Show Notes
On today’s show, Leah meets two dynamic education innovators who are helping bolster math skills for students, by drawing on Indigenous language and history, and creating fun and engaging digital games.
Leah talks with CEO Maria Burns Ortiz and Juliana Taken Alive (Hunkpapa/Mnicoujou Lakota and Standing Rock Nation) who is Director of Regional Partnerships for 7 Generation Games. Maria Burns Ortiz co-founded the company back in 2013. Since then, 7 Generation Games has been braiding math, language, and Indigenous history into educational games for students and schools across the country.
In November of 2020, the company was awarded a one-million-dollar COVID-19 Rapid Response grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, aimed at creating more resources to help meet the challenges in education during the pandemic, especially for students in Indigenous, Latino, underserved, and rural communities.
The popularity of these 7 Generation Games has grown swiftly among students, parents, and educators as everyone strives to keep young people engaged and learning through all the challenges brought on by the pandemic. Maria and Juliana explain how the company has sought counsel from elders and students to meet multiple goals: to increase learning about historical and contemporary Indigenous culture and to demonstrate measurable improvement in math skills among students playing the games.
Miigwech to Maria and Juliana for your creative innovation, even during the pandemic!
What is Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine?
In Native Lights, people in Native communities around Mni Sota Mkoce - a.k.a. Minnesota - tell their stories about finding their gifts and sharing them with the community. These are stories of joy, strength, history, and change from Native people who are shaping the future and honoring those who came before them.
Native Lights is also a weekly, half-hour radio program hosted by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members and siblings, Leah Lemm and Cole Premo. Native Lights is a space for people in Native communities.
Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine is produced by Minnesota Native News and Ampers, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. Online at https://minnesotanativenews.org/