Author Archives: ChristinaHidalgo

First Nations Governance – M2 P5

Grade 6 Social Studies focuses so much on looking at government.  It seemed extremely fitting to look into First Nations governance, before colonization, after colonization, and what it’s like now.  Hearing my Indigenous Advocate talking about traditional leaders being chosen based on respect instead of elections made me very curious about the traditions. This resource from the First Nations Education Steering Committee is a great resource to help kids of all grades understand the past, present and future of First Nations land, title and government in BC.  This would be a fantastic resource for early elementary all the way up to grade 12.

 

Potlach from the perspective of Kwakwaka’wakw peoples M2 P4

This is a fantastic resource to learning authentically about the potlach traditions, history and current use.  The site was created by the The U’mista Cultural Society who is focused on ensuring the survival of the cultural heritage of the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations peoples whose traditional lands are on the West Coast of BC.  They have a collection of videos, writings, photos etc that cover the history of the tradition for their people, the impact of the ban, and how potlach is used currently. Potlach is a commonly known Indigenous celebration, but one that so many non-Indigenous assume is used by all the First Nations which is inaccurate.  Knowing that I am working and teaching on the lands of the Syilx people, it would be a great opportunity to compare and show the diversity of the Indigenous peoples.  While the lessons are geared towards Social Studies 4/5, I think it could very easily be adapted to middle school students to learn about biases, perspectives and the impact of government and colonialism. Also to focus on the power and resilience of Indigenous peoples who refused to give up their traditions even when they were technically made illegal.

 

https://umistapotlatch.ca/intro-eng.php
Living Tradition

Indigenous perspectives on UN Sustainability goals – M2P3

UN Sustainability Goal from an Indigenous Perspective

This connects to my previous post but it’s more of a contrast because it’s showing video interviews of Indigenous leaders from all over the world speaking to the UN sustainable development goals and how they impact their people. Looking at this from a lens of Gr 6 Social Studies, there is a deep connection again to government and the choices, laws and priorities they have. What can/should the federal government, provincial government, and local governments be doing to support these? Where does the responsibility lie? How can we, as citizens, let our government know what we’d like them to prioritize. Who is it affecting and how?

Food sovereignty Syilx perspective – M2P2

Food sovereignty from the perspective of the Syilx people

This is a fantastic resource that connects to the UN sustainability goals (connections to #1 – no poverty, #2 – zero hunger, #11 sustainability, #12 responsible consumption, #14 Life below water and #15 Life on land). Talking about preserving traditional ways of getting food from the land is such a vital part of not just their traditions, but sustaining their people and our land. Looking at the Gr 6 Social Studies curriculum, this would certainly fit when talking about government and thinking about who controls what parts of the food chain and why. It’s also a neat fit into science when you look at the partnerships like the Slow Food partnership that talks about how they are trying to restore things like the Sockeye Salmon runs etc. There would also be a tie into Literacy when talking about storytelling and all the captikwl that are told around food.

Indigenous Perspectives in Science M2P1

First Peoples’ Science resource

I found this through my district’s Indigenous teaching resources and it makes a great connection to science 6 and the body systems. This gets us to connect our body systems to that of a bear which really reminds me of Dr Lee Brown’s interview were he talks about the idea of “all my relations” and the Indigenous perspective that we are all connected, and that we are all connected to the land. It’s got other resources in it including regarding Climate which would be perfect for Science 7.

FN Education Steering Committee Authentic resources M1P5

http://www.fnesc.ca/authenticresources/

I am thrilled that I discovered this after all the reading that we’ve been doing these last few weeks about how inaccurately First Nation cultures can be represented, but by finding resources like this created by the people they are intending to represent is a fantastic start. Their searchable database is a gold mine of resources for a teacher. I love how they also talk about what they define as an “authentic resource” and how they go about collecting them.

Syilx Intellectual & Cultural Request M1P3

https://www.syilx.org/about-us/syilx-nation/syilx-intellectual-cultural-request/

I found this as I was researching the land that I am living and working on here in Kelowna. I found it very powerful that the Syilx people are requesting for people to ask permission and are ensuring that their traditions, art, music etc are used appropriately and accurately. I’m quite curious how often this hasn’t happened and how I, as a teacher who is lucky enough to have Indigenous Advocates that work so closely with us, would be approaching this.

All My Relations – mod 1 post 2

This was a tradition that was first brought to my attention after watching Dr. Lee Brown’s interview and it made me search for some other information about the idea. This article created by the government of Alberta speaks to this phrase “all my relations” and also describes some other general commonalities in traditions and beliefs by some various Indigenous peoples. It is limited in that it doesn’t give specifics of each tribe, but has the value of comparing and showing commonalities between them.
https://www.learnalberta.ca/content/aswt/well_being/documents/all_my_relations.pdf

 

 

Mod 1 post 1 – First Nations Technology Council

This technology council is in North Vancouver, my hometown, and they are actively trying to fight for “digital equity” and “are working collaboratively with provincial and federal agencies, telecom companies, as well as partner Indigenous organizations to eliminate the digital divide and create equitable, affordable and sustainable access to digital and connected technologies for all 203 Indigenous communities in BC”. They are also working to educate Indigenous youth and adults around various technology through courses to get more people engaged with the digital economy.