Tag Archives: hope

MODULE 4 – ENTRY 1: PART I-GARDENS & EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The UBC’s Point Grey Campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam People.  The Xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden (Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden) has been at the UBC farm since 2007.  Ironically, I remember vividly that I was a returning student at UBC, undertaking my Bachelors in Education in 2006/2007, and my cohort and I had a wonderful opportunity to partake in a fieldtrip to an Indigenous garden.  It was in its beginning stages of being planned and created by wonderful humanitarians, students, and teachers of Indigenous backgrounds just before the main campus, near a secondary school is what I can recall.  I remember walking down a street and there was an opening of land.  This is where our fieldtrip began.

Public Domain photo by Wallpaper Flare

I remember a feeling of nostalgia and hope coming over me when I saw what was being done.  I remember having goosebumps on my arms, because it reminded me of what my mother did at her school…she began growing a garden for the children at her school in 1976 and when I was born, she would take me with her to her school and I would watch her garden, while I played with the other students.  In 2014 the Xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden received a traditional name from Musqueam Indian Band. Xʷc̓ic̓əsəm is pronounced phonetically as “Hw ‘ts i ‘ts u sum-”. The hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ word means “The place where we grow” and it provides a reassertion of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Musqueam land-based protocols and principles informing land-based practices.  It reminded me of the place I grew, along with the other Indigenous students at ¿Uuqinak´uuh aka Grandview Terrace Daycare Centre.  This is a 3 part blog, in relation to my final assignment, which focuses on experiential learning.

Reference:

Indigenous Research Partnerships (2007). Xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Retrieved July 10, 2021, https://lfs-iherg.sites.olt.ubc.ca/the-garden/

Module 4 Post 5: Mutual Respect and Fairness

diversity-hands

Photo from United 4 Equality

There were hundreds of people gathered at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on December 11, 2019 to learn about what a decolonized Canada looks like. Experts (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) discussed mutual respect and fairness between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. A few take-aways for me include (University of Manitoba, 2019):

  • There is a power differential between colonizers and colonized people. The colonizer has to give up power for decolonization to take place. We shouldn’t be afraid to share power. In reality, people don’t like to give up power.
    • I feel uncomfortable learning that I am in a position of power as a colonizer. However, it is important for me to recognize this to ensure I share this power and I don’t abuse it.
  • Indigenous and non-Indigenous parents have different concerns. For example, Indigenous people may worry about sending their child to school with a rip in their clothing. We should all have the freedom to worry about normal things.
  • Having a future where all cultures can flourish.
  • Colonizer and colonized are both affected by colonization.
  • We need to deconstruct the colonizers view of the world.
  • There is hope – we have technology, knowledge, and thinkers. We can solve hate, anger, distrust, and fear. All it takes is the will of the people.
  • Cultural competency is good but it’s just the surface.

References:

University of Manitoba. (2019 December, 13). Visionary conversations. What does a decolonized Canada look like? [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZSYPfF3iuI

United 4 Equality. https://united4equality.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/sisterhood-equalitys-call-to-action/

MODULE 3 – ENTRY 4: Failing Canada’s First Nations Children

Public Domain photo by Balises

Shannen´s dream was to have new schools built for all the Indigenous youth, so that they wouldn’t have to leave their homes, families and communities to get an education.  Shannen was a proactive and intelligent Indigenous student, who utilized the various media platforms to speak up about the inequities the Indigenous kids are still dealing with everyday back in 2016 and still holds true today.   She was the spokesperson for the young Indigenous students, and shared their stories to muliple politicians, pleaing for a change, for new schools to be built, and to be heard.  Sadly, Shannen died at the very young age of 15 in a car accident.  But her fight for equality and education for all Indigenous youths, lives on. This short video clip shows how Indigenous kids from isolated communities in Canada are forced to move away from their families – just to go to school and what the results are from being forced away from home to get an education.  This reminded me of some of the stories my mother shared with me when I was a child.  I remember her telling me how some of her students live away from their parents so that they can go to school in the city, and I remember how I felt confused, sad and scared for them.  Being a child myself, at the time, to have the thought of not being near my parents made my heart beat fast, and that feeling of fear and loss of what those children were experiencing, I have never forgotten.

 

Reference:

Crime Beat TV. (Mar 5, 2016). FULL STORY: Failing Canada’s First Nations Children Retrieved on June 22, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhEh-D7IRQc