Through the Communikit SaaS mobile app service, the leadership of Lucky Man Cree Nation and The Blackfoot Nation of Kainai (also known as the Blood Tribe) have launched new mobile applications to communicate with their members and increase community engagement.
Communikit, created by Aivia Inc, is an advanced mobile app platform specially created for Indigenous communities and Nations to connect with their members on and off-reserve. It currently serves over 20,000 users spanning more than 80 Nations and Indigenous organizations in Canada.
The Blood Tribe’s app will be used to distribute important information such as emergency alerts, announcements, event notices, fillable forms, job opportunities and resources. The platform allows for the sharing of virtually any type of information.
“The Blood Tribe App provides our members with a more user friendly experience when accessing services and information from the tribe,” said Councillor Piinaakoyim Tailfeathers. “Through technology we are now able to circumvent some of those communication barriers of the past. We are living in a new era, where almost all of our members have a mobile device, now they can stay connected everyday.”
The Lucky Man Cree Nation App allows all members with devices to receive updates directly from the Band Office via the app.
“We are a small Nation — nearly our entire registered membership lives off-reserve, spread all across Canada,” explained Chief Crystal Okemow. “We needed a fast and easy way to get messages out to our people at any time, and an app gives us that.”
The Lucky Man Cree Nation App sends notifications to users advising them of meetings, events, votes, community news, emergency alerts, and other important announcements.
The push notifications are also an ideal way to distribute resources to and request data from them — quickly, easily, and privately.
According to IT technician Richard Okemow, ease of use was also a concern in choosing a communications tool.
“We have a lot of elders and other members who are less technically inclined,” he said, “so making sure that the app is intuitive was of major importance to us. There is even phone and email support available to our members directly from the technical team if they need help at any point.”
The Lucky Man Cree Nation app and the official Blood Tribe App support both iOS and Android, and are available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.