Garden Hill, Manitoba
The Garden Hill First Nation is located on the North Shore of Island Lake, 610 kilometers northeast of Winnipeg. The native language is the Island Lake dialect, Oji-Cree, population is 4570.
Ivan Harper, a teacher from Garden Hill’s Kistiganwacheeng Elementary School, 798 students, reached out to Art for Aid to request books and “animal example resources” for the classroom and library.

To date, the teachers had only animal science books of African and European animals, but nothing to show Canadian and/or North American animals - specifically, animals that reside in and around Manitoba.
Additionally, they were looking for plastic animal toys to show examples of the animals of North America. Resources on animals, bugs, birds and all manner of Canadian wildlife would be helpful for this initiative.
The animal world features prominently in First Nations culture so not having teaching resources available brings challenges for connecting youth to the fauna around them in an educational setting.

Ivan Harper runs a land/language outdoor learning program that connects youth to land and language in a real time setting on the lake and in the forest. Having the correct reference materials for teaching is an important link for his program.
