Thank you for sharing this lesson with your students. This is an art lesson that teaches about what the Okanagan lands in winter can teach us. The lesson honours the 7 Grandfather teaching of Wisdom, the syilx Food Chief skm̓xist (Black Bear), the syilx 13 month calendar and the natural cycl.es of winter. This lesson is coodeveloped with these three amazing teachers at Chief Tomat Elementary; Ashley Lane, Carey Adams and Cari Lwowski.

The gift of the 7 Grandfather Teachings comes from the Ojibwe Nations. For the Ojibwe beaver represents Wisdom in the 7 teachings. As we are looking at the natural systems in the Okanagan we will connect our Wisdom teachings through skm̓xist (black bear), skm̓xist is one of the syilx Four Food Chiefs and best represents Wisdom here in these lands.

Students will create a large outline of skm̓xist and then draw the local Okanagan elements of the sky, land and water. As they are drawing the natural elements they can learn about what each element teaches us during the winter months. How is the sky different than summer, what do the changing air systems bring us? What is happening to the trees and plants during the time of snow and cold? What is happening on top of and underneath the snow at this time? Ultimately what wisdom do we gain from winter, how do we honour nature during this time?

How you interact with this lesson depends on you and your students. Hopefully there are more resources here than you can use. By presenting the learning as a piece of art the students connect with the process and the final result in a deeper way, a more personal way that connects to their mind and heart.

This is a living lesson. It can be adapted and improved instantly. If you have input that can make this lesson better and better I would love for you to share this with me!

The Seven Grandfather Teachings

According to Benton-Banai (1988), the Seven Grandfather Teachings form the foundation of an Indigenous way of life. Key concepts of respect and sharing are built into the Seven Grandfather Teachings. There are many versions of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. The following is a shortened version of the teachings as recounted by Benton-Banai (1988).

According to Benton-Banai (1988), the Creator gave the seven grandfathers the responsibility to watch over the people. In this recounting of the story, the seven grandfathers, seeing that the people were living a hard life, sent a messenger down to the earth to find someone who could tell what Ojibway life should be and bring him back. The messenger searched all directions – North, South, West and East – but could not find anyone. Finally, on the seventh try, the messenger found a baby and brought him back to where the grandfathers were sitting in a circle. The grandfathers, happy with the messenger’s choice, instructed him to take him all around the earth so the baby could learn how the Ojibway should lead their lives. They were gone for seven years. Upon his return, as a young man, the grandfathers, recognizing the boy’s honesty, gave him seven teachings that he could take with him. They are as follows: Nibwaakaawin—Wisdom; Zaagi’idiwin—Love; Minaadendamowin—Respect; Aakode’ewin—Bravery; Gwayakwaadiziwin—Honesty; Dabaadendiziwin—Humility; and Debwewin—Truth.

Nibwaakaawin—Wisdom: Wisdom, a gift from the Creator, is to be used for the good of the people. The term “wisdom” can also be interpreted to mean “prudence” or “intelligence.” This means that we must use good judgement or common sense when dealing with important matters. We need to consider how our actions will affect the next seven generations. Wisdom is sometimes equated with intelligence. Intelligence develops over time. We seek out the guidance of our Elders because we perceive them to be intelligent; in other words, they have the ability to draw on their knowledge and life skills in order to provide guidance.

Taken from Historical and Contemporary Realities: Movement Towards Reconciliation

https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/movementtowardsreconciliation/chapter/the-seven-grandfather-teachings/#:~:text=The%20Seven%20Grandfather%20teachings%20are,Honesty%2C%20Humility%2C%20and%20Truth.

Videos on the 7 Grandfather teachings - Wisdom

Royal Saskatchewan Museum - Grandfather Teachings with Elder Hazel: Wisdom (5:120 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae2WxW2952I

Turtle Lodge - International Center Indigenous Education and Wellness, Episode 6: Beaver (Wisdom) (2:49) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7wbE9YJ5_o

Cultural teachings:

From the Okanagan/syilx Nation Health Plan 2010 - syilx people continue to pass down their cultural way of knowing from one generation to the next, orally through storytelling. When they tell captíkʷɬ, “their stories (creation stories are sacred instructions that have been passed down generation after generation), they breathe life into the ember that is waiting to come alive again. When they talk about how they are going to reclaim and restore the well-being of their communities, they are breathing life into their words and into their actions and into the people. This is a regenerating experience that creates fluid dynamic movement and begins to address the years of oppression when the colonial governments attempted to silence their stories, literally to strip them of the knowledge of their ancestors.

