KUA.Initiative
Táku owas’iηna maka akan yukaη kin hena wótakuye uηkitawapi naka, héuη awaηwicuηkiyakapi k’a awaηuηyakapi.
“The skies, mountains, valleys, waterways, birds, and animals are all our relatives; when we look after them, they look after us.”
Knowledge Utility and Access (KUA) is a three-year grant project dedicated to supporting Indigenous educators in rural tribal schools within the Indigenous Nations of Spirit Lake, ND, and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, SD.
KUA Purpose
Through culturally grounded professional development (STEAM), mentorship, wellness gatherings, and leadership opportunities in mentoring, KUA aims to enhance teacher resilience by strengthening cultural identities, connection to the land, and spirit—thereby increasing long-term teaching impact and sustainability.
Year 1 - Rooting & Connecting
- Trauma-Informed Workshop / Identity Development - Through Personal Reflective Work
- Culturally Responsive Language Workshop
- Culturally Responsive STEAM Workshop
- Culturally Responsive Mathematics Summer Institute
- Listening & Needs Gathering
Year 2 - Growth & Leadership
- Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices / Building Student Engagement Practices
- Advanced Culturally Responsive STEAM Workshop
- Intergenerational Learning: Elder Knowledge / Experiential Learning
- Summer Institute Leadership Development: Understanding the Importance of Mentorship
- Listening & Needs Gathering
Year 3 - Sustainability & Statewide Impact
- Implementation of Elder Knowledge Into Curricula
- Identifying Mentees and Developing a Mentorship Road Map
- KUA Statewide Summit (Hosted at UND)
- Statewide Peer Networking
- Reflection & Celebration Gathering
Indigenous Language Workshop
Dr. Anke al-Bataineh engaged teachers in highly effective Indigenous language immersion lessons and unit plans using communicative language teaching and usage-based language acquisition practices. The Indigenous Language Workshop supported teachers in incorporating culturally sustaining classroom routines and activities, and decolonial classroom management practices.
Indigenous Mathematics Workshop
Dr. RunningHorse Livingston engaged teachers in using multiple solution pathways to solve mathematics tasks that reflect Indigenous pedagogy and practices across kindergarten through high school. KUA teachers used solution pathways that included visuals and spatial solutions that go beyond procedures and memorization.
Indigenous Musicians
The Orchestra of Indigenous Instruments and New Technologies performed at the Enemy Swim Day School in Waubay, South Dakota, and met with our in-service teacher participants in the KUA Initiative. After the performance, musicians and teachers discussed the role of Indigenous instruments in healing practices and in keeping Indigenous ways of knowing alive for generations to come. As part of an exchange of musical performances and learning, fourth- to eighth-grade students from the Enemy Day Swim School performed Indigenous drumming.
Indigenous Trauma-Informed
Terrance Lafromboise, MSW-ITR, SWLC (Blackfeet Nation), MSW-ITR, SWLC, a Trauma Counselor and Adjunct Professor at the University of Montana, facilitated a 3-day hands-on, interactive self-care workshop, Returning to Ourselves, for the KUA teachers. The workshop proved necessary for our teachers as they embraced teaching responsibilities and community care, enabling them to thrive and be present for their students.