Category Archives: Module 2

Justin’s Post 4 & 5- The Project of Heart/BC’s Aboriginal Education Scholarships

  1. The Project of Heart

The “Project of Heart” is an in inquiry based, hands-on, collaborative artistic journey of seeking the truth about the history of Aboriginal people in Canada. The purpose is to: examine the history and legacy of residential schools in Canada, acknowledging the loss of former students, commemorate the lives of the thousands of children who dies as a result of the residential school experience, and call Canadians to action through social justice endeavours.

The Project of Heart acknowledges the families and communities whom those children belonged to. Originally, this website was designed to bring awareness, but as it has evolved, this is a tool used to educate all Canadians about the history and legacy of this crime and tragedy.

This resource was created for: teachers who want to know the truth and inspire their own students to speak the truth and take a positive action in society, families who want to become more aware, and anyone who wants to know the truth behind the reality that Aboriginal people are faced with today and to work together to make a difference NOW.

Below is a link to the resource section: Click here

 

  1. BC Aboriginal Student Scholarships

There are over 60,000 students in BC’s school system who self-identify as being Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) ancestry. Recognizing that our students are our future, Aboriginal Education seeks to: improve the success of these students, support all students learning about Aboriginal peoples, and help teachers in their efforts to bring Aboriginal knowledge into their teaching practice. I’m not sure how many of us are high-school teachers, but below are some scholarship opportunities provided to Aboriginal students.

All information can be found on the British Columbia Education webpage under the Aboriginal Education tab.

Justin Post #3- Short Film ‘Mountain of SGaana’

While reading the news today, I came across a short film about Haida culture and tradition that is being shown at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Animator and creator Chirstopher Auchter says the Mountain of SGaana is a take on a traditional story of a killer whale who falls in love with and lures a sea hunter into the water. The hunter’s lover has to save him.

On the news1130 webpage, Hana Mae Nassar and Stephanie Froese wrote the article that covers an interview they had with the Animator/creator Chirstopher Auchter. Archer says, “This film is kind of full of different meanings,” who adds the 10 minute short contains no words apart from the Indigenous songs throughout. “It’s a story about culture, and the story about the importance of that.”

Auchter, who is from Haida Gwaii, hopes his work will help give people a different perspective through the use of iconic designs, songs, and technique.

“One of my main goals is that these stories that I do that they be almost like a window or a little doorway that people from other cultures can kind of peek in and see how we as a Haida people see the world.”

Watch the trailer below, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.

The Mountain of SGaana has won an award, and is also a reflection of how Indigenous youth have lost connection with their ancestors, and Auchter is hopeful his film will help bring them closer to their history.

“It’s about culture and about how that can help us be anchored and go through life a little bit more confident because we feel like we have a place of belonging.”

The film makes its Western Canada debut at the International Village tomorrow, October 5th, and will play again on the 12th.

For more information please visit the Vancouver International Film Festival webpage: https://www.viff.org/Online/ 

Justin’s Module 2 resources: #1 & #2

  1. In the Eyes of Mala

On the Government of Canada website, under the teaching resources, you will find a pdf document called, “In the Eyes of Mala.” This document demonstrates a series of lesson plans built around a 12-year-old Inuk boy who lives in Salluit, Nunavik, for students aged 9-12 years old. The unit will provide some insight into the lives of Inuit, where students will learn about the history, culture and traditions of Inuit. When completed the booklet, students will be able to: express an appreciation for strong traditions and unique culture of the Inuit people, describe the various developments that affected Canada’s Artic from its early history to the present, locate the community of Salluit and its neighbouring Inuit municipalities on a map of Canada, and relate the similarities and differences between life in Salluit and life in their own community.

Here is the pdf: CLICK ME

In addition to this, I wanted to include a webpage that will help introduce the topic of the Inuit.

Here is the webpage: CLICK ME

  1. Stained Glass Window in Parliament: Commemorating the Legacy of Indian Residential Schools

Residential schools were government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. They were originally established in 1880 and the last one closed in 1996. Personally, I have a hard time teaching about this topic because it is something I’m not proud of, and something that I do not want my kids to think was okay. I’ve used this video to introduce residential schools to my students, which can be found on “The Canadian Encyclopedia” webpage.

After introducing the video, I had an elderly man from the community come in to talk about their experience with residential schools and how it affected his family. After each story, Jackie (the elderly man) would attach some sort of art activity. Since we were learning about colours and shades in Art class, Jackie suggested that he would teach a lesson on stained glass, as there is a glass window in parliament commemorating the legacy of residential schools. Here is the 4 page brochure issued by the Government of Canada: CLICK ME

Hopefully this resource can provide you an introductory lesson to teach in your classrooms. I felt better using government issued resources at first, because it has been written and developed with Indigenous perspective in mind.

Orange Shirt Day

In Surrey, we recognize Orange Shirt Day as a day where ‘Every Child Matters.’

If you haven’t heard about Orange Shirt Day, you can find information about it on their website: http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

Blurb from the website:

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013.  It grew out of Phyllis’ story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.

