Honouring Indigenous Veterans Day – Right To Play
1) I was guided by the question ‘HMW raise awareness of silenced aboriginal voices so that we might become better allies?’
2)In September and October I read the stories such as Stolen Words (by Melanie Florence) and When We Were Alone (by David A. Robertson and Julie Flett) to the children in order to introduce them to the cultural impacts of residential schools. We conducted pre and post reading discussions in order to activate any prior knowledge and to set out the main outlines of the topic. After the post reading discussions, the children wrote about some of the negative impacts of residential schools. Within a few days everyone had completed the task.
In November we discussed Aboriginal Veterans Day and why it is a different Day from Remembrance Day. The children did a write up of either an aboriginal hero or about some instances where aboriginal veterans were not recognized for their significant contributions to the allied effort. Some children wrote thank you letters to aboriginal veterans. However, we did not find places to mail the thank you letters that were specifically for aboriginal veterans.
Our introduction to aboriginal war heroes resulted in numerous spin-off discussions among the students, one of whom became particularly interested in the history of the Cree code talkers. Her enthusiasm proved so infectious that it inspired her classmates to develop Cree language lessons and tests which they willingly wrote at lunch or at silent reading times. While the other children’s interest waned after a month or so, the firebrand’s interest has remained constant. In December, she presented her work on learning and teaching Cree as part of her academic video diary. When we had superpower day in March, she chose Cree talker as her superpower.
In the winter months we worked with the excepts from the Web of Life speech which is at times attributed to Chief Seattle in order to gain insight into the interconnected way that Duwamish and Suquamish people viewed their relationship to the earth. The children prepared recitations of these excerpts (included below). During their preparations they were responsible for finding the pronunciation and meanings of any unknown words. After the recitations we held a think-pair-share discussion of the meaning of Chief Seattle’s words.
Poetry continued to serve as fertile ground for discussions of aboriginal dispossession right up until March Break. When, during our study of black history month, I asked the children to write down what they they thought the caged bird represented, one child (who was not the Cree enthusiast) actually stated that he thought that the bird that sang of “things unknown but longed for still” could be aboriginal people, or black people or women. I was impressed by his ability (as a grade 3 student!) to (verbally) cite examples as to why this might be the case. I was also impressed that he had managed to group various dispossessed people together.
In the coming months, as part of our unit on the study of human evolution and migration, we will be ending our discussion with the study of human migration out of Africa, when we get to migrations into North America, we emphasize the settling of various parts of Canada by our first nations. We look at the food, clothing and shelter and sometimes customs of various aboriginal peoples. Last year we looked at the Haida, Inuit, the Cree, the Blackfoot, the Iroquois (Hodenosaunee or Five Nations) and Micmac. We emphasize how these North Americans survived and thrived for 15,000 years. I think because my class this year is so interested languages, we will be looking at Micmac script as well.
3)What I learned in the process:
First,I learned a lot of factual information. I did not know that there was a National Aboriginal Veterans’ Day before this year. I also did not know that there were Cree Code Talkers in addition to Navajo Code Talkers. Although I was aware that aboriginal veterans were not given the vote after returning from active duty, I was not aware that they could not take advantage of the educational and land provisions that the act allowed for. Before this year, I was unaware of how The Indian Act governed every element of aboriginal life. I was also unaware of the discrepancies in federal funds allotted to aboriginal health care and non aboriginal health care from listening to Cindy Blackstock. I think this individual has become my most trusted source on the treatment of aboriginal Canadians.
I also learned that the children were very taken with the heroic elements of aboriginal history.
Some resources
Resource relating some of the mistreatment aboriginal veterans faced during and after
Aboriginal war heroes: code talkers mentioned
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/indigenous-veterans
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous People a Reality by Bob Joseph
Cindy Blackstock talking about federal health care inequities on The Agenda with Steve Paikin
Mentions Jordan’s Principle
The Web of Life (excerpts from Chief Seattle’s Speech)
Teach your children
What we have taught our children,
that the Earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
If men spit upon the ground,
they spit upon themselves.
This we know.
The earth does not belong to us;
we belong to the earth.
This we know.
All things are connected,
like the blood which unites a family.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
We did not weave the web of life;
we are merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web,
we do to ourselves.
Chief Seattle
4) Big take away:
That great communicators are the key to building allyship. When I look back on what touched us the most in our classroom study of social justice issues in general, what left the deepest impressions were specific images that stayed with us. Those speakers that were able to concretize an issue by associating it with an image made the most lasting impression on both me and the students.
ongoing questions/ challenges:
How can I keep the children from becoming deeply and permanently saddened while studying these elements of our history? After we learn of present conditions for many aboriginal people what concrete actions can we take to be effective allies within the school setting? I think the key is to keep the focus on actions we can take to improve and spread knowledge of these conditions. Many of us buy our masks from aboriginal businesses. The children and I know what symbols to look for. I also encourage them to think about the types of laws they want to see made in society.
@AIorio, Thank you for sharing your powerful journey thus far. WOW! By articulating your process and approach, you have undoubtedly offered openings and ideas to all educators immersed in this essential endeavour of meaningfully connecting our students (and ourselves!) to the depth of learning . Thank you! Also, your humility is inspiring. A focus on and openness to what we don’t know is a powerful and highly-accessible beginning.
@swelbourn
@tjagdeo
@iliu
@jvipond
@ksegedin
@lhanimyan
@avillanueva
@jknapp
@jadams
Hi Angela,
I really loved reading this blog post. I learned so much simply from your summary. You have really leaned into this work, and I hope the positive student response has been encouraging. Have you read Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer? That might be another book for you to explore next. She specifically has sections dedicated to the importance and state of Indigenous language learning. What I also love about this book is that there is so much in here that is positive. You are right that many of the themes we reach for with regards to Indigenous history are sad, and we want to be mindful to teach the joy in Aboriginal history, as well.
Thank you for sharing your journey here. It is inspiring!
Jenn
@aiorio, it was such a pleasure to read about the amazing work you are doing in your classroom.
I love the connections that your students have been able to make between difference marginalized groups. It’s so important during any discussion that the students wonder “Who is missing?” “Whose perspective/opinion is missing from this dialogue?”
I’m not sure if you are interested, but The University of Alberta offers a free online course on Indigenous Canada (https://www.ualberta.ca/admissions-programs/online-courses/indigenous-canada/index.html). I, too, feel the need to learn so much more about this history to help inform my teaching.
In response to your final wondering, I can relate. However, I do think there needs to be a balance between learning the history AND celebrating the cultural. And also your point about ACTION – What else can we do to fix things?