Ongoing Support Sessions for Educators Monday – Thursday
Support will continue daily with LKDSB Program and Virtual School teachers sharing how to structure your remote learning classroom, key learning, and sharing helpful ideas.
It has been five years since the release of the Truth and Reconciliation report. We all can admit that we are at different points in our learning about the history of Canada’s relationships with Indigenous Peoples. In order to feel equipped to teach our students about this history and to feel more comfortable/enabled to have difficult conversations, we need to take steps to learn it ourselves.
There are many Ontario Social Studies curriculum expectations connections to the Indian Act, the time period surrounding the implementation of the Indian Act, as well as the acts that were in place before the Indian Act (The Gradual Civilization Act, 1857; and the Gradual Enfranchisement Act, 1869).
These resources will help you learn more about The Indian Act, and the effect it still has on Indigenous peoples today, as well as give you some tools to use to teach this part of history to your students.
What is the Indian Act?
This is an incredibly oppressive and racist statute of laws that was implemented in 1876 to force assimilation on First Nations peoples here in what we now call Canada. It is still in effect today, and although there have been some amendments, a lot of the laws still remain in The Indian Act’s original form.
The Indian Act governs every aspect of First Nations peoples lives and some of the pieces of the legislation include:
Forced First Nations peoples to live on small, leftover portions of land
Forced First Nations children to go to residential schools
Outlawed cultural practices such as ceremonies and celebrations
Removed the rights of First Nations women, made them dependents of their husbands (which was contrary to Indigenous customs)
Instituted the Reserve Pass System which made it illegal for First Nations people to leave their reserve without permission from the Indian Agent.
There are many, many more details to this oppressive piece of legislation about which, through guided inquiry, you and your students will be able to learn more, make connections to current events and then be called to take action.
Resources
Strengthen your own understanding
To learn more about The Indian Act, you can watch this recording of a Workshop that was provided to LKDSB employees on December 2nd. This workshop dove into the history of the Indian Act, and the details of some of its oppressive policies. Educators can use this recording to build their own understanding of the Indian Act and how it still affects the lives of First Nations peoples today. By taking the time to learn this information, you will be strengthening your own understanding and better equipping yourself to have difficult conversations with your students, families and friends.
Teach your students
I created a tool, Digital Evidence Box, for teachers to use with their Grade 7 and 8 students to teach about the Indian Act. You can find this resource here:
Using the Indian Act Digital Evidence Boxes in Your Classroom
This is a 20-minute recording about how you might use this tool in your class. Sample learning goals and success criteria are shared as well as ideas for other curriculum connections and possible assessment strategies.
French Immersion Considerations
It would be fantastic if any resources that share the true accurate histories and the voices and stories of Indigenous peoples would have been translated from their ancestral languages, but that is not the case. It is important to acknowledge at this time that through the oppressive realities of Canadian history, most First Nation, Metis and Inuit peoples do not speak the languages of their ancestors.
While these resources are exclusively in English, this resource can still be used in a French Immersion classroom. It has proven to be quite difficult to find Community and Primary resources in the French language, as most Indigenous people speak English. It is very important to note that for so long, Indigenous people’s voices were not shared or amplified, and it is very important for us as educators to make sure we are sharing and amplifying Indigenous voices through primary and community sources.
Some ways to use this resource in a French Immersion classroom:
Listen, read and watch the resources as they are in English and respond to them in French
Work with your teaching partner so these resources are used in an English Language Arts class
In Conclusion
By taking the time to teach about the Indian Act, you are helping students to understand the relationships between Canada and the Peoples indigenous to this land, as well as help your students to make connections to current events and issues. Many students (and teachers) come to school with biases in place, and also a lack of understanding of this history.
Through engaging in this teaching and learning a shift in thinking is able to take place and hopefully some empathy and understanding can be gained. Let’s work together to respond to and act on the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Heather Wark (Lakehead University) Denise Ladd, Sally Parkinson & Alicia Schenck (LKDSB) and LKDSB Educators from High Park, Plympton-Wyoming, King George (Chatham), P.E. McGibbon, Dresden, Riverview and McNaughton
Session 1: Subitizing for Early Learners - Tues. Nov 24 @ 3:45
Session 2: Counting for Early Learners -Tues. Dec 1 @ 3:45
Session 3: Problem Types for Early Learners - Tues. Dec 8 @ 3:45
Session 4: Early Number Screening - Tues. Dec 15 @ 3:45
Treaties Recognition Week was introduced in 2016 to honour the importance of treaties and to educate Canadian citizens about treaty rights and treaty relationships.
