miskâsowin – Finding one’s sense of origin & belonging; Finding ‘one’s self’ or Finding ‘one’s center’
tâpwêwin – speaking the truth with precision and accuracy
I believe that my process of embarking on the journey of miskâsowin will be ongoing for the duration of this course as well as beyond as I begin to form my teacher identity in my own classroom. By bringing in the idea of tâpwêwin I will be able to express truly and speak honestly about my feelings and about the thoughts and experiences that take place as I find myself and my center.
Although I believe that it is important to explore our own heritage and the stories of our ancestors, I have found myself much more interested in the stories that I will create in my lifetime which will be told by my own great-grandchildren. I cherish the time I spend with my grandparents and am blessed to still have all four of them present in my life today. I am especially close with my mother’s parents who live here in Regina and I adore the time I get to spend with them. My grandma tells me stories of what her life was like at my age as I help her in the kitchen, and my grandpa plays his guitar and tells stories through his old time songs which always bring tears to my eyes. My grandparents are my two favorite people in the universe and I thank them everyday for the life they have blessed me with. I need to take it upon myself to better explore my family heritage because it may be able to tell me new things about my family and myself. But I do look forward to the continuation of my family, especially all of our silly traditions and I can’t wait to build a relationship with my own grandchildren that is as cherished as the relationship I have with my own.
The idea of tâpwêwin became clearer to me after my experience with the blanket ceremony. I had not partaken in one before, nor did I have any idea what exactly it was about. The blanket ceremony was completely shocking. The blunt honesty of the true events that occurred with the settlers invasion on Indigenous lands was heart-wrenching. I had never believed that the experience would have such a strong effect on myself and my thoughts surrounding Indigenous education, but I am devastated that our schools do not dive into this controversial topic more honestly. This is apart of CANADA’s history, yet, it is never discussed in a social studies or history class. Only if you decide to take Native Studies will you learn about the horrible acts committed by our government.
As a future educator, I believe it is our responsibility as teachers to speak the truth with precision and accuracy. Honesty is honestly the best policy. How can we be teaching history in our schools when a MAJOR part of Canadian history is being ignored. Yes, we speak about residential schools, but after experiencing the blanket ceremony, I understand now that so much more happened. We must speak honestly about these events to ensure that history will never repeat itself.