The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year.  It also gives teachers time to plan events that will include children, as we want to ensure that we are passing the story and learning on to the next generations.

Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

I use this website for their resources and ideas on Orange Shirt Day, which fell on Friday last week. We read “When I Was Eight” and had a discussion around residential schools.

Module 2- Post 5: “In Whose Honor?” : Paul Waterlander

This is a powerful documentary centering on the battle to fight racist and harmful Indigenous stereotypes.  This battle happened in the early 1990’s at the University of Illinois.  The school’s mascot was named “Chief Illiniwek”.  He was created back in the 1920’s, and his job was to create school spirit and cheer on the university’s football and basketball teams during halftime.

An Indigenous student at the university named Charlene Teters decided to challenge the school mascot for being both racist and culturally insensitive.  The “Chief” wears traditional Sioux buckskin clothing.  He also wears an eagle-feather headdress, which is very sacred to the Sioux, and is only bestowed to the wearer when brave deeds are conducted in protecting Sioux people.  It is interesting to note that person portraying “Chief Illiniwek” has always been Caucasian.

The movie traces Teters’ journey as she begins to challenge the powers to be over the appropriateness of this mascot as a school symbol.

A university trustee who defends “Chief Illiniwek” says that, “The Chief is way we honor Native Americans.”  Parts of the film challenge this, as Indigenous people are interviewed and explain how racist and culturally insensitive “The Chief” is to them.

Teters and other protestors face a lot of abuse from the fans that come to the sporting events.  They are spat on and cursed at.  Teters has proven herself a strong and brave defender of her culture.

An excellent film!  It will provide tons of material to get class discussion going on the topic of stereotypes and appropriation of culture.

Here is the link to buy it ( warning…it is not cheap!) : https://www.newday.com/film/whose-honor

Here is a short trailer:

 

Module 2 -Post 4: Inuit Cultural Appropriation: Paul Waterlander

I saw this headline surfing the Web. ”

Nunavut woman accuses U.K. fashion label of appropriating Inuit design

This is a perfect example of how a corporation appropriates Indigenous culture for profit.  Here is the story:

Salome Awa says she was furious to discover that a U.K. fashion label had unveiled a sweater with a design that looks nearly identical to one created by her great-grandfather.

But more than anger, the Nunavut woman said she felt shocked that her ancestor’s unique design had been taken without permission.

“I went through all the garments and there it was: my great-grandfather’s garment, designed exactly the same way as he envisioned,” Awa, a CBC Nunavut morning show producer, told the Star in a telephone interview on Thursday morning.

“I was shocked, actually, because it’s sacred.”

Her great-grandfather was a shaman, Awa explained. He had asked his wife to make a unique parka with hands on the front to protect him from someone who might try to push him into the ocean and drown him.

Her great-grandfather was a shaman, Awa explained. He had asked his wife to make a unique parka with hands on the front to protect him from someone who might try to push him into the ocean and drown him.

Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen took a photo of her great-grandfather in the parka during his travels and visits with Inuit families in Canada’s Arctic in the 1920s, Awa said.

The photo, which dates to 1922, was published in the book Northern Voices: Inuit Writing in English.

“To wear it (the design) is almost like (a) mockery of my great-grandfather’s spiritual well-being,” Awa said. “There’s no other garment like it anywhere else in this world.”

The key components that make this cultural appropriation are: 1) the design was used without permission from the family that own the rights to the design.  2) the company that stole the design did it in order to make a profit.

Link: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/11/26/nunavut-woman-accuses-uk-fashion-label-of-appropriating-inuit-design.html

Module 2-Post 3: Common Portrayals of Aboriginal People: Paul Waterlander

I found this very helpful website that does a fairly good job of explaining the key basics behind the creation and intent of stereotyping Indigenous people all over the planet.   Here are a few key points made:

  • Portrayals of Aboriginal people as being primitive, violent and devious, or passive and submissive, have become widespread in movies and TV programs and in literature ranging from books to comic strips.
  • Film-maker Arthur Lamothe broke new ground in Québec from 1973 to 1983, with his 13 part documentary series La chronique du Nord-Est du Québec. The series puts First Nations people centre-stage and provides them with a venue to tell their own stories.
  • In the 1980s and 1990s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) made a real effort to improve the portrayals of Aboriginal people in its television dramas. Spirit Bay, The Beachcombers, North of 60 and The Rez used Native actors to portray their own people, living real lives and earning believable livelihoods in identifiable parts of the country.
  • Ward Churchill argues that the myths and stereotypes built up around the Native American were no accident. He maintains that they served to explain in positive terms the decimation of Native tribes and their ways of life by “advanced” cultures in the name of progress, thereby making it necessary to erase the achievements and very humanity of the conquered people.

 

Link: http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/aboriginal-people/common-portrayals-aboriginal-people

 

Module 2- Post 2: “For Angela” – Battling Stereotypes: Paul Waterlander

The short-film For Angela is based on the true experience an Aboriginal mother, and her daughter, Angela, faced while sitting at a bus stop in Regina, Manitoba.  A group of non-Aboriginal teen boys approached the bus stop and began to verbally assault the two Aboriginal women with all sorts of hurtful, racist, and stereotypical comments.

