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The First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) is a First Nations governed Crown Corporation of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is based in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia on Tsartlip First Nation. The organization was formerly known as the First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Council, but shortened its name in 2012.
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Established in 1990 through the First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Act, FPCC has been offering services and programs to support First Nations' language, arts, and culture revitalization in British Columbia.
The mandate of the organization is to:
Base funding for FPCC is provided through the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation and further funds are raised through partnerships with public and private agencies (including the New Relationship Trust, the BC Arts Council and the Department of Canadian Heritage).
Programs
FPCC pursues its mandate through the following programs:
FirstVoices
FirstVoices is an online indigenous language archive that participating communities can independently develop to house their orthography, alphabet, aural dictionaries, phrases, songs and stories. It also offers an interactive language tutor system. Over 60 communities archive their languages on FirstVoices, and 35 of those are open to the public.
Language Tutor
In 2009, FirstVoices launched the FirstVoices Language Tutor, an interactive, online teaching application. The FirstVoices Language Tutor delivers graduated language exercises in vocabulary development, reading comprehension, listening and speaking. Language Tutor lessons are customizable and can be targeted to specific age groups or curriculum. Any word or phrase in an existing FirstVoices language archive can be used in a Language Tutor lesson, or new words and phrases can be added. The Language Tutor also offers a student tracking system that allows teachers to follow the progress of an entire classroom of students.
Language Lab
The FirstVoices Language Lab is an iPad-based language-teaching app designed to deliver FirstVoices Language Tutor lesson content via a stand-alone portable language laboratory. No Internet access is required for the Language Lab to run.
FirstVoices Apps
As of June 2016, FirstVoices has developed 15 interactive dictionary/phrase apps for the iPod, iPad and iPhone, with others currently in development. The apps contain text, audio, image and video content and are available as free downloads from the iTunes store.[3]
FirstVoices Keyboards
FirstVoices Keyboards is an Indigenous language app available for free download on Apple and Android mobile devices. Regular keypads on mobile devices are not capable of generating many of the special characters of Indigenous languages, making texting in these languages impossible for most Indigenous people. FirstVoices Keyboards, an evolution of FirstVoices Chat, allows speakers of over 100 Indigenous languages in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA to use their mobile devices to text, email, use social media, and create documents using keyboards designed for their languages.
Language Programs
Language and Culture Camps
Language Nests
Language Revitalization Planning
Mentor-Apprentice Program
The Aboriginal Languages Initiative (ALI)
The B.C. Languages Initiative (BCLI)
Arts Programs
The First Peoples' Cultural Council's arts program supports the development of First Nations artists and arts organizations through mentoring, workshops, and organizational capacity building workshops.
Aboriginal Arts Development Award (AADA)
In partnership with The New Relationship Trust and the BC Arts Council, the arts program provides grants to Aboriginal artists, organizations and collectives, with applications accepted each fall.[4]
Applicants may apply for funding in the following areas: Emerging Individual Artists, Sharing Traditional Arts Across generations, Organizations and Collectives, Aboriginal Arts Administrator and Cultural Manager Internships.
Aboriginal Youth Engaged in the Arts (AYEA)
An additional funding stream, Aboriginal Youth Engaged in the Arts (AYEA), is also available to applicants. This stream is for projects and programs that encourage youth between the ages of 15 and 30 to participate in artistic and creative activity that also engages with cultural identity.
Online Arts Toolkit
Supported by 2010 Legacies Now and the Canada Council for the Arts, the online arts toolkit provides Aboriginal artists with access to information and materials that can assist them in their careers, such as a grant writing handbook and an arts portfolio handbook.