Author Archives: greg patton

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718520301524

This article in Geoforum, Volume 11, examines the Indigenous Food and Medicine Garden at Western University, its importance to the Indigenous community at the university, and the tensions and challenges that have come up between the care takers of the garden and the University Administration.  To me, this is an important study as my district starts to look at indigenizing more spaces in and around New West schools.  We need to make sure we look at the ways we work with the care takers of these ground and allow them the opportunity for self-determination without a colonizer viewpoint overtaking their beliefs.  

This has been my “guilt” reading the last couple of weeks.  I try very hard not to read fiction while I am taking a class and just focus in on my course readings.  But I enjoy Thomas King and very much wanted to read his latest book, so I made sure to carve out times at night or before my family woke up in the morning to read.  It was very timely piece with what is happening in Canada right now, as his main character has retreated from his profession, and the world, to reside in a vacant residential school where he takes out the crosses of the buried children and, with the help of a map with names of the deceased, makes a proper marker from river stones with their names carved in them.  The book delves into the inequalities of privilege and power; with a small town vetted against a small reservation and a camp of homeless people.  It was a great example of how communities can come together and fight against the system, yet they must also adapt to that culture’s ways to have an impact.  Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

This seems to be a given, but I think it needs to be mentioned in my blogposts (as I’m sure it has been in others).  This is our guidepost as educators; it is something we all need to be mindful of in our roles in schools and we need to make sure that students know that it is taken seriously so that they will also start to incorporate it into their ways of learning and thinking.  It will also take time: 

“This investigation is likely to happen incrementally over time, as the pedagogical approach articulated and practised within the local communities will not necessarily be set out in an easy-to-summarize form. Ultimately, one important conclusion for students to draw is that pedagogy in First Nations societies is both dynamic and culturally specific (i.e., grounded in a distinctive language and way of looking at the world).”  http://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/ 

As with Tik Tok, I asked the younger generation surrounding me to see if they could find accounts that had adapted this western app for the benefit of their indigenous culture.  This did not take long.  Again, like Tik Tok, the messages posted on these accounts are powerful and are reaching more people globally than was thought possible a mere ten years ago.  Here are three examples: 

@Xhopakelxhit  

“Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and Snuneymuxw Matriarch, medicine maker, water protector and traditional midwife.” 

@indigenouspeoplesmovement 

(Community Organization) “A global coalition bringing awareness on issues affecting indigenous people from North & South America, Oceania, Asia, Africa & the Caribbean.” 

@hijodequetzalcoatl  

Rafael Luna: “Nahua indigenous dancer, lifting, yoga, runner.” 

A big thank you to Abby and Zalan!!

Not going to lie; I cheated on these.  I asked my daughter and her boyfriend to see if they could find accounts of indigenous individuals and communities that were adapting this app for their benefits.  This took these two super sleuths approximately two minutes to do as both were following a couple.  The messages on these accounts were uplifting, poignant, and celebrating their indigenous culture.  Here are 3 examples: 

@notoriouscree 

James Jones 

@shinanova  

Shina Nova (Inuk throat singer) 

@tiamiscihk 

Tia Wood (Plains Cree & Salish)