The Aboriginal population is young.

Consider these statistics (www12.statcan.gc.ca):

• Aboriginal children aged 14 and under made up 28.0% of the total Aboriginal population and 7.0% of all children in Canada. Non-Aboriginal children aged 14 and under represented 16.5% of the total non-Aboriginal population.
• Aboriginal youth aged 15 to 24 represented 18.2% of the total Aboriginal population, and 5.9% of all youth in Canada. Non-Aboriginal youth accounted for 12.9% of the total non-Aboriginal population.
• About 6% of the total Aboriginal population were seniors aged 65 and over, less than half of the proportion of seniors in the non-Aboriginal population (14.2%).
• Inuit had a median age of 23, the youngest of the three Aboriginal groups. The median age of First Nations people was 26, followed by Métis at 31

Living arrangements of Aboriginal children (www12.statcan.gc.ca):

• Aboriginal children aged 14 and under in Canada lived in a variety of arrangements, primarily in families with either both of their parents or with lone-parents. Other Aboriginal children in that age group were stepchildren, grandchildren living with grandparents with no parent present, foster children or children living with other relatives.
• One-half of Aboriginal children aged 14 and under (49.6%) were living in a family with both their parents, either biological or adoptive, compared with three-quarters (76.0%) of non-Aboriginal children. About one-third of Aboriginal children (34.4%) lived in a lone-parent family compared with 17.4% of non-Aboriginal children.
• Almost half (48.1%) of all children aged 14 and under in foster care were Aboriginal children. Nearly 4% of Aboriginal children were foster children compared to 0.3% of non-Aboriginal children.

• The largest numbers of Aboriginal people lived in Ontario and the western provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia). Aboriginal people made up the largest shares of the population of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Let us connect you to a brand new resource…

In partnership with Louis Says, Crossroads Relief & Development brings you an educational and engaging resource, designed for children in Grades 1-5.  The Bible-based curriculum is culturally relevant to the aboriginal community, focusing on language, customs and practices of the people. 

TO READ MORE

Crossroads has just released a brand new curriculum created for ministry to Aboriginal children… Louis Says Children’s Ministry Curriculum. As a producer of faith and values media content, Crossroads Christian Communications' mission is to convey the unchanging message of God's love to people around the world.

Louis Says is an animated series that tells the story of Louis, an Aboriginal leader whose mission in life is to help people in his community. Louis recruits a young boy named Randy to help him with his work. The problem is that Louis speaks Cree and Randy mainly speaks English! With the help of the people in the community, Randy figures out his tasks and learns some Cree words while he helps Louis. This TV series is currently airing on YESTV and APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network).

To compliment this values-based series, Crossroads has developed an engaging Bible-based curriculum that shares the love of Jesus while remaining culturally relevant to the Aboriginal community. Our desire is to get this material into the hands of those directly involved in children’s ministry in Aboriginal communities, providing them with a resource that will help in communicating the life-giving message of the Gospel.

Each curriculum kit contains the Louis Says video series, 16 large and small group teaching sessions, original music by Don Amero (featuring 12 music videos and a CD), animated Bible verse segments, an exciting game, craft and snack ideas, colouring sheets, Cree word of the day activity sheets, a Leader’s Manual, and a beach ball and cape. This kit will give leaders all the tools they need to provide lessons with great Bible messages to children whether through camp, VBS, or weekly programs. 

Statistics tell us that the Aboriginal community has a much higher suicide rate than the rest of Canada. In one community alone, three members were lost in a few months… one of them was an 11-year-old boy. Together, we can bring a positive message of hope to the next generation.You can purchase a kit for $99 or make an equal donation for a kit to be provided to a community through the Crossroads Relief and Development team. 

For more information, call 1-800-265-3100, go online to www.crossroads.ca/louis-says or contact Shelly Calcagno at scalcagno@crossroads.ca