The attack left the young girl with feelings of shame and inner turmoil. Angela reacts strongly to this event and in an attempt to leave her Aboriginal culture behind, cuts off her long, beautiful braids, which is such a public way of showing her identity.  The mother is shocked and saddened and wants to help her daughter deal with her identity issues. After this attack, the rest of the film is devoted to how the mother tries to find justice, and make the boys accountable for what they did that day.

The film can be a powerful tool for any student, as it challenges the common stereotypes that still exist in Canada today.  I like to stop the film at certain key points and ask students what they are thinking at that moment. I conclude the viewing with a self-reflective journal entry asking the students to write down how they felt when they were witnessing the verbal attack, and to connect incident to the existence of stereotypes about First Nations in Canada.  The film is short…under 30 minutes, so it can easily be managed in one class sitting.

For me, the most powerful impact of this film is realizing it is not fiction!  This happened…in Canada…not in the too distant past.  The moral of the story is that stereotypes about Aboriginal people usually get fed by the mainstream media, and if these stereotypes are left unchecked, they can quickly turn to harmful, racist actions.

Thankfully this video is free to stream off the National Film Board webiste: https://www.nfb.ca/playlists/anti-racism-films/viewing/for_angela/

 

Here is the original movie before editing:

Module 2-Post 1: Aboriginal Filmmaker- Alanis Obomsawin: Paul Waterlander

Canadian Aboriginal filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has successfully created a long list of some of Canada’s best Aboriginal-based documentary films.  Ms. Obomsawin got her start in filmmaking after realizing how the voices of Canada’s First Nations were a) hard to find, or b) made by non-Aboriginal filmmakers.  She was determined to change this!

Each of Ms. Obomsawin’s films is genuine and authentic to the Aboriginal perspective.  That she herself is of Abenaki descent gives her access to communities that may not be open to outsiders.

In her film Kahnesatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Obomsawin goes behind the government barricades to document the Mohawk Warrior perspective on the Oka Crisis which occurred in Oka, Quebec in 1990.  This is important, as at the time of the crisis, the Canadian government refused reporters access to speak with the Mohawk Warriors.  The Canadian government’s goal was to portray the warriors as “terrorists”.  Not many Canadians are aware of the land claim issue that was the real underlying cause of this confrontation, hence part of the title  is 270 years of resistance!

Ms. Obomsawin’s body of work in the world of film is yet another great example of how modern technology can be harnessed to help First Nations artists help tell their stories.  I use three of her documentaries in the courses I teach in high school: Trick or Treaty, Kahnesatake: 270 Years of Resistance and Is the Crown at War With Us?  Each film is high quality, and of immeasurable value for viewers who really want to dig deep into the colonial historical relationships that are entwined with most of today’s Aboriginal issues in Canada.

Link to her body of work: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/alanis-obomsawin/

 

Here is a short 7 minute interview with Ms. Obomsawin

 

 

Here is a trailer to her amazing documentary on the Canadian treaty process called Trick or Treaty:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g34Ty0nH8O8

MODULE 2 WEBLOG

The following are resources on research and initiatives that include a focus on Indigenous learners and higher (post-secondary) education, including an experiential activity that can be used as a teaching tool:

Ball, J. (2007). Indigenous learners online: The future isn’t what it used to be! Presented at 4th International Conference on Indigenous Education.

This publication is dated, but still relevant to my research interests in post-secondary education, online learning and Indigenous learners. The author (one of the researchers in UVic’s Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships mentioned below) addresses the need for online learning technologies and innovative instructional design to support Indigenous post-secondary education.

KAIROS Canada. (n.d.). KAIROS Blanket Exercise.

The Blanket Exercise is a “teaching tool to share the historic and contemporary relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.” This site has a video and more information about incorporating this exercise into your teaching. The facilitated exercise (taught as a workshop) typically ends with a debrief via a talking circle.

University of Victoria. (n.d.). Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships.

This University of Victoria (UVic)-associated program of community-university research related to early childhood development in Canada and globally provides links to their research projects and publications (including presentations and media resources), some of which are Indigenous focused. You’ll also find links to external resources with an Indigenous focus, e.g.,  child and youth care organizations, programs at the University of Victoria, etc.

University of Victoria School of Child and Youth Care. (n.d.). Indigenous Initiatives.

This webpage highlights courses, programs and specialization streams related to child and youth care practice in Indigenous contexts. Additional resources at the University of Victoria are also highlighted, including a link to all programs (undergraduate and graduate level) with Indigenous content, some of which are delivered via distance/online.

Walton, P., & Byrne, R. (2014). Developing an online survey to identify learning preferences of Indigenous online learners. Proceedings of MAC-EeL 2014: International Academic Conference on Education and E-learning.

This is an article about a survey identifying the learning preferences of Indigenous online learners. The authors, from Thomas Rivers University, presented their findings at the International Academic Conference on Education and E-learning in Prague (unfortunately, I’ve been unable to locate further information on this).