Indigenous Ways of knowing (IWOK) Teacher materials

This resource page came into existence as part of the Southeast Michigan Stewardship (SEMIS) Coalition’s effort to incorporate Indigenous Ways of Knowing (IWOK) into our own place-based focused practices in addressing social and ecological issues. The IWOK initiative is focused on building community relationships with indigenous scholars and community members to incorporate indigenous wisdom, history, and practices into curriculum and connect our teachers with our indigenous community partners to collaborate. We ensure that the voices, wisdoms, practices, and experiences of indigenous knowledge holders, tribal members, educators, and researchers are centered in our work with SEMIS Coalition teachers and members and we hope you find it useful for your learning. 

This page is a collection of teaching materials (information, curriculums, lesson plans, collection of teaching resources, readings) for anyone interested in learning about and incorporating Indigenous history, practices, stories, and wisdom into their teaching and learning.  Please note that we are using indigenous wisdom as a shared value system across indigenous tribes as we recognize that each tribe has their own unique practices and way of life connected to the land and water they are residing in. 

These resources are collected and, or in many cases, created by our Indigenous community partners. Credit goes to them. We also provide the list of resources collected and put together by other coalitions/organizations as an open source. We want to acknowledge that these resources are a collaborative effort that came together and was born out of building partnerships with our Indigenous and non-Indigenous community partners.

Below you will find the content page listed. On the right corner menu you will see different pages with the resources listed when you click on them.

CONTENT

1. Introduction to Federally Recognized Indigenous Tribes in Michigan and Land-based Philosophy

2. Reading lists on Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being 

3. Teaching Materials for Educators

4. History of treaties in Michigan

We welcome any feedback to this website. Thank you for taking time to provide your invaluable comments to add/change/organize these resources for user friendly purposes.