With a degree in anthropology, Isa Lemire-Claudé has conducted themed workshops in French on Aboriginal cultures as part of the level 5 “language, communication and culture, intensive” course, thereby responding to the renewed interest in the history of the First Nations, the Métis and the Inuit. Her students have a good background in Québec and Canadian culture and, with her assistance, they enrich it with new aspects concerning the Aboriginal cultures.

If there is teaching material concerning the Aboriginal cultures adapted to various school and academic contexts, only a very small quantity is intended for adult learners of French as a second language. That leaves Ms. Lemire-Claudé immense leeway enabling her to be very creative in exploring that booming field. 

In her workshops, Ms. Lemire-Claudé has used newspaper clippings, recent videos produced by Wapikoni Mobile (a travelling studio for audiovisual and musical production for Aboriginal youth) and has even put her students in contact with the Radio-Canada commentator Mélissa Mollen-Dupuis, an Innu activist and co-founder of the Idle No More movement. The workshop participants questioned her in flawless French about many topics related to Aboriginal cultures. Their questions and the finely nuanced responses of Ms. Mollen-Dupuis can be found on Radio Canada, chroniques 18 à 25.