"Marking Time with Story: The Journey to ALIGN’s First Annual Winter Count"
ALIGN’s Winter Count Project: Acimowina – Teaching Stories
What does it mean to mark time—not just with dates and deadlines, but with stories, relationships, and shared meaning?
This September, at ALIGN’s Annual General Meeting, we stepped into a powerful tradition rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing: the Winter Count. For many Plains Nations, including the Cree and Blackfoot, a Winter Count is a way of remembering the passing of each year through one defining story or event. Traditionally, these stories were painted or etched onto buffalo hides, each symbol a visual anchor for oral histories passed down through generations.
This year, ALIGN hosted its first annual Winter Count, and it was nothing short of transformative.
A Journey That Began in Ceremony
Six months before the AGM, we gathered in ceremony led by Elder Harley Crowshoe at Trellis Society, within Treaty 7 territory—the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy. This wasn’t just a meeting; it was a beginning. Elder Harley guided us in grounding our process in cultural protocol and spiritual intention. From that moment, the Winter Count became more than a project—it became a journey.
We formed a leadership group consisting of Elders, Indigenous board members, agency representatives and a visual artist to help guide the process.
Together we gathered several times in-person and virtually to reflect and learn about the Winter Count through teachings offered by Elder Harley.
The role of each member in the leadership group was to listen, reflect, and gather stories that spoke to the most significant moments since the implementation of ALIGN’s Well-Being Toolkit.
Aaron Russel (Conference Doodles) captured our learning and sharing at our various gatherings through pictures:
The Well-Being Toolkit: A Framework Rooted in Culture
For those unfamiliar, ALIGN’s Well-Being Toolkit is a principle-based, culturally rooted framework designed to help child and family service agencies assess well-being and the impact of their work. What makes it unique is its foundation in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. It creates space for parallel process—where agencies can introduce and maintain cultural practices that enhance well-being across seven key domains.
But the toolkit does more than measure impact. It creates ethical space—a place where diverse worldviews are respected, and Western ways of conceptualizing well-being are de-centred. In this space, storytelling becomes a valid and vital way to share impact.
Stories as Symbols, Symbols as Memory
At the AGM, Elders, agency representatives, and sector leaders came together to share stories from their unique perspectives. These weren’t just anecdotes—they were reflections of resilience, transformation, and connection. A graphic artist captured these stories in real time, illustrating them onto a large printout of a buffalo hide and will digitize the hide that will live on in ALIGN’s online community.
This digital Winter Count is our collective memory. It’s a visual and narrative record of the year’s most meaningful moments. And like the buffalo hides of old, it will hang—virtually—for all to see, reminding us of where we’ve been and guiding us toward where we’re going.
Why It Matters
In a sector often driven by metrics and outcomes, the Winter Count invites us to pause and ask: What story defines this year? It’s a question that honours culture, community, and the lived experiences of those we serve.
By integrating storytelling into our assessment practices, we’re not just collecting data—we’re cultivating wisdom. We’re making space for voices that have long been marginalized and for ways of knowing that are deeply relational and holistic.
Looking Ahead
This first Winter Count is just the beginning. As we continue to use the Well-Being Toolkit and deepen our commitment to culturally grounded practice, we’ll keep marking time with story. We’ll keep listening. We’ll keep learning.
And most importantly, we’ll keep remembering—together.
Jacqlyn Padavell, Well-Being Consultant – ALIGN Association of Community Services