Hello one and all to my first ever blog post! My name is Ross Hilliam and I will begin with a little about me, and why I’m taking this course. I am a (somewhat) recent graduate of UBC, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science, majoring in Psychology. What am I doing then in an upper level Canadian History English course you may ask? Well, after a myriad of experiences post-graduation, I have discovered I have a passion for teaching and would love to be an educator. I was born and raised right here in the Lower Mainland. I grew up in Surrey, went to High School in Burnaby, and have lived in Vancouver for the last 8 years.
No matter where I’ve been though, I’ve always had my nose in a book, eyes on movies/tv, and ears listening to music. I derive great pleasure in consuming stories of all types, and I believe this course will be like the spine of a good book. It will contain many chapters within, all a little bit different, but in the end will contribute to a common goal of broadening my horizons. As I mentioned, I was born and raised here in the Lower Mainland and have always considered myself a “true local”. Very rarely taking into consideration that most of the land I grew up on has a very rich history that my education has barely scratched the surface of. My favourite part of a book though is Chapter 1, or in this case lesson 1, as it means I have so much more to encounter and learn from. I am genuinely excited to explore the stories and voices of those who are much more “local” than me.
With that being said, I would now like to take this opportunity to point out how often our own government could benefit from having a similar attitude, instead of literally bulldozing through any native opposition. Even though I would consider my education of native and aboriginal history to be lacking, this was always a common theme that shocked me. The complete disregard for the thoughts and voices of those most directly impacted by the choices of our government. Let’s choose to be better than that. Let’s take the opportunity this class presents to develop our own critical thinking and analyses when reading stories. To come to our own truth, and to not be scared to explore perspectives we have not considered before. As Christine Amanpour notes, we can often get caught in our own lanes of information. Let’s step out of our bubble this term, and absorb all we can!
Works Cited
Amanpour, Christiane. “How to Seek Truth in the Era of Fake News.” Ted, Ted, www.ted.com/talks/christiane_amanpour_how_to_seek_truth_in_the_era_of_fake_news#t-138975.
Parker, Courtney. “Canadian Court Gives Coastal Gaslink Permission to Violate Indigenous Rights.” Intercontinental Cry, Intercontinental Cry, 17 Dec. 2018, intercontinentalcry.org/canadian-court-gives-coastal-gaslink-permission-to-violate-indigenous-rights/.
“Wikimedia Commons.” Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons, 11 Feb. 2006, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bookshelf.jpg.
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Hi Ross,
Thank you for your personal and thought-provoking introduction post! I find it so interesting that your life has involved three big cities of the Lower Mainland on a regular basis. I am also happy to read that you have discovered a passion for teaching after receiving your undergraduate degree. I am currently in my third year at UBC and plan to go into teaching right after I graduate. I would love to know what inspired you to take this particular career path!
Additionally, thank you for your hyperlink regarding the article on the pipeline. In regards to the politics surrounding the building of this pipeline, what do you think the role of the pipeline is in context to Indigenous voices? I would love to know your thoughts!
Hi Simran! It certainly seems like there are several future teachers in this course, it’s good to see! For me personally, it was working odd jobs where I found myself getting the most enjoyment out of training new people, as well as working with kids. I figured teaching is just a combination of both of those! Haha.
In terms of the pipeline and Indigenous voices, I think it’s really a symbol of how little the government cares about what those on Native land have to say. I’m not a lawyer, but the article highlights how the land the pipeline is being built on, that the Wet’suwet’en Nation is defending, was never ceded to any government and is still rightfully theirs. The fact that the government then has the arrogance to ignore these facts and the Wet’suwet’en claims is deeply upsetting. Now take it to court to continue to force this through to somehow “legitimize” it, is the government completely ignoring Indigenous voices.
Hi Ross
Thank you for your thoughts.
A couple of quick questions.
Since you have spent time in Vancouver, could you give me your thoughts on your experience with indigenous culture. Has your experience been positive or negative? Once you become an educator, how would you educate your students to cultivate or inspire a positive experience with indigenous culture?
Thanks
MM
Hi Maxwell,
Thank you for your questions.
In terms of my experiences with indigenous culture, I don’t even know if I can answer your question, as my experiences are so limited. I can’t say I’ve had any negative experiences, but I can’t really say I’ve had positive ones either. The most exposure I’ve had really is to indigenous art. I remember a focus on this in elementary school, and while at UBC I went to the Museum of Anthropology multiple times. Specifically the visits to the MoA led to a lot of questions in terms of the history and stories that came from those pieces.
In terms of how I’d educate my students, I would like to give them more exposure then I received. I would love to reach out to the local indigenous community to find resources that I could share with them. This way, the students could hear their stories and be given multiple perspectives to consider.
Thanks!
Hey Ross!
Your post was very fun to read, and I feel like I got to know a lot about you in such a short amount of words. I’ve always thought about teaching as well, but I got my first degree to finish before considering that further. What are you thinking of teaching, by the way? With your varied interest and education, you must have lots of paths open to you.
I agree with your sentiment of lacking education about our native population, and what I find especially alarming is the lack of native representation in our everyday life. I feel like I have to go actively search for something native (be it stories, music, film, etc) to have access to it, which is a big factor in the reason why, even as Canadians, we happen to forget about them. I’m hoping to broaden my knowledge as well, so I may better know how to experience different cultures that inhabit our great nation.
Unfortunately my degree doesn’t lend itself to having any teachables for High School, but I would be more than happy to teach the elementary levels. I also quite like the idea of how this would lead to teaching a variety of subjects, and the teaching becomes more about how to learn instead of what they are learning.
I know exactly what you mean though about having to seek out native stories, but I’m glad to hear that you are open to doing so!