Week 9 – Treaty Education Blog Post

     Teaching Treaty Ed is just as, if not more, important even when there are few or no First Nations, Metis, or Inuit students in the classroom. It is a responsibility of all Canadians to know the history of the land we walk on, and Treaties are a huge part of that history. The younger generations of white settlers today will constantly use the phrase “well I didn’t do anything to the Indigenous people” as a way of letting ignorance block their learning. This mindset is flawed for so many reasons. The main thing people need to start understanding is that Treaties are not an irrelevant document in the twenty-first century. Like stated in the video interview from this week, Indigenous Treaty people still go through the tedious collection process every year for that $5 they were promised when they originally signed the treaties. 

     Also stated in the video interview, Dr. Mike Cappello explained how Treaty Ed is not about memorizing facts and dates, it’s more about instilling a feeling in your students. A feeling of acceptance, acknowledgment, and empathy. As an educator, you cannot teach about any Indigenous content, perspectives, or history such as residential schools without first teaching about treaties. It was an agreement that laid out the rights and responsibilities of each party, much of which were incredibly unfair to Indigenous people. For these reasons I can confidently say that Treaty Ed is crucial in every grade, every subject, and every school in North America.