Introduction
To my fellow ENGL 470 classmates, Dr. Paterson, and anyone who may have stumbled upon this blog site – welcome! My name is Simran Chalhotra, and I am a third year arts student, majoring in anthropology and minoring in English language. Upon graduation, I will study for my Bachelors in Education, to become a high school teacher! I am delighted to be a part of this course and all that it both teaches and challenges us to do. I am definitely a “beginner blogger,” but I look forward to what this course (and all of you) will be teaching me, both in terms of the course’s content, and in practical skills of blogging and online collaboration.
I am happy to know that this course focuses on Indigenous literature in the context of Canadian history. Being a recent high school student myself, I cannot recall a significant enough time in my high school career where there was an emphasis on Indigenous voices. Since coming to UBC, my eyes have definitely been more opened to Indigenous culture and celebrations of their art, history, and literature. Despite this reality, as a future high school teacher who will need to educate her students on this topic, I experience a lack of knowledge. That is why I am looking forward to this course, as we are learning about Canadian history in terms of discrimination and colonization, but are also given the opportunity to celebrate Indigenous traditions of literature.
As a UBC member, one thing that I will never forget is the Reconciliation Pole located at the Vancouver campus. This was carved by James Hart, was raised in April of 2017, and tells us about the destruction caused by the residential school system in Canada. I highly recommend that you read this article and take a look at the attached visual in this blog, which depicts a very powerful image. Also, if you go to the Vancouver campus and have not seen it yet, please pay it a visit! It is right next to the Forestry building, so you can get some coffee and Timbits from the Tim Hortons right next door!
To switch gears, when I think about Canadian literature, one of the first authors/poets that comes to mind is Michael Ondaatje. One of the themes of his poem, The Cinnamon Peeler is how the value of traumas and experiences lies behind the associated story being told. I believe this ties in to the overall sentiment of this course: the power of stories and storytelling.
Anyways, that’s me! I look forward to getting to know all of you – cheers to a great semester and feel free to ask me any questions, anytime!
Works Cited
CBC News. “Reconciliation totem pole goes up at UBC.” CBC News, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/reconciliation-totem-pole-goes-up-at-ubc-1.4050078. Accessed 7 January 2019.
Hart, James. Reconciliation Pole. 2017. UBC Campus, Vancouver. Vancouver Courier, https://www.vancourier.com/news/hundreds-raise-reconciliation-totem-pole-at-ubc-1.13794494. Accessed 7 January 2019.
Ondaatje, Michael. “The Cinnamon Peeler.” Lyrikline, https://www.lyrikline.org/en/poems/cinnamon-peeler-6570. Accessed 7 January 2019.
Hi Simran! Thanks for your blog post and your recommendation about the Reconciliation Pole. Unfortunately, I don’t live in Vancouver, but next time I head over, this sounds like a lovely thing to do, Timbits and all. I’ve only attended UVic, and the university actively tries to make territory acknowledgments (https://www.uvic.ca/services/indigenous/facultystaff/territory-acknowledgment/index.php). On the course syllabus of almost all of my classes, professors copy and paste “We acknowledge with respect the Lekwungen-speaking peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.” I wanted to ask if this is a similar occurrence at UBC as well? In one of my classes we ended up having a discussion about this policy of territory acknowledgment, and if it maintains any meaning when it’s added to syllabi, but not discussed further than that. I appreciate UVic’s recognition of the colonialist attitudes and policies that allow it to function, but I was really blown away by the power of the reconciliation pole, and I wish we had something as thought-provoking as that on UVic’s campus. The use of the copper nails to represent the children who died in residential schools is beautifully heartbreaking.
I wanted to respond to your blog in particular when I read that you’re coming from an anthropology background and you’re hoping to teach high school; I’m excited to hear more of your thoughts, coming from an anthro background! I was so torn between doing an anthro degree and then a post-degree in education, but I ended up doing a bachelor’s in education and then coming back to get my English requisites to teach high school – so I kind of did it backwards… I recently found out that the BC education system now offers English First Peoples 12 as a course students can choose to take as one of their required English classes in order to graduate (https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/english-language-arts/12/courses), which I think is amazing, but potentially problematic given how many teachers don’t feel comfortable teaching Indigenous studies. How do you think the education system (or teacher education programs) might change to better equip teachers to teach about Indigenous histories and literature? I know that at UVic at least, there weren’t any required Indigenous Lit classes to teach high school, and it’s only out of interest that I’ve decided to take them; are there more requirements in UBC’s teacher education program that you know of?
Thanks!
