Tag Archives: Indigenous History

Post 3- Orange Shirt Day

http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

Hearing Phyllis Webstad speak to students in SD28 just over a week ago was inspirational. Hearing her read and share her story, listening to the students asking questions, and hearing about her hopes for Orange Shirt Day and the possibility of being a holiday with Jesus (Christmas) and a Queen (Victoria Day), was inspirational. If you haven’t already checked out this website, I highly recommend it, but if you ever have a chance to listen to Phyllis share her story, you do not want to miss out.

Post 2 – Project of Heart

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.

 

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/

Module 3 Post 3: Searching for Native Stories about Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquakes

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

Post 2- Burn Your Village to the Ground

This video was shared with me around Thanksgiving, a holiday that often celebrates colonization and brings about stereotypical images of when the  “Pilgrims and Indians sat down together”. The truth about what happened after the Europeans arrived and colonization began is shared in this song. The uncomfortable feeling this song gave me helped me realize that I have not done enough in my own teaching surrounding the truth of what has happened to our First People.

Post 1 – Interactive Media

While working through the readings about the cultural neutrality of technology in education, I could not stop thinking about a link that was shared with me. This link is an interactive map of Residential Schools. While the pain and cultural “white washing” suffered in these institutions is still felt today, this map was an eye opening experience for myself and my students. Realizing the years that some of these institutions closed in, and knowing that was in the lifetime of some of my student’s parents, it made discussing Residential Schools more real. I enjoy allowing my students to explore history through the use of laptops and the internet, and this tool was very useful, both as a research tool and initiating conversations at home.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/beyond-94-residential-school-map/

 

Children posing in front of a school with two nuns. Circa 1950. [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2018, from http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3601415

Post #2 – First Peoples’ Language Map of BC

http://maps.fphlcc.ca

The First Peoples’ Language Map of BC is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about language groups, traditional territories, and the relationships between various types of maps. It features detailed information about various language groups, links to information about community champions, as well as resource pages with varieties of external links. You can order physical copies of maps through this website as well. Because of its interactivity, this website is a great way to introduce students to the idea that borders and boundaries have not always been the way that we typically see them on maps and globes today.

POST 2 – Origins of Canada’s First Peoples – David Loti

http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_groups_origins.html

Visited 5 September 2018

With support from the Canadian Studies Program, Canadian Heritage: Canada’s First Peoples states “First Nations people [of North America] are genetically related to people in parts of Asia.”

Inquiry: How long does a group of people need to be present in a place to be classified as Indigenous to that place?

 

POST 1 – Unraveling the Genetic History of a First Nations People – David Loti

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mapping-history-first-nations-people-through-their-genes-180968899/

Visited 5 September 5 2018

Ryan P. Smith reports on Emory University genetic anthropologist John Lindo’s examination of the genetic history of Tsimshian DNA of Prince Rupert Harbour, Canada:

“the population of the ancient Tsimshian people was in decline long before the arrival of Europeans. Slowly and steadily, since their first settlement in modern Canada, the Tsimshian had been decreasing in number, not expanding as one might presume . . . all Native American peoples have their own stories to tell, and academics do a disservice when they proffer sweeping assertions.”

In short, this is an example of an Indigenous people who were in decline before the arrival of Europeans, which indicates the complexity of teaching historic narratives.