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Indigenous Games and Storytelling

Feb 21, 2022 | 10:34 AM

Join SaskOutdoors and Nature Saskatchewan as we host an in person Get Outside and…Play!!! workshop with Alphonse Obey from the Piapot First Nation.

Alphonse will share his traditional knowledge of Indigenous games through storytelling and teach us to play several traditional games including Pyramid Handball, Double Ball, Shinny, Run and Scream and more. We’ll discuss cultural appropriation and explore each person’s role in Truth & Reconciliation in Saskatchewan and Canada.

Each person will leave the workshop with materials to play several Indigenous games in their own classrooms, outdoor education programs and other activities.

The Indigenous games that Alphonse teaches were a traditional way to share knowledge and develop survival skills in First Nations culture. While non-First Nations communities often see “play” as a separate experience from regular life, he believes that play is at the center of all learning in traditional First Nations culture. Traditional Indigenous games taught valuable skills including agility, strength, balance, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, accuracy, strategy, intuition, patience and also combined mental and physical well-being.