As a student of history I am very aware that some peoples’ collective stories are silenced in official accounts. One of the artifacts that crystallized this concept for me comes from Canada’s era of nation building. When I learned that certain undesirable (Chinese) workers were removed from the picture of the last spike of the Canadian National Railroad, it drove home to me how silencing erases entire communal experiences and submerges them in a generally accepted mainstream story of triumph for all. I wanted to apply an unearthing of silenced voices approach to Canadian aboriginal history to see what it would yield. So my initial HMW question was ‘ How might we incorporate the silenced voices of aboriginal Canadians into the curriculum?’
I have read and listened to a few aboriginal leaders and artists. I think it is now time for the children in my class to meet an aboriginal leader, especially if the individual has an interest in paleontology or Cree code talkers. I have been told that the Be More Dog team leader works at a school that has regular access to an aboriginal elder. I will be contacting him in January.
I became convinced of the necessity of incorporating aboriginal perspectives into as many aspects of the curriculum as I could by listening to Cindy Blackstock and Bob Joseph on CBC’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin. They impressed on me the immediacy of making Canadian aboriginal experiences known so that we do not follow the banality of discrimination that is found in the generally accepted textbook view of Canadian history. The default, generally accepted subtext where aboriginal people are basically obstacles to nation building is so damaging. I believe that letting misrepresentations and silencing continue is more deleterious than conveying the aboriginal experience imperfectly.
Before listening to Blackstock and Joseph I used to believe that the state of aboriginal life in Canada was the result of policy missteps or oversights, that if policy makers knew and understood the problem it would be fixed. These two individuals made it very clear to me that policies were designed to basically destroy people tagged as undesirable. I think this is an essential understanding that all Canadians should come to hold.
I was disgusted by my level of ignorance on Canadian aboriginal political history even though I had had progressive teachers who taught us the cultural history of various aboriginal tribes for months at a time. Why did I know how native Canadians wore, and what they ate, but I did not know that they were not entitled to vote or had the same level of medical funding or that aboriginal children were forcibly separated from their parents? I walked out of university knowing none of this. And that should not have occurred.
Hi Angela,
I loved reading this post, and I can relate to some of your feelings here. I also studied Canadian history in university, and I left with these same gaps. I think that it is so inspiring to see your determination to ensure this does not happen with our current generation of learners.
Have you read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer or Bob Joseph’s book 21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act? Both of them are valuable resources for learning more about Indigenous history.
Thank you Jennifer. I am currently reading 21 Things… I think every Canadian should read it as a matter of national education. I have never heard of Braiding Sweetgrass, but I will look it up since it comes so highly recommended.
Thanks for this great post Angela. You should connect with @tjagdeo and I about our bookclub on “Braiding Sweetgrass” (by Kimmerer) and how that book club came up with some great sources and resources for this work. Also, check out the blog of @lwelsh: https://cohort21.com/lindsaywelsh/ You might make a great connection here 😉
Hey Angela,
As a white settler, I also have a lot to learn about Indigenous peoples and how colonization has hurt us all. I was recently in conversation with the Haudenosaunee scholar, Dr. Kiera Brant Birioukov for the podcast and she spoke very clearly about the importance of building relationships with elders if settlers are hoping to do meaningful learning with / from them. Any time that elders take educating settlers is less time that they have with their own communities. This was a powerful reframe for me! There is no shame in being honest with yourself that the time to create a mutually beneficial relationship is not possible and deciding against working with an elder directly…some other possibilities to help your students better hear the historically silenced voices of Indigenous peoples might be to book a virtual field trip to the Woodland Cultural Centre (a former residential school). The program is very powerful and the interpreters are all excellent. These are paid experiences, which I think is INCREDIBLY important when doing this work. The other AWESOME resource I used with my students last year was playing episodes of The Secret Life of Canada podcast (especially the one on the Indian Act). Here are some links:
Dr Brant Biriokov: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/64-honouring-in-di-genuity-with-kiera-brant-birioukov/id1433809331?i=1000544196290
Woodland Cultural Centre: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/
Secret Life of Canada: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada/what-do-you-really-know-about-the-indian-act-1.5188255
@aiorio
Happy new year! I hope you are managing during this remote learning period. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflection above. What a great catalyst for conversation.
We are looking forward to connecting this weekend. If you have a free moment before Saturday; create a 2nd post that answers the following 2nd F2F reflection questions and post your HMW question.
This will be really helpful to your coaches/facilitator in their support of your Action Plan. It should not take more than 5 minutes so don’t overthink it. We just want to pile on the support and the blog is the most efficient way to do it.
1) What was the process like in coming up with your HMW question at the last face-to-face? Where did you land? Share your first attempt so we can see where your action plan is headed.
2) Who should you talk to next to help guide your inquiry? In order to answer your HWM question, what voices and perspectives need to be consulted? What did you learn when you talked to them?
3) Why are you engaging in this line of action and inquiry? What important unmet need sits central to your question?
See you Saturday!
Justin