Blog #5: Learning from Place: A Return to Traditional Mushkegowuk Ways of Knowing
Within the article Learning from Place: A Return to Traditional Mushkegowuk Ways of Knowing it is about how the people of the Cree community are losing their language and their ways especially the younger generations. They go to the river to help connect them with the land and for them to learn about the stories that are buried there “So, it’s family, it’s a family cemetery, it’s a highway… there are markers along the highway to indicate significant events, significant moments; people that have passed away that are close to you and they are lying along the river. So it’s a river of life; it’s growth”. I see rein habitation throughout because they are all learning and growing and teaching each other about their ways of life “The river trip helped members of the community share linguistic, cultural, historical, and geographical knowledge. It re-established respect for the meaning of paquataskamik and demonstrated how irreconcilable that meaning is with western notions of boundaries as imposed by federal and provincial reserve policy and other planning models.” Sadly, the world we live in pushes out their culture and way and decolonizes them in the process so they are more like white people.
Me going to be a future teacher think it is important to teach my future students about the Indigenous people whether is be the past, present, or future. As a being a student who right now is more focused on the Indigenous back ground and teaching within Education as this is what I am basing my study on and am wanting to teach a Native Studies I think it is very important as it is open put on the back burner and is a part of our country. As being a white teacher it might be hard to try to teach as if I have a Indigenous student I do not want to seem as if I am teaching them about their lives and culture so I would ask them to help and bring in their knowledge and stories into the classroom and try not so much to say this is what happened but say this is what we know from history but we are always finding out new things about our past. I also personally think it is important to encourage children to share their beliefs. Possibly even doing something similar such as bringing in an elder to speak to my class could be a way to teach a part of the subject.
Hey Sydney,
I really enjoyed reading your post! I enjoyed the way you tried to not appropriate culture and you understood that as a white person our teaching of First Nations culture is going to be different than that of a First Nations elder. I also think it is important to encourage children to share their beliefs. In what other ways do you think that being a white teacher can benefit or disadvantage you teaching First Nations students?
Hey Karly,
I feel being the white teacher can have an advantage cause we as a teacher can learn from the Elders or the students within our class which also benefits them. Having the students help with lessons gives them a sense of accomplishment and also makes them feel good about their culture! A disadvantage could be that they do not want to listen to a white teacher teach them about what is their culture and ways which can be a problem as they will not want to engage within class.
We agree with you when you say that its hard to teach about Indigenous knowledge and history when you are non-Indengious. It’s even harder when you know you have biases that might affect the accuracy of teaching. We also agree with you that the best way to teach Indigenous knowledge is to actually bring an elder.
Hi there,
Brooklyn and I agree that Indigenous history and culture is often ignored or briefly discussed. Giving students the opportunity to share their stories can make the students feel more welcome and heard. Elders are another great way to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into the classroom.
We enjoyed your post and your great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Sydney! We really enjoyed you’re analyze of the article and appreciated your truthfulness to addressing the issues in Canada that are oppressive to Indigenous culture and traditions. It is important as an educator to incorporate diverse cultures into the curriculum but difficult when those cultures are not you’re own. We definitely think asking for students understanding and opinion into lessons can contribute to the overall understanding and objectives of the cultural topic.
Ashley and Chandria