The syilx (Okanagan) cultural framework is built on the foundation of syilx cultural ways of knowing and of being and is drawn from a captikʷɬ called “How Food was Given.” In this captikʷɬ, k̓ʷln̓cutn̓ (creator) visited the tmixʷ (all living beings). k̓ʷln̓cutn̓ (creator) sent sn̓k̓lip (coyote) to prepare for the future of the stelsqilxw (original/first people). k̓ʷln̓cutn̓ told the tmixʷ that a new people were coming. The four (4) Chiefs: skm̓xist (Black Bear) siyaʔ (Saskatoon Berry), sp̓iƛ̓m̓ (Bitter Root), n̓ty̓tyix (King Salmon) then came together to prepare the earth for the sn̓k̓lip (original/first people). The story then tells how the various perspectives of the Four Food Chiefs were brought together to inform the discussion, the problem solving, the decision making and the action plan.

An important part of the Four Food Chiefs and the Creation stories talk about the connectedness of all things. An important part of that connectedness is that we can't live without the other plants and animals but those same plants and animals CAN survive without us!

The Four Food Chiefs – combined learning From the Okanagan/Syilx Nation Health Plan 2010 and Westbank First Nations Our People Our Community 2013.

Chief skm̓xist (Black Bear) – Chief for all creatures on the land – represents leadership and giving. Represents the traditions and cultural practices, the concept of reflection and contemplation on “what is” informed by an understanding of the past and how that is connected to the future. Responsible for bringing balance.

Videos about Black Bears -

5 Facts about Black Bears (6:12) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDiKSdfyVTo

The American Black Bear (8:49) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsg5vjwchLs

Websites of Bears in Art

Robert Davidson https://www.robertdavidson.ca/original-paintings (scroll to red an black grizzly)

Robert Bateman - http://www.artandnature.com/bateman/bigblack.html

Sarah Lewke - https://sarahlewke.com/ click on Print shop

Jackie Traverse - https://nativecanadianarts.com/gallery/bear-clan-women/

Info on nature in winter - https://donnallong.com/nature-in-winter-an-overview/#:~:text=Nature%20in%20winter%20is%20a,snuggle%20up%20and%20stay%20indoors.

Lesson script:

• Introduce the Seven Grandfather teachings

• Review the Grandfather teaching "Wisdom"

• Make the connection of those Ojibwe teachings to the Four Food Chiefs and specifically skm̓xist

• For grade 4s and up use the box system to draw a bear, younger grades they can trace out a template. Drawing bigger is always better. Nose to butt should be about 30 cm. Think ahead on what medium you want to "fill" the inside with, heavier paper for paint or watercolour. I would suggest pencil crayons for these ages. Make sure there is space around skm̓xist to add text! Draw lightly at first and then they can draw a heavier outline.

• Looking at local landscapes students can draw in images of sky, land, plants and animals and water. Students that struggle to draw can collage found images. Colour can be added to enhance the image, likely a more muted colour pallette to represent winter mood and feeling.

• Looking at the syilx calendar for the winter months with an emphasis on the syilx names of the months and how they describe what is happening on the land at this time

• Now time to look at where we gain Wisdom from. In this project what does the sky, air and weather teach us about the nature and ourselves in winter. What does the land, plants and animals on the land teach us in winter. What does the water, snow and rain teach us in winter.

• The Wisdom can be then add either into the images inside skm̓xist or use to decorate the border. You can also get them to add the nysilxen words for bear and for the winter months. A short lesson on how to draw decorative text, guide lines top and bottom, ghost in the lettering to start and then thicken them up.......add colour, darken them.