Building Block
The following Building Block resources were developed through a partnership between ARC and Cowessess First Nation. This partnership was created to explore and begin to address the gap in culturally appropriate autism resources for Indigenous people, families, and communities. This resource was created to provide information about autism and to share the stories and perspectives of Indigenous families.
Cowessess First Nation and the Autism Resource Centre believe that all people have gifts to share and that all people should have access to information and opportunity regardless of ability.
When children have those special gifts, they actually have a unique relationship with the Creator, with the spiritual world… A child who has a very unique perspective on the world, we can actually learn a lot from them.
- Chief Cadmus Delorme-
Thank you to the following partners for helping to make this project possible
Special thanks are given to the following people for contributing to the Building Block Project
The sixteen Cowessess Elders/Knowledge Keepers who were fully engaged throughout the project.
Families for sharing their stories:
Kacheena Naytowtow, Myra Delrome, Jeanne Haywahe, Heather Acoose, Cheynna Delorme, and Jeanelle Mandese.
The project Advisory Council:
Chief Cadmus Delorme, Councillor Pat Sparvier, Sandy Pinay-Schindler, Keely Wight-Young, and June Draude.
Community Engagement Coordinators: Geneen Sparvier and Chasity Delorme.
Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre for Cree language translation; specifically Helen Ben, Julia Ouellette and Priscilla St. John, and Darian Agecoutay with First Nations University for assisting with the Cree translations.