Wab Kinew, recently appointed Director of Indigenous Inclusion at UWinnipeg, will be honoured tonight by the Aboriginal Circle of Educators (ACE) at its 7th Annual “Honouring Our Traditions, Celebrating Our Future” education awards banquet. He will receive ACE’s award for Aboriginal Language Education, along with co-recipient Jason Parenteau.
Kinew and his father, the late Dr. Tobasonakwut Kinew, played a significant leadership role in the development of a groundbreaking approach to keeping the Anishnaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, alive. Working with The University of Winnipeg, he designed and delivers the free-of-charge language program at the University’s Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre, which allows children and parents and grandparentsto learn, renew, and rebuild the Ojibwe language.
Kinew also works with representatives from several UWinnipeg faculties to create meaningful learning opportunities for inner-city children at the University. In one instance, he coordinated development of curriculum and translation to deliver science experiments involving space, the human body and DNA. Based on its success, the model developed by Kinew has been requested at other Canadian institutions through the national Let’s Talk Science network.
Kinew is a proud member of the Midwen lodge and takes his traditional life seriously. He aims to renew and preserve Anishnaabe culture, values, and worldview at a grassroots level, and provide avenues for that culture to inform and contribute to contemporary urban culture. He is a well-known broadcaster, record producer, and hip hop artist, and is a graduate of UWinnipeg’s Collegiate. Last year, Kinew hosted CBC’s 8th Fire, a provocative, ground breaking journeyfocusing on the 500-year relationship between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples.
“In addition to being a leader, role model, and change maker at such a critical time for Aboriginal people in our country, Wab exemplifies why the ACE awards exist,” said Sharon Redsky, UWinnipeg’s Manager of the Wii Chiwaakanank Learning Centre. “He freely shares his personal experience, knowledge, love of music, culture, and language with wisdom and judgment. He has been an invaluable role model, both nationally and internationally andour community is stronger and richer thanks to his leadership.”
Click to learn more about programs offered at the University’s Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre.
About the Aboriginal Circle of Educators:
The Aboriginal Circle of Educators exists to empower educators through holistic approaches and professional development and advocacy to advance indigenous knowledge for the success of future generations. ACE is guided by the following principles:
- Aboriginal children are our future.
- The learning environment must reflect the needs of Aboriginal children and their diverse backgrounds.
- Facilitators of learning for Aboriginal children must demonstrate respect in order to develop relationships and facilitate learning.
- Teachers of Aboriginal decent assume the right to be practitioners of Aboriginal education and leadership.
