Indigeneity, Technology, and Education
https://www.bctf.ca/HiddenHistory/
This resource is an excellent tool for developing my own understanding of Residential Schools and sharing pictures and stories with my students. The stories are from real people, the pictures are of real places, and helping students understand that Residential Schools are real creates deeper connections.
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.
In 2015, the Canadian Teacher’s Federation published a 35 page report on the survey results of the status of Aboriginal Education in Canada.
Some of the questions that were asked were:
You can download a PDF copy of the survey to dive into more detail below:
Description:
This book describes the 7 Fundamental Truths shared by the majority of BC First Nations. An insightful read that incorporates traditional teachings and oral storytelling. I learned from Heiltsuk, Namgis and Haida First Peoples perspectives on land and stewardship.
Link: http://www.biodiversitybc.org/assets/Default/BBC_Staying_the_Course_Web.pdf
Description:
A pdf document that highlights Native Stories about Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquakes. It is a great summary of earthquakes along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the relation to Native American stories, myths, and traditions
Link: http://www.pnwbha.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/SSA2001.pdf
Credits: Ruth S. Ludwin, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Description:
Abalone is part of traditional foods of coastal First Peoples. This video provided stunning captures of an underwater perspective of the abalone populations. Students learn about the impact of marine ecology through First Nations’ approach to restoration of abalone. Students may also further research on uses of abalone such as carvings and masks in First Peoples culture.
Link: The Northern Abalone in Haida Gwaii
Published by: Haida Gwaii Marine Stewardship Group
Description:
The Great Bear Sea videos and curriculum linkages make this an excellent resource. In my Science classes, the Great Bear Sea case studies were quite impactful as my students’ research and develop opinions on collaborative research methodologies.
Link: www.greatbearsea.net
Elementary Resource: http://greatbearsea.net/elementary-curriculum/
Secondary Resource: http://greatbearsea.net/secondary-curriculum/
Trailer: Great Bear Sea Trailer
While researching my research project for digital storytelling I stumbled across this article Designing a model of culturally responsive mathematics education: place, relationships and storywork by Cynthia Nicol, Jo-ann Archibald and Jeff Baker. I was instantly intrigued for within my own classroom I struggle to incorporate relevant mathematical concepts from a First Nations perspective. I found this study fascinating as it occurred over 3 years, with 7 participants (3 First Nations ancestry) in a “small rural school district” (p 76) in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia who met for full days every “four to eight weeks throughout the school year” (p 78). I believe that kind of support would be invaluable when learning to incorporate culturally responsive pedagogy into your practice. Since culturally responsive education (CRE) “cannot be approached as a recipe or series of steps that a teacher can follow” (p 76), the researchers drew upon “Archibald’s (2008) Indigenous storywork theoretical framework (p 77) and “participatory action research” (p 77) in which curriculum is developed within collaboration from involved parties as well as community members (p 77). Over the course of the study the participants developed collective projects and individual projects. Working with stories teachers and community members were able to develop mathematical and cultural investigations and example is using Raven Brings the Light students compared “surface areas and volumes of nested boxes, building nested boxes from paper, exploring the concept of transformation and shape-shifting from a mathematical sense and cultural sense” (p 80). The project determined the following aspects for CRE:
The big takeaway from the article for me was to become a more culturally responsive teacher a teacher needs to be committed to transforming their practice by using the ideas presented and it can be sustained through support with other educators, parents, and community members. Knowing every Indigenous community is different culturally responsive education will look different in every community I would like to research how to incorporate culturally responsive education within my school.
Nicol, C., Archibald, J., & Baker, J. (2013). Designing a model of culturally responsive mathematics education: Place, relationships and storywork. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 25(1), 73-89. doi:10.1007/s13394-012-0062-3
In the process of researching the culture and technology relation for the indigenous culture, I looked to language as a starting point in exploring culture, as culture is in language, and to lose the language is to lose a large part of the culture. This led me to the article “The critical state of aboriginal languages in Canada” from 1998. The article lays out exactly as the title describes, and expounds upon the inherent right, treaty rights, and the need for constitutional rights for aboriginal people to protect their culture.
The loss of languages and culture in itself is a sad occurrence, but it is made all the worse with the fact that aboriginal youth has high suicide rates, some have 800 times the national average. The article “Cultural Continuity as a Hedge against Suicide in Canada’s First Nations” explores the idea of cultural continuity protecting against suicide by providing the feeling of connection to land and community as well as identity and spiritual stability. It is stated that regions with preserved and rehabilitated cultures have dramatically lower incidences.
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/136346159803500202
Knowing that culture preservation can be vital to youths places an urgency to teach it in the classroom. A great resource is “The Learning Circle: Five Voices of Aboriginal Youth in Canada” from the government of Canada. The downloadable PDF version contains five different perspectives of aboriginal children across Canada. This was created by synthesizing 15 interviews with three from each of five different communities. The package serves to help understanding aboriginal relationship to the land, the challenges aboriginal youths may face, and draws some comparisons to other youth. This is a class resource, with plenty of sources and activities for the classroom.
https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1329333584407/1534959534898
If the above resource is not enough, or perhaps there is a focus on the Inuit culture, consider checking out “Through Mala’s Eyes”. This is a learning resource package. This fully structured 90 page package contains with activities and sources to learn about Inuit through following an individual, Mala.
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/ainc-inac/R2-240-2003-eng.pdf
Aside from language, art is a large part of most cultures, indigenous included. The is less a teaching resource than an interesting bit of information I found when looking into how important indigenous art is to Canada. According to statistics published in 2017 by the government of Canada, in 2015, Inuit visual arts and crafts earned over $33 million net income, and generated an additional $17 million in economic activity. Those working in performing arts contributed $13.4 million to Canada’s GDP. The page goes further into a breakdown by region, type of art, employment, and economic impact. Might not be particularly useful for teaching, but does put the importance of the indigenous culture through an economic lens.
https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1499360279403/1534786167549
After the discussions around critically viewing Nanook of the North and how to teach students to critically evaluate what they are exposed to in order to determine the authenticity of the item, I was brought back to a session I attended at a workshop about BCERAC. This group critically analyzes and considers what is an authentic story, or book focussed on First Nations culture, traditions and history.
One of the requirements that was discussed in my workshop was what story is being told and who is it being told by. There are many books about Residential Schools that are written by people who did not experience first hand this part of history, or who have dramatized what occurred. The books that appear on the Evaluated Sources website are written by First Nations people and are factual, to allow the author to share their stories, not for someone else to profit off of.