Mathematics Bundle - 2026 (26w5629)

The Banff International Research Station will host the "Mathematics Bundle - 2026" workshop in Banff from June 21 - 26, 2026.

The Banff International Research Station has a long history of promoting Indigenous mathematics

and Indigenous mathematics education. The latest workshop on Indigenous mathematics

at BIRS will be The Mathematics Bundle 2026, a follow-up to the successful Math Bundle project in 2025, in which participants will continue developing a traditional

Indigenous teaching method (the bundle) in the context of mathematics. Indigenous bundles

are containers for items which spark a memory and facilitate the telling of a story or

a teaching. The Mathematics Bundle contains items which spark stories, teachings, and lessons

in Indigenous mathematics. Copies of the bundle will be made and shared in parallel with

the sharing of mathematics-related teachings.



The Mathematics Bundle was first developed under the guidance of Elder Betty McKenna at a

BIRS workshop in 2013. In the 2026 workshop the Math Bundle will be augmented with

new items, and a protocol will be developed for the annual recitation and renewal of the

Mathematics Bundle. In addition to the bundle, other forms of Indigenous ceremony will be used

to engage participants in a good way, such as a sweat lodge ceremony, pipe ceremonies,

a full moon ceremony if the moon is cooperative, and visits to Indigenous communities

and sacred sites near Banff. Participants will also engage in storytelling, informal talks,

and friendly exchange as a means of building the Indigenous mathematics community in

Canada, and a memorial for members of our community who have passed on.