The teachers and school members integrate and honor Indigenous knowledge by bringing in guest speakers. Two of the three times I have been at this school there has been a guest presenter teaching students about Indigenous ways of knowing. This week an Indigenous guest who often comes to the school was educating students on hunting and Indigenous traditions. He brought furs, medicines, and clothing pieces. We did not get to see the guest speaker present his presentation to a class but we were able to talk to him and listen to his stories. As we listened to the guest speaker he educated us more on the ways he hunts and went into further detail about natural medicines and their uses of them. I think this presentation was very interesting and would have the students engaged.
In each classroom some type of Indigenous poster or art piece was present. Specifically, in the ⅞ classroom I was in, above the cubie shelves there were framed Indigenous art pieces. While further observing that classroom there was also a medicine wheel poster. Having these posters and pictures hung up helps introduce Indigenous culture to the students and honors Indigenous ways of knowing.
TRC was acknowledged in the school environment in various ways. As soon as I walked into the school there was a table set up with the bible and Jesus, however, on the right side hanging on the wall with Jesus, there were pictures of Indigenous individuals as well. As I continued to walk the hallways I noticed a wall decal that says “reconciling the past, honoring the future, we are all treaty people.” This wall decal was colorful and grabbed my attention right away. On each side of the wall decal was an explanation of what each part of the circle meant and goes into detail. I continued to look around the hallways and saw more Indigenous-related material put onto the bulletin boards. This included a bulletin board with the seven sacred teachings and another board had Indigenous Storytelling. In one hallway there were student-made art pieces dedicated to Every Child Matters. The art piece included cutouts of hands with a statement written on each cut-out. The statement said “I matter because…” The students then finished that statement and colored the cut-outs. It was so refreshing to see the amount of effort put into the posters, pictures, and art pieces that honored Indigenous knowledge.