Tag Archives: Indigenous people

Module 4 – Post 4 – Reconciliation Activities for Children

This resource provides reconciliation activities for children that educators can do with their class. This guide starts off with introducing reconciliation, the definition, how to learn from Indigenous people, some protocols for inviting Elders into the classroom, how to communicate with parents, a sample letter for educators to send home to parents, and the activity outline that has five activities.

The five activities that are provided in this resource are the medicine wheel, the blanket exercise, memories, keeping promises, and Shannon’s dream. I like how these activities are laid out with an introduction, objectives, information about the activity and why it is important, what the teacher needs to prepare for the activity, alternatives to the activity and how to do it, and even a handout to send to parents. These would be excellent activities to do with my Kindergarten class as they would be able to learn about reconciliation, residential schools, Indigenous spirituality and culture, the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, learning about treaties, and about the inequalities in education.

Module 4 – Post 1 – Joining the Circle: Guide for Educators

Joining the Circle is a guide for educators that can used for students and educators of all ages; to increase the “confidence and sensitivity in education practices” to aid in facilitating the growth of Metis, Inuit, and First Nations students; to introduce schools and communities to the languages, history, perspectives, and culture of  Metis, Inuit, and First Nations; and to “support our individual capacity and help create systemic change for safe, strong and free school communities with and for Indigenous students and families” (COPA, 2016, p. 9). This guide discusses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Indigenous Education Strategy, the role as an educator, describes Metis, Inuit, and First Nations peoples, and the terminology that is used throughout this guide.

This guide focuses on the barriers faced by Metis, Inuit, and First Nations. Some barriers that are faced are their culture and identity, spoken language, their spirituality, the contributions they made to Canada (aka: Kanata), land, treaties, relocations, the Indian Act, Residential Schools, intergenerational trauma, racism and discrimination in students’ lives, racism and bullying, suicide, lateral violence, internalized racism, the missing and murdered indigenous women, marginalization, Indigenous youth and children that are in care, students had to study away from their home, working in reserve communities, and children having parents in prison. Yes, there are TONS of barriers faced by Indigenous peoples. It is not only residential schools.

This is such a good read for educators to educate themselves and to also find a starting point for teaching students about the different barriers faced by Indigenous peoples.

Reference

COPA. (2016). Joining the circle: Guide for educators. Retrieved from http://copahabitat.ca/sites/default/files/educatorsguide_en.pdf

Module 1: Post 4 – 21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act by Bob Joseph

Bob Joseph discusses his book 21 Things You Didn’t Know About the Indian Act in this presentation. This is one presentation that you must watch! It is such an informative presentation that will send you on a transformation. This presentation allowed me to understand what I was unaware of and did not know about the Indian Act. These were the 21 things that some of us probably did not know about the Indian Act. As I summarized these 21 points, I became disgusted and appalled while continuing to shake my head. Here they are:

  1. Women status was denied.
  2. Residential schools were introduced because of the Indian Act.
  3. Reserves were created. Reservations are an American term.
  4. Indigenous people were renamed with simple European names.
  5. Indigenous people were not allowed to leave the reserve without having permission from the Department of Indian Affairs. Individuals would receive a paper pass that would allow them to be absent from their reserve for a certain amount of time.
  6. If any Indigenous person was admitted into university, they would be stripped from their Indigenous status.
  7. Parts of the reserve or an entire reserve were taken away to make railways, roads, or any other public work if it was considered expedient.
  8. The reserve land could be leased to non-Indigenous people if it were going to be used for farming or pasture.
  9. Indigenous people were not allowed to take part or form any political organizations.
  10. No one, including non-Indigenous people, was allowed to solicit funds in regards to Indigenous legal claims without having a licence that came from the Superintendent General.
  11. There was absolutely no alcohol sales for Indigenous people.
  12. There was absolutely no ammunition sales for Indigenous people.
  13. Pool halls were not allowed to let any Indigenous people in
  14. The band council system was put in place.
  15. Indigenous people were not allowed to speak their native language.
  16. Indigenous people were not allowed to practice their religion.
  17. Indigenous people were not allowed to wear their traditional regalia when appearing in an exhibition, show, public dance, or pageant.
  18. Cultural ceremonies and potlatches were claimed illegal.
  19. Indigenous people were not allowed the right to vote.
  20. There was a permit system created to dominate the Indigenous people’s ability to sell any product from farms.
  21. There was only allowed to be one race which was categorized under Aboriginal peoples.