Indigenous people are frequently looked down upon and not included in the level of living; instead, they are categorized as having a distinct way of life, which is incorrectly given that we are all treaty people and occupy treaty land. Treaty education is not a joke and is very important within the education system. Treaty education is to inform non-treaty people about Canada’s past, including how treaty people were treated. Children can learn about indigenous methods of knowing and thinking through treaty education. Claire mentioned how often instruction about treaties is intended for indigenous people, although it is intended for the settlers because the indigenous people already understand what has happened in the past and their ways of life. Teaching treaty education helps kids understand that everyone is a treaty person, not just members of a certain community. This is especially essential for younger kids since that’s when they’re still figuring out who they are, as Claire explained. Because of this, the students in your class may view treaty education as a joke or the teachers may be very slack and believe that there is no need in teaching it given that there are “no” kids from Nations who may not be aware that they are also treaty people. Dwayne also mentioned how, even though we might not be aware of it, we are all colonized. It is important to acknowledge that treaty education within the class is not just doing one reading about the past. Treaty education can be integrated into all subjects and is important to spend quality time teaching children about treaty education. Treaty education is deep learning not just skimming over the surface of it all. It also has to do with teachers’ perspectives on the matter, which is why your teacher refrains from introducing it to your class because she thinks the students there are no students that belong to a nation. This stood out to me when Dwayne explained, teachers’ attitudes about indigenous culture and history are reflected in how much of it they include in the classroom. This involves more than just using a timeline of the residential schools to analyze historical relationships and the past. The curriculum should not necessarily have one section for treaty education whereas it should be incorporated into all sections of the curriculum since we are all treaty people and many times is without teachers realizing. Treaty education may be included in many courses, and it’s crucial to give kids enough opportunity to learn about it. But, it’s up to the teacher to recognize its significance. Learning about treaties throughout the curriculum is important because treaties have rights and reasonability which are important for everyone to learn due to everyone being treaty people. In conclusion, one way to address this topic with your students is to stick up for what you believe in and, ideally, others will do the same. Explaining who you are and where you come from, as well as asking others to do the same, could help you convince your instructor that there are kids from many nations and show the importance of taking this topic up in class.
Education