TELUS Friendly Future Foundation help Teachers meet Elementary and High School Curricula through Land-Based Indigenous Digital Media Augmented Reality (AR)

Common Weal Community Arts • Posted: December 6, 2024 10:00 CST

On December 3, 2024, Common Weal Community Arts received a $8814 community board grant from TELUS Friendly Future Foundation supporting the Buffalo Futurism Educational Toolkit 

The funding will help teachers meet elementary and high school curricula in innovative and engaging ways by incorporating a land-based Indigenous digital media Augmented Reality (AR) experience in their teaching. Through this funding, Common Weal will create an educational toolkit for teachers, to support them with students in learning activities around Buffalo Futurism – an augmented reality (AR) experience in māmowimīwēyitamōwin Park in Regina created by local Indigenous digital media artists. 

The educational toolkit will include instructions on how to download the app and access the AR experience in the park, as well as discussion questions that support curriculum and relate to the themes of Buffalo Futurism, including Indigenous storytelling, digital media art, social justice, colonization, and the mental, physical, and spiritual significance of the Buffalo. Former Program Coordinator for Buffalo Futurism and Assistant Professor in Creative Technologies & Design at the University of Regina; Evie Johnny Ruddy, will collaborate with Joelly Big-Eagle Kequahtooway, to write the content for the toolkit.

“Through our partnerships with charities supporting First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Youth, we understand the challenges young people in these situations face” said Nimtaz Kanji, Executive Director of TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. “We are proud to be able to support Common Weal Community Arts, with a Community Board grant in order to help teachers and students learn new stories about Indigenous histories, which is a useful tool in encouraging equity, diversity and inclusion, supporting the path to truth and reconciliation.”

For more information on Common Weal Community Arts and the Buffalo Futurism app, please visit our page https://www.commonweal.ca/buffalo-futurism-24 or go to māmowimīwēyitamōwin Park (formerly Regent Park Golf Course) located just north of Regina’s Washington Park neighbourhood at Elphinstone Street and McKinley Avenue. Visit their website for more information on TELUS Friendly Foundation.

About TELUS Friendly Future Foundation

TELUS Friendly Future Foundation is a Canadian registered charity that believes all youth, regardless of circumstance, deserve an equal opportunity to reach their full potential. That is why we’re committed to giving youth the opportunity to belong. By funding more than 500 charities each year that provide education and health programs, many enabled by technology, along with providing educational bursaries, TELUS Friendly Future Foundation is helping more than two million youth in communities across Canada build skills, confidence and feel a sense of belonging. In 2023 alone, we provided more than $9 million in grants to 550+ charitable programs across Canada, and close to $2 million in bursaries to 400+ post-secondary students experiencing financial need and who are committed to making a difference in their communities.