Week Eight: Treaty Education Within the Classroom
During fall semester several years ago, Dr. Mike Cappello received an email from an intern asking for help. Here’s part of it: “As part of my classes for my three week block I have picked up a Social Studies 30 course. This past week we have been discussing the concept of standard of living and looking at the different standards across Canada . I tried to introduce this concept from the perspective of the First Nations people of Canada and my class was very confused about the topic and in many cases made some racist remarks. I have tried to reintroduce the concept but they continue to treat it as a joke. The teachers at this school are very lax on the topic of Treaty Education as well as First Nations ways of knowing. I have asked my Coop for advice on Treaty Education and she told me that she does not see the purpose of teaching it at this school because there are no First Nations students. I was wondering if you would have any ideas of how to approach this topic with my class or if you would have any resources to recommend.”
How would I respond to this student’s email…What is the purpose of teaching Treaty Ed or First Nation, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) content and perspectives where there are few or no First Nations, Metis, Inuit peoples? What does it mean for your understanding of curriculum that “we are all treaty people”?
Treaty education is a very crucial topic to incorporate within the classroom. It is part of Canadian history and although many people may disagree, it actively impacts every individual. Treaty education influences the way that society views history and how it is taught can have an influence on the future by allowing opportunities to heal and having strong respectful relationships. Chambers explains in her chapter that treaties are “our story: the one about the commons, what was shared and what was lost. It is an elegy to what remains to be lost if we refuse to listen to each other’s stories… songs, poems, from each other’s knowledge about this world and how to make our way in it”. If students are rejecting to learn about this essential topic, I would continue to remind them that the past has impacted the present and will continue to influence the future. The history and perspectives from the past have shaped Canada to what it is today, which is why it is so important to understand. Everybody is treaty people because it is our responsibility to understand the relationship that we share with one another and the land. Treaties are timeless and acknowledging this concept is valuable to gain students appreciation and respect towards the topic. I would explain in my email that the purpose of teaching treaty education is to teach the students “benefits and responsibilities of sharing this land and honouring its long history” (Claire Introduction). Not only is this essential, but it allows for an opportunity to the “possibility of relating to one another” (Claire Introduction). We all need to understand each other’s past history to be able to build present relationships. This leads into us all being Treaty people. From my understanding of curriculum that we are all treaty people, it means that I have a duty, especially as a future educator to examine how I can best educate and respect these agreements presented in the treaties. Treaties will continue on forever, so it becomes additionally important to respect the treaties and value their importance. I believe that learning and educating will help heal and grow relationships with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people. I would explain in my email that understanding the above reasons of why we are all treaty people, will help eliminate those false accusations and lead to a better society.
In my personal experience with treaty education growing up, I feel as if much information was misleading or missing from the classes I attended. However, as I have gotten older, it has gotten better and I am still beginning to learn and process what it means to be treaty people. I feel like this will always be a growing process and the growth, healing, and promoting positive relationships will be continual. Since I feel like this topic is something that I should have learnt from a younger age, I will make it a priority to involve treaty education within my classroom as a future educator. I truly believe that change begins in the classroom and I feel very passionate to be able to have the opportunity to help educate the future generation on Treaty education, so that we can have a more accepting and respectful society.
Amber Smith
Chambers, Cynthia. N.d. “We are all Treaty People”: The Contemporary Countenance of Canadian Curriculum Studies. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RpFQAVShNlNLA9u6aXv7udGnzTGk5LNN/view
Claire Introduction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWY_X-ikmaw
Hi Amber!
I appreciate what you said that discussing treaty education allows for opportunities to heal and create respectful relationships. If we do not teach Canada’s true history, we will be unable to learn from mistakes and be able to move forward. Especially as future teachers, we must incorporate treaty education in our classrooms. I love what you said about how being able to be a treaty person means that we need to always be open to learn new things and these learnings will always be a process. As long as we are doing our best to be able to effectively live up to being a treaty ally then we must recognize that it is an ongoing process. Thanks,
Amber
I like your take on this! I like that you acknowledge that you are still learning and growing and that you are still super aware of the importance. I’m not sure if I put it in my own blog, but I too feel that I am always learning and growing in regards to this topic. Humans are not perfect, we are going to get it wrong. What matters is that when we get it wrong and are corrected, that we go back and fix that mistake. I think we both took that away from this weeks readings and videos.
Hi Amber,
Very well written response, I liked that you talked about how treaty education impacts every individual, I completely agree with you, and how being a treaty person means holding the responsibility especially being future educators to teach our students about sharing the land and honouring the history. In class earlier today the guest speaker talked about terms like “treaty neighbour” instead of saying treaty people, I think this is a good term to use for students who might not see how they are treaty people, it allows them to still make a connection to treaty education.