Tag Archives: change

MODULE 2 – Entry 2:  Seeds of Promise: Grandview/?Uuqinak’uuh* School in Vancouver

 

Public Domain photo taken by Amanda Mills

This site is linked to my final assignment as are the entries I will continue to share in our UBC Blogs. It is a community story regarding the issue of poverty and how teachers in a local school are still to this day very committed to advocate for better conditions for the Indigenous children and their families in the city of Vancouver east end. This is an area that tends to be avoided for decades, due to the area being synonymous with crime, poverty and despair. In one corner of the district, however to this day, there are determined group of educators, children, parents and volunteers who continue to create a garden oasis for play and learning in what has always been a gathering place for people in the drug, crime and sex trades. The children of Grandview/ ?Uuqinak’uuh Elementary School now have access to a playground complete with food, flower and butterfly gardens, stands of maple trees and a Coast Salish longhouse.  Since the 1970s to today, some good changes, like having committed advocates for Indigenous children and their families continue.  After almost 50 years of observations from my own mother, who was a teacher in this exact area, and almost 40 years myself, we can still see that the inequity issues, like poverty, are affecting the Indigenous peoples in our local community. The key question is whether Canadians are willing to understand and address the issues of poverty?

 

Reference:

Caledon Institute of Social Policy. (January 25, 2000). Seeds of Promise: Grandview/?Uuqinak’uuh* School in Vancouver. [Site]. Retrieved May 18, 2021,  https://maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/223ENG.pdf

 

 

MODULE 2-Entry 1: Being a Non-Indigenous Ally

Public Domain Picture by John Hain

This video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2RP4V30h60, introduces Hannah Morikawa who talks about how being a non-Indigenous ally can change the world.  What is ally-ship?  Being a non-Indigenous ally takes a lifelong process of learning and building of relationships in order to amplify value and support to those voices that are wanting to be heard. Having the privilege to NOT speak for the Indigenous peoples, rather to use your privileged platforms and opportunities that many do not have so that we can all responsibly help implement systemic changes that includes and reflects Indigenous ways and knowledge.   So we can all help begin to reverse the systemic and individual racial issues, stereotypes, discrimination, colonialism and the inter-generational traumas that the underrepresented Indigenous peoples have been subjected to for generations and will be subjected to for generations to come, if things do not change for the betterment of the people.

We can continue the healing process once we as a whole country and world begin to recognize that Canada was and still is a settler colonial country.   Killings, rapes, kidnappings and enslavement of the Indigenous peoples-happened, how settlers manipulated nations to sign treaties to take their land-happened, to the controlling of resources/trades and profiting from it aka stealing-happened, the breaking up/separation of countless families happened,and the creation of reservation schools by government and church-happened, stereotypes and discrimination produced by mass media about the Indigenous culture-happened, how they were seen by most of the non-Indigenous public as ¨problematic/unacceptable¨-happened, and subjecting children to the worst forms of abuse, unfortunately also happened.  (In regards to the very recent devastating news about the Kelowna reservation school, and what happened there…my eyes well up and my heart continues to break as I write this blog, for all the children and lives lost due to hate and/or ignorance.)

This resulted in the eradication of the Indigenous peoples, and the repercussions of these events leads us into the state we live in today.  Where natural resource companies have more rights than the Indigenous peoples, where thousands of Indigenous girls and women are murdered/missing and no one was/is helping, where the majority of Indigenous communities have still have no access to food nor clean water, where half the children in foster care are of Indigenous descent-my list can go on.  My question to you is, do you feel this country and its government are currently working for or against the Indigenous peoples?  And can ally-ship help begin to rectify the wrong?

Reference:

TEDx Talks. (2018, May 28).Being a Non-Indigenous Ally -Keynote Speaker, Hannah Morikawa. TEDxCarletonUniversity. [Video].YouTube. Retrieved May 24, 2021,  from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2RP4V30h60

 

Module 1 Post 2 – nonindigenous educators taking action

The University of Saskatchewan held a conference around Indigenization and Open Educational Resources (OER) in 2018. Kory Wilson was the keynote speaker and discussed Indigenizing and opening the academy through the actioning of reconciliation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYIhLXZ72k

Are you a nonindigenous educator? If so, do you wonder what role you play in Indigenization? Are you concerned about authenticity? Kory sheds light on how nonindigenous educators can take action. I found this video worthwhile to watch and Kory’s passion made the hour fly by. Here are a few take always about taking action (GMCTL UofS, 2018):

  • We need to know and understand the truth about Indigenous history, even though it’s difficult.
  • Know our own family history and how it relates to Indigenous history.
  • But what do we do with the knowledge about Indigenous history? We must do something with the information we’ve learned. We need to make sure our research will make change.
  • Humility. Open heart and mind. Honest. Transparent Ask genuine questions. Authentic. Accountable.
  • Distribute power, empower others.
  • We can have a university degree in Indigenous studies but it doesn’t mean we are an expert. We need authentic, lived experiences.
  • Providing space – Give space for nonindigenous people to learn. Allow Indigenous people to share their authentic lived experiences.
  • We are stronger together, diversity of voices and opinions. More voices = more inclusion.
  • Listen more, speak less. Ask the community what they want. Avoid dictating and telling what Indigenous people have to do.
  • Start by asking yourself: why am I engaged in this? What are my strengths and weaknesses? What are my limitations?
  • Indigenization is about relationship building and this takes time.
  • Give up the romantic version of Indigenous people.

Reference:

GMCTL UofS. (2018, May 28). TLT 2018 – Keynote speaker Kory Wilson – Becoming an ally: Moving beyond bias and privilege [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYIhLXZ72k