Category Archives: MODULE 2

M2, P1: Ethics of Storytelling

Ethics

“Ethics” by masondan is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Dr. Regina McManigell Grijalva’s (2020) narrative analysis, “The Ethics of Storytelling: Indigenous Identity and the Death of Mangas Colaradas,” presents us with valuable information regarding the significance of ethics in storytelling. Grijalva uses the example of various retellings of the murder of Apache Chief Mangas Coloradas, comparing the dominant narratives to those from Indigenous peoples, such as the accounts from “Apaches who were there with him in the thick and thin of the many conflicts or who were part of the great chief’s band, clan, or family” (p. 46). Grijalva goes on to state that not only is it important where and who the stories are coming from, but that Indigenous peoples telling the stories have ethics to share their own history and identity as well. Overall, it is suggested that when it comes to telling Indigenous stories, “writers and readers be vigilant of the reasons, values, and actions involved in such storytelling” (p. 53).

These ideas tie well into The First Peoples Principle of Learning: Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story and Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and-or in certain situations. Stories can teach us many valuable things and they can provide voices to those who need their stories heard. At the same time, we must know for what reasons we share the stories and provide context. We must also understand what is okay to share and what is not. The Web has made it easier to find stories to share or to share our own, so we must do so with these ideas in mind. Grijalva states that the “potential for change in storytelling provides the impetus for teachers and students of writing to take care when listening to or telling stories” (p. 32). As storytelling is part of BC’s English Language Arts curriculum, both listening to/reading stories as well as creating/writing them; these ideas connect deeply to how we teach with stories in the classroom.

Grijalva, R. M. (2020). The ethics of storytelling: Indigenous identity and the death of Mangas Coloradas. College Composition and Communication, 72(1), 31-57.

M2 P2: WikiProject Indigenous peoples of the Americas

After reading the Zimmerman et al. article this week, I was inspired to do some poking around on Wikipedia to find out how the site was protecting Indigenous culture. I came a cross this project which works to protect information posted on Wikipedia as it relates to Indigenous culture in the Americas. I learned that most wikipedia pages representing Indigenous tribes need to follow certain criteria:

  • The meaning and origin of the name, alternative names, especially autonym
  • Population
  • Regions where they live (with a map, if possible): countries, provinces, etc.
  • A history section
  • Details about this people as of modern day, unless they are extinct
    • Society structure, including contemporary government or leadership
    • Economic development and subsistence
  • Culture
    • Language(s)
    • Traditional religion or spiritual beliefs, as well as any adopted religions
  • Famous or notable people
  • External links, in particular ones maintained by members of the particular group

Furthermore, these pages must be verified in order. In clicking through many of the pages, it is cear that you must be a verified contributer in order to edit or change any information.

They have many goals in their mission. I found this one to be of particular importance:

  • To increase awareness of the many indigenous language Wikipedias.

I appreciate that Wikipedia is doing its part to try to create a space for acurate information about indigenous culture and language.

 

CLICK HERE to learn more

 

“WikiProject Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas.

M2 P5: Stories from the Land: Indigenous Place Names in Canada

https://maps.canada.ca/journal/content-en.html?lang=en&appid=0e585399e9474ccf932104a239d90652&appidalt=11756f2e3c454acdb214f950cf1e2f7d

The link above provides an interactive map for students to view the Indigenous place names of various locations in BC. It explains which dialect the place name comes from and also the meaning behind the place name.

This resource helps students see that where they lived went by another name and that there was significance to that name. It helps students understand that the land was taken away from the Indigenous Peoples and their home got renamed but now, work is being done to officially recognize the Indigenous place names again. Having the map be interactive and online makes it easier for learners to navigate versus looking at a physical map found in the classroom.

 

M2 P4: Social Barriers

Shankar (2020) writes about how both Indigenous and immigrant populations in Canada have a far more social and institutional barriers that hinder academic success. While this may not be directly related to my research topic, I believe that research about how immigrant students are faring in our education system is an important factor in educating about cross-cultural connections. If there are social and instititutional barriers preventing basic educational needs for immigrant students, then how can a student be expected to show empathy and care about cultural connections? The same is true for Indigneous students, who can’t be expected to become a part of the “welcome wagon” if they face constant discrimination from their peers and the education system itself.

A great quote in the article about the difference between the two is student groups is that” Immigrant students on the other hand, had migrated to Canada in search of a better livelihood. They had also experienced racism as evidenced from their expressed reluctance to approach authority figures like counselors, school administrators or to question the teaching staff. However, unlike their indigenous counterparts, they lacked a public discourse of sufficient general mainstream acceptance to fuel courage to complain or even ask questions.”

In other words, although immigrants and Indigenous students have similar experiences of racism and oppression, immigrant students are less likely to speak up due to fears and feelings of not belonging in the social space.

This article provides great insight as to some social and economic context for why the two groups have not formed a natural bond over shared similar experiences.

 

Shankar, J., Ip, E., & Khalema, N. E. (09/02/2020). Addressing academic aspirations, challenges, and barriers of indigenous and immigrant students in a postsecondary education setting Haworth Press Inc. doi:10.1080/15313204.2017.1409675

M2 P4: Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) Stop Motion Movie

Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) is a stop motion movie about an Indigenous youth who is trying to revive the sap harvest in their neighbourhood in Ontario. The movie is a good introduction to stop motion animation and also demonstrates to students that stories can be told without using dialogue. This movie is a good example of how you can connect technology with Indigenous culture as an integrated unit in Language Arts, Art, and ADST.