This is the time that teachers and students learn about treaties and build greater understanding of the importance of treaties in Ontario, and Canada. Treaties negotiated in this country are the foundation of the relationship between governments and Indigenous peoples and also the foundation of Canada.
Treaties Recognition Week responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action to increase treaty awareness. This helps create equitable and respectful relationships, enabling a better way forward together.
We have created these videos for you to use to build your own understanding of the importance of treaties, and also to share with your students. You can use these videos to start the conversation and generate questions for inquiry.
Dallas Sinopole’s introduction:
In this video Dallas talks about the wampum beads that the belts are made of:
This video tells of the Dish with One Spoon Treaty:
*Make sure to turn the Youtube Closed Captions on in the following videos. Captions were not included in the original video.
This Video tells of the Two Row Wampum:
This Video Tells of the Treaty of Niagara:
This Video tells of the story of The Drum, and how treaties are not always recorded through wampum or pen and paper:
This video tells how the game of lacrosse is also viewed as a way to keep peace, much like a treaty:
In this video Dallas talks about how everyone living in Canada is a treaty person and has rights and responsibilities that come along with these treaties:
In this video Dallas talks about treaty rights today:
More Resources to support learning about Treaties:
Links
Just a reminder: The LKDSB has a license for the (First Nation, Metis, Inuit Education Associaiton of Ontario (FNMIEAO) resources. The password was emailed to you, but if you need the password resent, send an email to Gretchen Sands-Gamble
If you are interested in building your own understanding of treaties and how they are important to all Canadians and the land upon which we live, the FNMIEAO is offering free treaty education webinars starting on October 26th.
For more information and to register, click on the picture
This is an awesome list of resources provided by FNMIEAO
This is an amazing resource curated by Jodie Williams from the Dufferin/Peel Cathoic School Board. It shares many great articles, videos and stories of the current fight by Indigenous peoples to maintain their treaty rights across Canada. By learning more about treaties and the rights that come with them, all people can understand why Indigenous people are fighting for these rights.
Another great resource by Jodie Williams:
A bitmoji classroom that contains videos to support treaty learning. Just click the link and make a copy.
This is great for virtual and face to face classrooms!
The First Nation, Metis, Inuit Education Association of Ontario created this document: Pedagogical Considerations for Treaty Education. It contains information and many more links to support your own learning about as well as the teaching of treaties.
These are the blog posts I have created in the past about treaties. These include lots of links, videos, articles and lesson ideas.
This issue of Kayak magazine is all about treaties.
Where to next?
After watching these videos and learning about The Two Row Wampum or the Dish With one Spoon Wampum, ask yourself and your students how this relates to our Traditional Territory Acknowledgement.
Revisit this blog post Making The Traditional Territory Acknowledgement More Meaningful. Use the information provided in this video to encourage your students to create a more meaningful Territory Acknowledgement that speaks of treaties, speaks of relationships with the land, speaks of the people whose traditional territory you are on and includes a commitment to these peoples and the land.
If you have any questions or have student work you’d like to share, please email me at:
Boozhoo! Welcome back! A new school year is upon us, and while it may look different in a lot of ways, there are some things that are very familiar.
I’ve had many teachers ask how they can help their students understand why we say a Traditional Territory Acknowledgment every day in our schools.
I created a video that you can share with your students explaining why we say Traditional Territory Acknowledgments, ways to make them more meaningful and tips for writing your own.
Where to next?
Have your students look at a map of the LKDSB catchment area. They can show where they live on the map in relation to the 4 First Nations in the LKDSB catchment area.
Click on these links to learn more about the First Nations in our area.
If you want your students to write their own traditional territory acknowledgements there are a few things to remember to think about and include:
Whose traditional territory are you living on?
What are you grateful for (nature, rivers, animals etc)?
It’s good to mention the sharing of the land, because sharing was the original intent when Indigenous people signed treaties with governments
Make a commitment to the land
Make a commitment to the people whose traditional territory you are on. Do some research. What initiatives are being undertaken by the First Nation communities in your area? What can you do to offer your support to these communities?
Don’t Forget to Share!
If you or your students have work that you want to share, please share it with me! I love to see all the great things happening around our school board!
