Wellington Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) students recently had the opportunity to participate in a Métis-math collaboration called First Nations and Métis Math Voices. During the session, three Métis knowledge keepers led a class of Grade 6 students through the creation of a bracelet using the First Nations art form of loom beading and mathematical concepts. Students designed their own bracelets using math concepts such as transformations, ratios, and rates and learned how to revise their calculations to create a bracelet with a different size of beads. Students learned cultural lessons and teachings from the knowledge keepers as they made their bracelets. “There are so many cultural teachings that are interwoven through the project,” said Lakehead University mathematics education researcher Ruth Beatty, who spearheaded the initiative. “It isn’t just about mathematical investigations, but it really is learning those important cultural lessons and teachings from knowledge keepers.”