M2 P3: Comparing with New Zealand

https://citiesofmigration.ca/ezine_stories/introducing-newcomers-to-indigenous-people/

It’s important to look at how New Zealand has integrated their Indigeous culture into their own because of how similar they are with Canada. They have set the bar so to speak with how much better Canada could be doing. In this article, Vancouver and Wellington, NZ program leaders met to discuss Indigenous and immigrant cross-cultural integration strategies. Both cities had conducted internal case studies, and later met together to discuss their findings and strategies. Wellington has a population 10x less than Vancouver, so not all strategies can be equally applied, but there were still identified strengths that both programs recognized about the other. Some of these included the following key quotes:

Wellington has appreciated learning from Vancouver about the positive sharing that can naturally occur if safe ”dialogue spaces” are created between indigenous and newcomer peoples. Specifically, we have understood the value of creating opportunities for newcomers and indigenous peoples to share their histories, experiences and culture, and find the similarities.

“The most important learning for new migrants from engagement with Maori is a better understanding of their history and culture (and possibly even learn a little of their language). This is an important aspect of newcomer integration into bi-cultural New Zealand.”

“Assimilation is not the New Zealand approach to settling newcomers.”

“Local Maori chose Marae-based activities that would provide the opportunities of achieving the goals for newcomer migrants by including them in local communities and workplaces and support the  cultural differences they bring. In turn, newcomers learn to respect Maori  values and way of life  and care for the environment”

From what was shared about this conference, it seems as though Vancouver has in the past focused more heavily on providing spaces for dialogue, while New Zealand has focused more on Maori-led activities. This conference was in 2013, so it would be interesting to see if any immediate changes were implemented by either city.

References: https://citiesofmigration.ca/ezine_stories/introducing-newcomers-to-indigenous-people/

http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/bringing-maori-culture-to-newcomers-the-wellington-regional-settlement-strategy/

http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/the-vancouver-dialogues-project-where-the-gold-mountain-meets-turtle-island/

 

 

M2 P2: Introducing Cross-Cultural Opportunities

https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/dialogues-synopsis.pdf

This project that the City of Vancouver undertook in 2010 is interesting in that there was a formal acknowledgement of the lack of cross-cultural communication was taking place between Indigenous and immigrant communities. The project focuses on the implementation of 5 cross-cultural speaking opportunities from youth to seniors, but the desired outcomes are rather vague. UBC was involved in the project, so I would be curious to find out the project’s results and findings. One clearly stated goal of the project was for  testimony from communication would inform future practice, which may have led to the following project:

The following from the project indicates that there could be a connection: “for newcomers, it seems there are few opportunities to learn about the Aboriginal community living in their midst. Some studies have shown that newcomers are generally under-informed (if not misinformed) about Aboriginal history, perspectives and issues” (City of Vancouver, 2010).

This project only started in 2020 so there likely isn’t any data yet to suggest the effectiveness of immediate cross-cultural connections between immigrant populations and Indigenous peoples, but it’s a great idea and I would have to imagine it’s more effective than reaching out to immigrant groups after they’ve already settled. If there is no quantitative or qualitative data from this project, I would still consider this as a valuable resource about analyzing different approaches that the government has taken to solve a long-identified problem.

Sources: City of Vancouver (2010). “Dialogues Between First Nations, Urban Aboriginal and Immigrant Communities in Vancouver.”

https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/dialogues-synopsis.pdf

M2 P1: Bridging the Cultural Gap

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=193419515986190

 

I shared this video in my initial research proposal post, but I thought it deserved its own blog post because it’s the embodiment of what my research question aims to achieve.

 

How can Indigenous education become more relevant and reflexive for Canadian immigrant populations?

 

Immigrant Canadians may feel a sense of apathy and disconnect from Indigenous populations because of their lack of historical contact, but culturally they may find many similarities. In the video above, we can see how similar the two dances are, and there is a sense of an instant connection through their dancing. I believe that a focus on these cultural similarities is an ignored aspect of the curriculum, because there are currently two main focuses in Indigenous education right now. These are learning about atrocities committed by white Canadians, and about integrating Indigenous knowledge and values within Canadian society. These themselves are not enough to immediately inspire immigrant support, especially because Canada has such a wide variety of ethnic groups who may feel as though their own values aren’t supported by the curriculum at all.

 

I am looking into how Indigenous education can be taught on a more individual level, so that students can learn and relate based on their own experiences.

M2 P3: Biidaaban First Light VR

Biidaaban First Light is a VR experience where users see a version of Toronto as if it was reclaimed by nature. The experience weaves in parts of Indigenous culture such as values and language. The video linked is an interview with Lisa Jackson who was one of the designers of the project. One term that I liked that she mentioned was Indigenous Futurism which talks about bringing views of Indigenous cultures into the modern/future times instead of only stereotyping that Indigenous cultures are only part of the past. This would be a neat experience for students as they would be able to see a city they recognize in an entirely new lens.

References

https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/biidaaban_first_light

http://lisajackson.ca/Biidaaban-First-Light-VR

 

M2 P2: Go Show The World – Children’s Book

This story was shown to my students by our Indigenous Resource Teacher ahead of National Indigenous Peoples Day. I enjoyed listening to this story as it portrayed Indigenous peoples in a positive light and in a more relevant way that connected with the students. The book talks about Indigenous heroes and how their actions have impacted the world. Students recognized some of the names listed and wanted to research further on their history. For example, one of my students remembered hearing the name Sacagawea from watching the movie “Night at the Museum”, but did not know that she was such an important person in North American history. Another student wanted to research Jim Thorpe as they only knew he was an Olympian but did not know about his history. Having stories like these that are more relatable to the students helps engage them and entices them to learn more. When learning about Indigenous cultures, students often see it as something external to them as if these cultures were from a long time ago or from a far away place. Books like these make students see that things are closer to them than they initially realized.