinars to introduce these guidebooks to people across Canada working on First Nation and water issues. Recordings of these webinars will be available for a small fee on CIER’s website soon. Listen on your own or as a group as you follow along with the guidebooks – doing so will help you apply the information in each book to your own watershed planning process.

Thank you to the RBC Blue Water Project for funding this important project. Thank you to the Hupacasath First Nation (BC), the Mikisew Cree First Nation Industry Relations (AB), the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources (NS) for working with us and sharing their experiences.