Tag Archives: IndigenousStorytelling

M3, P1: Voice Matters

Speak up, make your voice heard

“Speak up, make your voice heard” by HowardLake is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

When exploring some of the First Peoples Principles of Learning, such as “Learning requires exploration of one’s identity” and ‘Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story,” I was looking at ways to enhance student voice within my classroom. I came across the website and organization called Unlocking Silent Histories.  This organization aims to offer support to many Indigenous youth around the world by providing access to technologies and skills that could help them create their own documentaries, sharing stories in their perspectives. Their “goal is to cultivate indigenous youth leaders and provide global access to traditional knowledge and problem-solving approaches that contribute to sustainable community-led actions.” Additionally, I found an Edutopia article that showcases some of their work and how it can be done in a classroom, which I think could be helpful as well.

DeGennaro, D. (2014, January 14). Unlocking silent histories: Critical and creative expression for Indigenous youth. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/unlocking-silent-histories-creative-expression-donna-degennaro

Unlocking Silent Histories. (2021). Our Work. Unlocking Silent Histories. https://www.unlockingsilenthistories.org/

M3: Entry 4 – The importance of Land

The following clips are from a presentation by Dr. Dwayne Donald, a professor at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Education. As part of his talk, he explains that to understand Indigenous people we need to first understand the local stories of the land.  In the second video, he tells two stories based on the Okotoks Erratic and the Mistaseni Rock in Saskatchewan. With these stories, he shows how the land is an important part of the identity of the Indigenous people in the area.

The ERLC YouTube channel has several other videos taken from his talk, as well as some other great resources related to Indigenous education.

 

 

Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. [Donald, Dwayne].   (2019,  April 29). The Connection between Land and People.  [Video]. YouTube.  https://youtu.be/PBumxYQh1UU?list=PL6P1FySUgEPQa2NkYE2Pak0h5-d8n5A20

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.