Treaty Education
Treaty Education is a crucial part of any school curriculum, but still today, people will dismiss the importance of learning about Treaty Ed. Treaty Ed is a part of every school curriculum for this reason, to help people understand why reconciliation needs to take place in our society today. There are many schools across Canada that will have a classroom where the majority of students will have very few First Nations, Metis, or Inuit peoples. This does not mean that the Treaty Ed is any less important, if anything, it is more important. All residents of Canada have to know and understand the history of our country. The good and the bad. In Claire’s discussion, I became very impacted by the story of a child who told Claire that she was very happy that she did not go to a residential school because she would not be able to breath, since she is allergic to mold. What is important in this story, is that a young child at the age of eight could create a connection about a residential school. She was able to imagine what life was like for indigenous children and put herself in their situation. This is primarily the purpose of Treaty Ed. To create a lasting impact on everyone, no matter their race or age so they can help to reconcile with the past.
The term “We are all treaty people” is a simple, but inspiring quote. It essentially unites us all together by promoting the belief that we are all the same, no matter our race. In Claire’s presentation, she mentions that all treaty people want to be treated as equals. They want the same rights and freedoms as everyone else. To accomplish this, everyone needs to become informed with the history of Canada through Treaty Ed. By gaining a new perspective of the horrors of Canada’s history, people will find the courage to speak out and create a change in their own communities and realize that we are all connected in some way. We are all treaty people, and must join together to reconcile, and embrace our differences.
Great point about Treaty Ed being, if anything, more important to non-Indigenous peoples. You are so right in saying that we must join together to reconcile. It is vital that we, as teachers, recognize the importance of implementing Treaty Ed and Indigenous knowledge for our future students to identify Canada’s wrong-doings and for us to do our part for truth and reconciliation.
What would your reply be to the email posed in this weeks question?
Hi Madeline,
Thank you for you thoughts and post! I agree with you on the ideas that if a classroom does not have many Indigenous students, treaty education can become that much more important! I know for myself, I went to a predominantly white elementary school, and I think that was one of the reasons we did not talk about treaties, Indigenous culture, ways of knowing, etc. was because teachers didn’t think it applied to us. But really, we no exposer to these learnings and didn’t until high school/university. In order to move towards truth and reconciliation we need to have these conversations and teachings early on!
Thanks, Nikki
I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this week, I definitely think that the stories that Clarie mentioned in her videos were really significant. I also think though, that a big part of Treaty Education and relationships would include honoring and working toward the responsibilities that come with the treaties. We have the chance to engage in a new beginning and a second chance, which is why as you mentioned, creating a lasting impact is so important.
I completely agree with your response. “We are all Treaty people” and that is something that should unite us. Learn about one another, understand the pain and suffering Indigenous people have gone through. Even though your classroom might not have many Indigenous people, as you said it is still important to teach about it. Society needs to come together and unite, discrimination against a race or culture cannot be occurring anymore. This is something we as future teachers will try and do, and as you said ” no matter their race or age so they can help to reconcile with the past”. Overall great blog post, wish there were a few more quotes and connections but well said.
The story that Claire told also resonated with me as I also have allergies to dust and mold, but the viewpoint of the 8 yr-old is something I have never thought of until i watched the video. A large part of understanding someone is placing yourself in their shoes and this young girl did just that. I agree with you that “We are all treaty people” is meant to be a unifying term, but what about those who reject the the idea of it? Racism is still deeply routed in our society.