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.”

Response to that letter:

Treaty education is a crucial part of education in Canada. Every person living on this land is a treaty person, no matter what role our ancestors played in history, today we all must honour and understand the promises made and the promises that were broken. In order to understand each other, and feel compassion for others, we have to at least make an attempt to learn and teach treaty education. Treaty education is not a job that should be left only to Aboriginal people, if that’s the case, we will never lose the stigma around it. We reside on stolen land and broken promises, which is an awful foundation for a country, so in order to make an attempt at healing hurt and being able to come together, we need to get rid of the ideology that Western education is somehow “superior” to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit ways of knowing. If we can find a way to incorporate many perspectives, and many ways of learning, we will all benefit and thrive. There is a clear power imbalance in Canada, and if we do not begin to try to reach out and build a bridge, then there will never be equality. To me the term “we are all treaty people” means that we are all living under the treaty signing if we reside in Canada. Every person has their own rights and responsibility for respecting the land and respecting others. Without the treaty signing Euro-Canadians would not have moved to Canada. This is first First Nations, Metis, and Inuit land, this is not our original land and we have to recognize that the treaties are the reason we are able to live here. So it is all of our jobs to maintain the basic respect between Aboriginal peoples, and Euro-Canadians.