Blog Post 9

Dear Intern, 

I appreciate your concerns and I am very glad that you have reached out for help. It sounds like you are very committed to teaching these students about Treaty Education which is a very important aspect of Social 30 and Canadian History in general. I commend you for these efforts and would be glad to assist your endeavors. 

To begin, I would address these issues with your colleagues and highlight  the historical and current significance of learning about Treaty Education, and accentuate the importance of teaching Treaty Education to all students, regardless if they are Indigenous or not. Teaching these concepts to students highlights previous and recurring injustices and creates critical and nuanced understanding of these issues. Society can benefit from students learning about Treaty Education because it develops their ability to see and call out acts of oppression and further Social Justice and Reconciliation in Canada. Secondly, you could perhaps begin to open up these concepts to students by stressing the importance of reconciliation and highlighting some of the uncomfortable subjects such as residential schools and colonialism that have caused issues in Indigenous communities to this day. 

As well, the phrase “We are All Treaty People” reflects the idea that the treaties that were signed in Canada not only impact Indigenous people, but all Canadians. It is the responsibility of every citizen of Canada to uphold and honor these treaty relationships. 

If other colleagues don’t see the issue with excluding Treaty Education in the classroom, I would reach out to some experienced educators either from different schools or from universities who are also committed to spreading the knowledge about Treaty Education, as they would be able to provide the most insight to how to approach these students who are making these remarks. 

Finally, some resources that can be introduced to students are the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation website, documentaries that depict survivors of Residential schools talking about the things they faced in the schools, inviting an elder into the classroom for a healing circle or storytelling.

 I hope that your efforts to introduce Treaty Education into the classroom continue and succeed, and I hope this can guide you in the right direction.