Tag Archives: Land acknowledgment

M1 P5 Cliff Cardinal

Last year, I attended Cliff Cardinals radical take on Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” In a surprising plot twist, it didn’t end up being a performance about the classic play and instead, a 90 minute land acknowledgment from writer and poet Cliff Cardinal. It was an extraordinary reflective piece about reconciliation, the sincerity of land acknowledgments in Canada and other important big questions such as : Why are Indigenous people always seen connected to the ecosystem? And why can’t we separate a scientist delivering facts from her cultural identity?

Here is a review of the show (I wish I could find clips online of it!) : https://nowtoronto.com/news/review-cliff-cardinal-delivers-a-radical-take-on-as-you-like-it

If you ever have a chance to see his work, I highly recommend it!

 

Feature Page

M1 P4 Sit Spots

I’ve been looking into ways of how we I can teach more according to the First People’s Principles. I was introduced to this activity through a colleague of mine who does this often with her English class. The activity is called Sit Spots and here is a link describing the activity : https://wildsight.ca/education-resources/sit-spots/#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20sit%20spot,builds%20routine%20and%20increases%20focus.

I’ve started doing this with my class about once a week or sometimes once every two weeks. In our class, it’s considered as a form of land acknowledgment. Before starting the activity we discuss what land we are on and after each sit spot, we discuss not only what they noticed when sitting outside, but also what they are grateful for in terms of using the land we are on.

I find it’s been an interesting twist on our usual land acknowledgments. I can see that students are enjoying it and it has been encouraging reflection about land use and gratitude.