Long Plain Reserve hosted an inflatable planetarium last night. The Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre tries to reach all 55 Band-operated schools in Manitoba. Wilfred Buck, the science facilitator and host of the planetarium, talks about his work.

“My mandate is to put First Nation’s perspective in the sciences,” says Buck. “And one of the easiest ways I was told to do that was look at the stars. Put astronomy in the curriculum so we can make the connections.”

Wilfred BuckBuck also notes he’s learned a lot about other cultures in his studies.

“I research a lot of mythology of my people, the Cree, and I’ve come across Anishinaabe mythology, Dakota mythology, so we use that to show the students about their constellation perspective, rather than just Roman and Greek.”

“All the constellations I speak about are based on the history of First Nations People,” adds Buck.