Indigenous Language Teaching
Diverse Indigenous Languages
Best Practices for Public Schools
Abstract: Indigenous language revitalization is an essential foundation for the survival of Indigenous cultures and communities. (McIvor & Annisman, 2018)(Ignace 2016)(UNDRIP, 2007)(TRC, 2015)(AFN, 2022) These languages contain vital knowledge and unique perspectives which have the power to help humanity view the world and our interconnection with the land and environment in healthier and more sustainable ways. (Ignace, 2016 p4.)(McIvor & Annisman, 2018, p91.) Additionally, the UNDRIP (2007), adopted by Canada in 2021, identifies Indigenous language acquisition as a human right. Canada has a responsibility to ensure access to Indigenous language education including for people living away from their home communities. Knowing the importance of Indigenous Language revitalization for the cultural survival of Indigenous communities and people, and also taking into consideration the complex dynamics affecting diverse Indigenous peoples living away from their traditional communities, what are best practices supporting diverse Indigenous language learning in public schools?
Decolonization of public schools is an ongoing journey for all involved in public education, which is essential to support Indigenous language learning in public schools. (Battiste, 2010, 2013) Aligning with my own efforts towards decolonizing my thinking, I am attempting to organize my thoughts through a Medicine Wheel model. In "Teaching By the Medicine Wheel" Dr. Nicole Bell (2014) explains "while there is some variation in its teachings and representations, the underlying web of meaning to Medicine Wheels remains the same: the importance of appreciating and respecting the ongoing interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all things."
UNDRIP Article 14: 3. States shall, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children, including those living outside their communities, to have access, when possible, to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language. (UNDRIP, p13, 2007)
The organization of thought here base on the ideas of LaFever's paper "Switching from Bloom to the Medicine Wheel - Creating Learning Outcomes that support Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Post Secondary Education." (2016) and the ideas of Dr. Nicole Bell (2014). My understanding of some of the diverse medicine wheel teachings of Turtle Island is based on conversations with our District Indigenization Coordinator, Jesse Halton, who explains that the wheel spins like a spiral, emphasizing the endless cycle inter-connection of all things, with this in mind all subtopics in this website overlap & inter- connect. This is reiterated by Bell who writes "Moving from linear models to the interconnectedness of the circle can guide the development of pedagogy and vision for the future." (Bell, 2014) In this website you are guided back to this page from each page, in order to emphasize this circular, spiral of layered relationships.
References:
Assembly of First Nations (2022) Teaching and Learning First Nations Languages in Different Locations & Locales
https://www.afn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AFN-Archipel_Language-Learning-Report_ENG.pdf
Battiste, M (2010) Nourishing the Learning Spirit. Canadian Education Association. https://www.edcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/EdCan- 2010-v50-n1-Battiste.pdf
Battiste, M. (2013) Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit. Saskatoon, Purich.
Bell, Nicole, Dr. (2014) “Teaching by the Medicine Wheel: An Anishinaabe Framework for Indigenous Education.” Education Canada. Canadian Education Association (CEA), www.cea-ace.ca/education- canada/article/teaching-medicine-wheel
Canada.(2021)Bill C-15 parl.ca https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-15/royal-assent
Fabián Alexis, (2016) Spiral image CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antu_draw-spiral.svg
LaFever (2016) Switching from Bloom to the Medicine Wheel - Creating learning outcomes that support indigneous ways of knowing in post secondary education.Intercultural Education, 27:5, 409-424, DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2016.1240496
Littlejohn657, (2021) Medicine Wheel Image. CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medicine_Wheel.png
Ignace, M. (2016) First Nations language building guide. FNESC. https://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/614108-FNESC- LANGUAGE-BULDING-CURRICULUM-BOOK-290316-B-F-with-Cover.pdf
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McIvor, O. & Anisman, A. (2018). Keeping our languages alive: Strategies for Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance. In Y. Watanabe (Ed.), Handbook of Cultural Security, (pp. 90-109). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
https://netolnew.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/keeping-our-languages-alive.pdf
University of the Fraser Valley, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Phillips_2018-1_(40755687570).jpg
United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
University of the Fraser Valley, (2018) Image of Elizabeth Phillips CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Phillips_2018-1_(40755687570).jpg