Bruce County, Ontario: The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre (BCM&CC) and partners are launching The Biinaagami Giant Floor Map, a new augmented-reality (AR) storytelling tool designed to educate people of all ages on the importance of water in the Great Lakes region.
Created by Canadian Geographic, the design of eight‑by‑six‑metre map is meant to spark curiosity, responsibility, and care for the lands and waters that sustain our communities. The experience uses AR to share Indigenous knowledge and guides users along the path of an Anishinaabe Water Walker — a ceremonial walker who journeys along lakes and rivers to honour water as a living, sacred relative and to call attention to its protection.
Map explorers will hear original languages and place names connected to the waters, examine land use along waterways across the region and consider whose lands those waters flow through. Users can locate places they know and discover new ones that inspire future exploration. “Water almost completely surrounds the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory. Lakes, rivers, and shorelines are a major part of daily life for the people who live here. Water is more than something we use — it is life,” says Bluewater District School Board Indigenous Advisor Rebecca Chegahno.
“Water connects people, animals, plants, and the land. It is essential for every form of life. Through the Binaagami Water Map, students will learn about their relationship with water, which will help all of us to understand how to care for it today, so that future generations will continue to have access to fresh, clean water.” The Museum and partners will celebrate the launch of the Biinaagami Map on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026, at the James Mason Community Centre in Saugeen First Nation. Grade 7 and 8 students from Bluewater District School Board, Bruce-Grey Catholic District School and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation Board of Education are joining the festivities. Their classes will move through activity stations led by the BCM&CC and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Coastal Waters Monitoring Program (CWMP).
“At CWMP, we assess the health of the nearshore environment by looking at fish communities, water quality, temperature and habitat,” says CWMP Manager Katrina Keeshig. “However, impacts are not limited to the lake ecosystem — many originate far from those habitats, across the landscape. Our activity will have students travel along tributaries and discuss potential impacts from land uses. Students will be empowered to select solutions and through our game, see how their choices impact water quality, the ecosystem, and aquatic organisms.”
Students will also learn about turtle lifecycles and teachings within Saukiing Anishinaabekiing as well as practical ways to support their protection.
“The Binaagami Map curriculum is an important tool supporting teachers and students to know and understand the importance of water to Indigenous communities,” says Natalka Pucan, Indigenous Education Consultant, Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board. “These lessons support the grade 7 and 8 history and geography curriculum, allowing teachers to integrate Indigenous perspectives, ways of knowing and doing into their classrooms. Having opportunities to learn in an interactive setting ensures support for different ways of learning.”
Following the launch, the map will become a bookable resource for teachers within the Museum’s online Education Centre at brucemuseum.ca/education-centre.
Later this year, the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre will work with Saugeen Ojibway Nation Knowledge Keepers, Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board, Bluewater District School Board, and SON Environment Office to create specific territory experiences with content and learning resources that enhance a localized experience.
Funding for this project was made available through Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Power for Change Project, supporting the areas and people where OPG operates. The Empowerment Grant supports reconciliation efforts in our community.
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About the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre
The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre is situated within the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON). We offer adult and children’s programming, exhibitions, special events and are home to the Bruce County Archives & Research Room. Our mandate is to preserve and make available the documentary heritage of Bruce County.
About Canadian Geographic and Biinaagami
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society has been dedicated to sharing Canadian stories — through its iconic publication Canadian Geographic, and its education and exploration programs — since 1929. Their mission is to make this country we now call Canada better known to Canadians and the world. Canadian Geographic has partnered with Swim Drink Fish and Avara Media to create the Biinaagami initiative.
Biinaagami is an Indigenous-guided initiative that connects learners of all ages to the lands and waters of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence watershed. The project is shaped by a Shared Circle of Indigenous voices and continues to be guided through a two-eyed seeing approach, braiding both Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing. The initiative includes an education program with a giant floor map that travels to classrooms across the country, ongoing storytelling that reaches millions of readers through the Canadian Geographic magazine and an active outreach program that engages hundreds of thousands of people each year.
About Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board
We Believe… In being Christ-centred in all that we do, ensuring that Catholic values and teachings are woven through every dimension of the students’ learning experience, giving particular focus to social justice and living a faith-filled life.
In the constant striving for excellence in everything we do through continuous improvement strategies and being progressive and future-oriented in our planning and change management approaches. Each child is a gift from God and has the potential to grow, to develop and to contribute. Each person is worthy of our respect, is to be included and is to be treated fairly and with dignity.
Our staff and volunteers are our most important resource. It is through their commitment and dedication that Catholic students can deepen the practice of their faith and realize their individual potential. In the importance of collaborative strategies and partnerships that have the capacity to bring all the community’s resources together to support the learning and development of each student. In being accountable to our supporters for the resources that we use, the decisions that we make and the outcomes that we achieve.
About Bluewater District School Board
Bluewater District School Board is located on the traditional land of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, which is represented by the communities of Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. The board currently serves approximately 18,900 students in 41 elementary and nine secondary schools across an area of 8,673 square kilometres in Bruce and Grey counties and employs about 3,700 permanent and casual staff. French Immersion is offered in six elementary (two are French only), two secondary, and two Grades 7 to 12 schools, and one Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 school. Two schools offer Ojibway as a second language. The board’s mission is to provide a quality educational experience for every student in a safe and inclusive environment. Visit www.bwdsb.on.ca to learn more.
About Ontario Power Generation (OPG)
OPG’s Nuclear Sustainability Services – Western Waste Management Facility (NSS-WWMF), located in Kincardine, brings over 50 years of experience, commitment, passion and pride to the safe storage and management of nuclear waste and materials. Their efforts are focused on the reduction of OPG’s environmental footprint through waste minimization efforts and the harnessing of waste for the benefit of all of Ontario. NSS-WWMF also provides a safe interim storage solution for Bruce Power’s high-level waste generated from their nuclear power stations.
OPG is undertaking an energy transformation, helping to create a brighter future for the province of Ontario and beyond.
Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) Environment Office
The Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) Environment Office provides coordination, technical expertise, and policy support to the SON Joint Council on matters that impact, or may impact, the rights, interests, and jurisdiction of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation in Saukiing Anishnaabeking. The Environment Office works with the Joint Chiefs and Councils to serve the people of Saugeen Ojibway Nation, including the communities of Neyaashiinigmiing and Saugeen.