Hi Kirsten,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! If you do ever go, I would love to hear about your first-hand experience of witnessing the pole. It truly is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
Firstly, I am happy to hear that universities are recognizing the territory on which they stand. To answer your question, UBC does the exact same thing. I actually remember that one of the first things that I heard on my orientation day as a first-year student, was something along the lines of, “Our course is held on the UBC Point Grey (Vancouver) campus, which sits on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nation.” I don’t think that I have ever had it on a syllabus, but it is definitely something that a majority of my professors have mentioned at the beginning of the first class of the semester. Now that I think about it however, I have definitely heard such land acknowledgements in classes more in my first and second year, than in my third. Such realities, including your comment on the significance of having a land acknowledgement on syllabi, are great topics to consider.
Secondly, about your personal educational background, that is, frankly, so cool! Was your undergraduate degree a Bachelor’s in Education? I always thought of doing that program right after high school, but felt hesitant and wanted to explore more disciplines, just incase I changed my mind and didn’t want to become a teacher anymore. Anyways, very cool! Have you taught in high schools yet?
Lastly, I think it is great that the BC curriculum is offering this course, but at the same time, as you mentioned, we don’t necessarily have the proper resources to supply the contents of this course to students. Perhaps for teachers who aren’t prepared to teach this content or feel uncomfortable doing so, could undergo some education or training (as if they would for a teachable), so that they can be confident on what they are teaching.
Regarding your last question, at least for the teachables that I am preparing for (Social Science and English Language), there is no requirement to have prerequisites based on Indigenous education/content. The only requirement is to have 6 credits (2 courses) of Canadian content, which can or cannot fulfill the requirement. For example, this class and GEOG 290 (Geography of Canada) fulfill my requirements, but the latter barely discussed anything of Indigenous knowledge, literature, culture, and so on.
I definitely believe that Indigenous content should be incorporated as a mandatory requirement for Canadian educators, even if they are not preparing to teach a subject such as history or geography. This will allow the educators to have a more holistic view of their teachings, while simultaneously acknowledging and respecting the land that they are teaching on (and of course, passing on that message to their students).
I hope that answers your questions! Thank you again for your comment 🙂
Hi Simran.
Great post about the reconciliation pole. I saw it the day after it was put up at UBC. It really is a remarkable structure. It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear stories about the residential schools and I think it is very important that work like this is supported and showcased. Coming from an arts based background it is really moving to me to see artists use their work for social change.
Do you think it is part of an artist’s duty to create work that sparks social change? Do you think art (like this) is more or less effective in sparking social change than say, a lecture or an article?
It’s super cool that you come from an anthropology background, perhaps something in your previous studies can shed light on how cultures use art for social change. Perhaps not but its worth asking the question!
Hi Sean,
Thank you for your insight! I am glad that you have seen the Reconciliation Pole, and that it has moved you in a certain way.
To answer your first question, I believe that artists SHOULD definitely work to create art that inspires social change. However, with that being said, art and the artist’s intentions behind creating their work, tends to be both ambiguous and abstract at times. For instance, an artist could be a teenager simply taking pride in displaying her watercolour paintings in her high school’s art show, with the intention of sharing her talents. Taking the same example, this artist, years later, may have created a series of paintings surrounding society’s excessive social media usage. She might have created these art pieces to inspire social change: of detaching ourselves from the Internet and our electronic devices. To tie these examples together, I personally believe that artists should have a responsibility to create thought provoking art pieces that make a social difference, but it is ultimately up to the artist themselves. Thankfully as social people, we look at certain art pieces and interpret it in different ways. We take meanings from such pieces and it can often create change in our own lives, even if the artist did not intend it to.
To answer your second question, art like this, in my eyes, is way more effective in sparking social change than through our standard academic learning of lectures, articles, and other scholarly works. Even through the comments through this blog post, it is evident that we have all been moved by seeing the pole and the heartbreaking story that it is telling. Although lectures and articles are effective and provide us with a great deal of information, it is always inspirational to see that same content being materialized into an art piece in present reality, that can speak for itself.
Hi Simran.
Thanks for the reply. I happen to agree with you. The art produced by an artist is no less valid by not creating art that sparks social change, however, I do believe that it should be part of an artists work to open up dialogs about causes, big or small, and deliver commentaries in new and exciting mediums. As a theatre practitioner and writer myself, I am always eager to see other artists beginning a conversation about social change.
Coming up in Victoria, a friend of mine is producing a show about how Muslim families are being portrayed in art and how the normalization of muslim families has been excluded in current plays, film and tv in Canada. Her show simply wants to include normal Muslim families doing normal things in day to day life and how that affects life in Canadian society. She wants to tackle some of the prejudices, that are commonly held about Muslim families.
It’s art like this and art like the reconciliation pole that can help open up new conversations.
Thank you for posting about this, I really got a lot out of it. It has really made me think and search out new forms of expression through art.
Cheers!
Sean