Before I came to university, I had never heard the term treaty people. As a white settler I never would have thought that I was a treaty person. We, as Canadians, are all treaty people. Being a treaty person means a commitment to each other, both the indigenous and settler/immigrant sides of the treaty relationship. As a teacher, we can use treaty education to ensure our students understand their responsibilities as a treaty person. As Claire said in her introduction, it is our duty to teach our students the “benefits and responsibilities of sharing this land and honouring its long history”. When you look at teachers who believe there is no point in teaching treaty ed to a student body with not many Indigenous students in it, you can see that they aren’t understanding that as Canadians we are all treaty people, and treaty education and FNMI content is essential to this relationship. Treaty and FNMI education/content is something that many Indigenous students may already be aware of or know some of the perspectives without it being taught in school, non-indigenous students would most-likely not. Which is why treaty ed is even more important to be taught to a group of mostly non-indigenous students. We all need to learn to value the vast history and perspectives that make up this country. We need to learn from it, not only to learn from the past, but to make the future of Canada an equal and fulfilling place for both sides of the treaty relationship. This we can not do, without the right education for our upcoming generations of treaty people.
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Hi Julie!
I really liked your post, and I think that it is unfortunately all too common that I see University students feel unprepared and uneducated about Indigenous topics. Like we have talked about in this course, many people feel that school is to prepare the students for the real world… which would include University. Purely by a standpoint of preparing students for adult life, Indigenous education is a very useful and common topic.
I like how you speak on the importance of treaty education for those who are not Indigenous, as well. I think that a horrible mistake that can be done is dismissing the idea of Indigenous education simply because no one Indigenous is represented within the classroom.
The notion that “we are all treaty people” is one of particular importance to me in regards to curriculum. To know that everyone is an active participant in Indigenous education makes an even higher, yet more realistic, goal for educators. It does not feel like teaching someone else’s history, because we are all treaty people.
One point you mentioned is that teachers play an integral part in the students excitement and overall understanding of the topics discussed in class. How do you think that excitement could be made possible onto teachers who are leary of the idea of teaching Indigenous education (perhaps due to being uncomfortable, or not associating themselves with the culture)?
Thanks Julie!!