Tag Archives: Aboriginal knowledge

Post #17 – Honouring Earth – http://www.afn.ca/honoring-earth/

http://www.afn.ca/honoring-earth/

 

This page from the Assembly of First Nations offers a deep and wide perspective on ecology and the policies required to support a healthy environment. It also links out to other external resources such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the SARA Survival Guide. This page has a massive amount of links to all kinds of related content fact sheets, research papers, and facebook groups. This page would be an excellent resource for any teacher planning lessons seeking to integrate indigenous perspectives on specific and current ecological initiatives. It covers a variety of topics and is an excellent starting point for immersing a learner into the issues and current policies and initiatives.

Post 1 – Blanket Exercise

I participated in my first blanket exercise. I was killed by small pox. My co-worker was taken from her land and moved to a Residential school. Another colleague survived Residential Schools but later died due to the negative impact it had on her life.

These experiences are not our own, but were lived by us during our last Non-Instructional Day. The Blanket Exercise shares First People’s history from across Canada in a unique way. I began to better understand what it meant to be killed by a disease I had no control over, I watched people be removed form their land, to be taken to Residential schools. This experience is one I want to share with my classes in the future.

https://www.kairosblanketexercise.org/about/

Reconciliation and Reconnecting

Late with this blog post as well as my other discussions.  Been occupied with visits to the hospital and then trying to catch up with what I missed.  In any case, here are five resources.  I checked posts by others, and I do not think I have any repeated sources, but apologies if I do.

 

http://www.orangeshirtday.org/resources–ideas.html

Probably would have been good if I posted this earlier, but this is a great resource for Orange Shirt Day, which is a day to remember the impact of Residential Schools in Canada.  Orange Shirt stems from the story of Phyllis and her first day at residential school and promotes “Every Child Matters”.  An important day for reconciliation.

 

http://numerocinqmagazine.com/2014/05/23/the-failure-of-reconciliation-taiaiake-alfred/

Speaking of reconciliation, this is a short post that links to a previous post as well as another video with Taiaiake Alfred.  Taiaiake Alfred is an advocate for his people, with eloquent views on how to go about reconciliation and the complex ongoing social issues.

 

https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-016-0366-0

An article on indigenous young people in Australia.  This is a literature review, but has a different conclusion to some of our first module readings.  It is suggested that the internet and social media has given power to the people to set up their community and to build identity.

 

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/028.nsf/eng/00536.html

Archived page from the Government of Canada that specifically states the need for digital literacy and moving from “inclusion” to ‘transformation”.  In the article, the challenges to indigenous communities are clearly laid out and there is a reference to learn from “Australia’s program designed specifically for Indigenous communities”.

 

https://takayatours.com/

With all the focus on reconciliation and technology, it is important to keep in mind a large part of the aboriginal culture and the lens for learning: the connection to the land.  Takaya tours is one of many tours available now in Canada that can help students that are typically in classrooms have the chance to experience and connect with the land.

 

Augmented Reality & Reclaiming Land

Augmented Reality (AR) has helped shape the physical space and an altered reality to bring stories and knowledge to anyone with a smartphone. Wikiupedia has helped bring attention to marginalized people and is a perfect example of what some of are doing in reclaiming spaces. Certain AR apps allow its creators to develop stories or in this case, “the app is another way that allows people to access traditional knowledge that isn’t really readily available”. While AR can be entirely important in sharing these stories, and knowledge, it could be used in ways that spread misinformation to change how the physical space is viewed. Using AR, in this case, empowers and enables people to reclaim land both in the physical sense and digital. Apps like Wikiupedia can be cathartic to some who view the spaces that have been stolen from them.

(Entry 1) Thesis: Making the Classroom a Healthy Place: The Development of Affective Competency in Aboriginal Pedagogy

Thesis: Making the Classroom a Healthy Place: The Development of Affective Competency in Aboriginal Pedagogy

The required readings/video for the third week of ETEC 521 piqued my interest and I wanted to know more about regaining emotional health in the classroom; Lee Brown’s thesis helped to provide context for the video interview and also provided a starting point for a literature review on the topic of oral traditions and the importance of emotions and values in the Indigenous classroom.

Brown, F. L. (2004). MAKING THE CLASSROOM A HEALTHY PLACE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFECTIVE COMPETENCY IN ABORIGINAL PEDAGOGY (PhD). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/Lee_Brown_2004_Aboriginal_Affective_Pedagogy23690.pdf