During fall semester several years ago, Dr. Mike Cappello received an email from an intern asking for help. Here’s part of it: “As part of my classes for my three week block I have picked up a Social Studies 30 course. This past week we have been discussing the concept of standard of living and looking at the different standards across Canada . I tried to introduce this concept from the perspective of the First Nations people of Canada and my class was very confused about the topic and in many cases made some racist remarks. I have tried to reintroduce the concept but they continue to treat it as a joke. The teachers at this school are very lax on the topic of Treaty Education as well as First Nations ways of knowing. I have asked my Coop for advice on Treaty Education and she told me that she does not see the purpose of teaching it at this school because there are no First Nations students. I was wondering if you would have any ideas of how to approach this topic with my class or if you would have any resources to recommend.”
The email was honestly very eye opening because trying to incorporate Treaty Ed and First Nations perspectives into the classroom could very well be a obstacle that I could face in my three week block depending on the school I am at and my cooperating teacher. It is honestly to think about how many schools and teachers probably have the same “lax” mindset around Treaty Ed and that is not okay because it doesn’t matter if there are any FNMI students or not, it important either way. The cooperating teacher, and the school (in the email) need the understanding of curriculum that we are all treaty people means that we ALL need to learn about Treaty Ed and from FNMI perspectives and content, not just because there are FNMI students present but because we are all treaty people therefor it is important for everyone. The reason we are all treaty people is explained by Chambers, “The treaties are a story that we share…It is our story: the one about the commons, what was shared and what was lost” (29). As Claire discussed, it is equally or more important for the non First Nation students in the classroom to be taught Treaty Ed and FNMI concepts perspectives. The reason why relates back to what Chambers said about how “We show our young what to believe and how to believe when they are very young…We learn how to believe scientist and mathematicians, teachers and curriculum” (26). So, we are teaching children to believe a curriculum that is in need of changing and as Claire explains, “we need to stop making racism and colonialism our underlying curriculum” (6:24). Furthermore, we need to undo “the racism that we [education system] have gotten so good at teaching them [non First Nations students]” (5:24) and one way of beginning to do this is by teaching Treaty Ed and incorporating FNMI perspectives and concepts.
I think that this obstacle is more common than we would like to think and I think addressing it even when you do not have FNIM students is important. The “lax” views of this class is disheartening and as a teacher be aware that your own students are not acting in this way. What is one activity or way that you will ensure this curriculum is taught within your classroom? Teaching the students the importance that we are all treaty people is a great start to Treaty Ed.