TRB 9

Reflection: Journey of our Generations: Cultural Connections Workshops—The Village Project 

Reflecting on the Journey of our Generations: Cultural Connection Workshop—The Village Project, I feel grateful, as a pre-service teacher in British Columbia, for having the opportunity to participate in an experiential educational workshop like this. I feel fortunate to be on my educational path to becoming a teacher in the Faculty of Education at VIU specifically because their vision statement includes the following:

“We embrace the uniqueness of individuals and the richness of cultural diversity. We are committed to equity and social justice as citizens in a global community. We hold ourselves accountable to honouring Indigenous perspectives through our teaching practices, our curriculum and our daily interactions with students and the world at large.” (VIU, 2018)

The addition of TRB 9 by the British Columbia Ministry of Education signals their commitment to reconciliation and healing our relationships with Indigenous communities through formalizing the expectations of teachers in this process. As a pre-service teacher I am looking forward to making an effort to contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing through trying to foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in the classroom. Workshops such as The Village Project, have helped me to critically examine my own biases, attitudes, beliefs, values and practices around my knowledge of the realities Indigenous people face in our country, both today and throughout history, as a direct result of colonization. 

Witnessing the raw courage of Indigenous Elders who chose to share their painful stories with us in order to change the future for their grandchildren, has deepened my appreciation and respect for the languages, heritages, cultures, and ways of knowing and being of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Likewise, I have come to understand how focusing on connectedness and relationships to oneself, family, community and the natural world, has a powerful place in the classroom on our journey as educators committed to making changes that help facilitate reconciliation and healing between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. The experiences I have had learning directly from Indigenous Elders and Keepers of Knowledge have left me in awe of the resiliency of the Indigenous people of Canada. I have a truly deep and profound respect for Indigenous people.

Personally, I have just scratched the surface in terms of learning the history of First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. However, through the B.Ed program at VIU I have been introduced to a wide array of resources available to me through both the services available at the University and the resources available in the local community such as: the Strong Nations bookstore and the Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre . VIU demonstrates their commitment to honouring Indigenous ways of knowing through their Elders-in-Residence program which gives students an opportunity to learn directly from the knowledge keepers in their midst.

“The Elders-in-Residence program is a multifaceted initiative supporting, but not limited to, the following:

• Support and use of Indigenous knowledge and Aboriginal languages within VIU;

• Support for all learners by offering traditional knowledge and spiritual guidance;

• Assist in the area of access and retention of Aboriginal learners in post-secondary education by having a presence within the institution;

• Assist faculty, staff and administration to build capacity in areas of cultural knowledge and understanding.” (VIU, 2018)

I feel it is important to acknowledge that Indigenous culture is a living culture. I am dedicated to integrating First Nations, Inuit and Métis world views and perspectives into the learning environment represented by my future classroom, in order to help facilitate the process of change with respect to education. 

Journaling is a tool I use to process my thoughts and experiences. Through this process I was able to identify a few of the most powerful concepts I encountered during the workshop.

The Seventh Generation Principle.

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” (Seven Generations Foundation Australia Limited, n.d.)

This concept gives me hope that if I persist in making an effort to change Canadian culture through educating students about the truth of our history in a way that models Indigenous ways of learning and knowing, then over time, even these relatively small actions will have an impact. The advice given to us at the beginning of the workshop was to keep our hearts and minds open. I made a concerted effort to do that. I tried to breathe through my emotions of rage and sadness and fear, in order to stay engaged in the process of active listening. Listening to the stories of abuse directly from the abused elders carried incredible weight and transformative power. I will never forget their stories and I will always be thankful for the bravery and strength they demonstrated through sharing them with us. 

Other personal calls to action that surfaced through my reflection included recognizing I need to learn more about the recommendations made through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and try to hold governments accountable for their implementation. I also need to learn more about global attitudes with respect to decolonization, through documents such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Life-long learning is something I am enthusiastically committed to. Through activities and conversations with colleagues participating in this workshop, I found many areas with respect to Indigenous issues, history and initiatives that I need to apply that love of learning, to. Fortunately, as I mentioned previously, I live in a place where I have fantastic Indigenous resources available to me and during a time where my interest in integrating new ways of knowing and learning into my teaching practice, is fully supported.

My process of reflection also led me to this document titled:

The Importance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples & the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to Museums

By Laura Phillips, Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural Studies, Queen’s University

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [UNDRIP] was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2007. Canada adopted UNDRIP in May 2016. The implementation of this declaration within federal and provincial legislation is in progress so museums need to be aware of and sure to follow the points laid out in UNDRIP.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission formed in 2009, as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. This agreement is between the federal government and Indigenous populations who had been subjected to enforced residential schooling in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through the recording of witness statements from parties affected by residential schools, the TRC created a historical record of this cultural atrocity and concluded their inquiries in 2015. The report issued at the conclusion of the commission in 2015 included specific calls to action for museums to take to promote reconciliation in Canada. (Phillips, L.)

The document represents a drop in the bucket with respect to what I need to learn. This one paper lists enough links to content to keep me busy for the next year. With this in mind, I feel I will need to make an effort to balance my education regarding Indigenous realities through accessing knowledge using different types of resources including but not limited to: academic writings; art exhibitions and visual art in our community; documentary films available through the NFB; fiction and non-fiction by Indigenous writers; and more directly through trying to build relationships with Indigenous people in my community. Likewise, opening up my teaching practice to include this myriad of resources will help engage students in the long term process of building a new Canadian future where Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people are both able to thrive through respectful, truthful relationships with each other.

Works Cited

VIU. (2018). Aboriginal: Elders at VIU. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from VIU: https://aboriginal.viu.ca/elders-viu

VIU. (2018). Faculty of Education: Our Vision. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from VIU: https://education.viu.ca/our-vision

Hall, Anthony J.. "Treaties with Indigenous Peoples in Canada".  The Canadian Encyclopedia, 19 August 2019, Historica Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-treaties. Accessed 10 September 2019.

Phillips, L. (2017, December). The Importance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples & the Truth & Reconciliation Commission to Museums. Retrieved 9 10, 2019, from Museums Association of Saskatchewan: http://saskmuseums.org/files/WEB_-_The_Importance_of_the_UNDRIP_and_the_TRC_to_Museums_v_2.pdf.

Seven Generations Foundation Australia Limited. (n.d.). 7th Generation Principle. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from 7th Generation Principle: http://7genfoundation.org/7th-generation/