FNMI Teachings

Aanii:

As an occasional educator in the Thames Valley District School Board, I wish to make an opening address similar to that performed on the occasion of each session in London City Council (2016):

We will begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendt, Attawandaron and Lenape Indigenous peoples. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties, including Treaty 6, the London Township Treaty.

Among many other things, "Ontario" is a historical construct. An educator who teaches History, Geography, Politics, English, Language Arts, Visual Arts, Social Studies, and/or similar other studies might wish to know where the name came from.

Excerpts from the Ministry of Natural Resources Canada (2017), reads:

Ontario acquired its name from the Iroquois word "kanadario," which translates into “sparkling” water. The earliest recording of the name Ontario was in 1641 where it was used to describe a mass of land on the north shore of the easternmost part of the Great Lakes. The British settlers had originally called the land that covered Quebec, Ontario, and part of the United States all as Quebec. It wasn’t until the British enacted the Constitutional Act in 1791 that Ontario would be known as the land upstream from the St. Lawrence River, or Upper Canada, and Quebec considered the land downstream from the St. Lawrence River, known as Lower Canada. In 1867, Ontario and Quebec officially became separate provinces.

An astute reader might note the prefix "kanada-" in "Kanadario" and think of the Huron-Wendat usage of "Kanata," meaning "village" or "settlement." Accordingly, we might come the idea that "Kanadario" might mean something more like "sparkling settlement" or "vast body of water" (Government of Canada, 2017). A close reading of the above passage also indiscriminately mentions reference to the Jesuit Relations Hagiographa (1610-1791), meaning that the word "Ontario" is an emergent term historically imprinted within and featured intermittently among the select pages of official Catholic chronicles; thus, these documents serve (under this argument) an agency in shaping Canada and its relations with FMNI peoples. If true Reconciliation is to unfold between the Canadian State and FNMI peoples, this usage may undergo debate in legal proceedings at some point, given that the territory encompassing what is now commonly known as "Ontario" historically consists of several different First Nations Peoples (See Map of First Nations), in addition to the Iroquoian (Woodland) Peoples.

As a White-Settler Ally on occupied land, I exercise my role as an elementary educator with critical reflection, seeking to find my decolonizing pedagogical standpoint through a socially just and equitable methodology. To inspire "critical awareness, reflection, and dialogue regarding the Ethical Standards of the Teaching Profession," (OCT, 2017) I draw upon Lakehead University instructor Bruce Beardy's Teachings through Anishinnabe Art (2016). His vision of the four cardinal virtues of the Ontario Teaching Profession - Care, Respect, Trust, and Integrity - are captured in the following video:

In the spirit of Beardy's message, I commit myself to showing students what it means to be a caring, trusting, and respecting educator with integrity. As "Canada's most diverse province," (Ontario's Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy, 2017) Ontario is oriented to "embrace multiculturalism, human rights and diversity as fundamental values" (Ibid). Yet there are incidents of discrimination that continue to impact students' abilities to feel safe, supported, and valued in our schooling environments. As members of minoritized groups within classrooms that predominately occupy white-settler privilege, the FNMI histories, values, and traditions deserve a fair, respectful, and empowering perspective in the school community. This commitment might mean the need to pedagogically "disrupt" existing power relations and deconstruct hierarchies of social power that are based on historically racist overtures. Methods to pursue this initiative exist at the discretion of FNMI members who are eligible to participate in the schooling experience of my students. Elders, Knowledge Carriers, and families of children are embraced for their knowledge, skills, and insights that can add meaningful and holistic perspectives to the education of students.

My projection as a white-settler ally educator can be co-constructed with the support of FNMI members, who I work with and for in bringing an FNMI perspective to my students. CBC radio host Rita Celli recently opined about the teaching of White privilege in schools through the perspectives of her call-in audience. She also explored the difficulties of white privilege with which educators and other professionals in Canada face on a daily basis and the implications such poses in relation to principles of inclusion, equity, and human rights. In response to the call for teaching with equity in mind on very sensitive social issues, a resource that educators may wish to review and draw upon is the "Teaching Tolerance" program. "Cultivate positive identity formation, encourage students to confront racial and ethnic injustice, and prepare them to live and work together in a diverse world" (Race and Ethnicity, 2017). Methods such as "reading against the grain," "challenge the text," and "annolighting" are few of among many suggestions that can be employed with students to practice a decolonizing pedagogy.

PEARL is another pedagogical intervention that is used to enact social justice for and with FNMI Peoples (McKinley & Barney, 2014). Used in Australian Indigenous Studies, PEARL is a teaching and learning approach that furthers Critical Race Theory and Culturally Responsive Instruction to the context of inquiry-based projects useful to decolonize the geopolitics of State-sanctioned power.

P (for political, performative, process, and place based): We bring our experiences, knowledge, and practice to the place where the current learning process occurs. We reflect and respond to the agency of the space and the elements of the place where our teaching and learning takes place. We perform our learning, embody the process, and recognize the inherent political nature and knowing that we move through. We know that we will move in and out of the place and back again to influence the places where teaching and learning occurs.

E (for embodied, experiential, explorative, engaged, emotion, empathy, and experience): A holistic exploration that engages mind, body, and emotion in empathetic dialogue. A transformative process based on equal collaboration.

A (for active, antiracist, anticolonial, and active): Theoretical imperatives relate implicitly to antiracist/anticolonial discourses. Practically, we view PEARL as aiding students to shift from reflection to action through agency and awareness. The shift to action is a critical element of transformation and enables students to become agents for change and decolonisation.

R (for relational, reflective, and reflexive): Through reflection on particular structured learning activities, student’s experiences are transformed into knowledge and deeper wisdom, which they apply to their personal and professional lives.

L (for lifelong learning): Learning in PEARL is learning for life, for change, for empowerment, for hope, for knowledge, to lead, to let go of assumptions, to liberate, and to lustre—to shine!

I'm aware that I am firmly rooted within London Township Treaty No. 6 Territory (1796), acknowledging the Powers and Responsibilities ceded through the alliance of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendt, Attawandaron and Lenape Indigenous peoples and the Federal State. The idea that the Canadian State is legally endowed with the powers and privileges to "give, grant, sell, [and] dispose of" the land on which this Treaty rests, that is, an act of surrender by the five First Nations communities to the Crown, may provoke motivation to court among these relevant First Nations Peoples, as the consent acquired on these Treaties may not have been informed (e.g., having language proficiency) and achieved while in a competent state of being (e.g., under the influence). In any event, some restorative practices are emerging within London Township, including raising a traditional flag on City Council property (Anishinabek News, 2016).

Before pursuing FNMI Teachings and having reviewed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action (2015), I would acknowledge the historical and cultural protocols in place for being "Gifted" such knowledge. I have had two LTO assignments, and on each of these during my first day in the classroom I acknowledged my philosophy of education in part through reference to the statement of First Peoples Principles of Learning (2017).

These Learning Principles were and continue to be infused throughout every lesson, unit, and pedagogical act in the classroom, to ensure for seamless integration of FNMI Teachings in the provincial curricula. Extending this pedagogical orientation to others and with the learning environment, I would invite a Knowledge Carrier or Elder from the Anishinaabe community as a way to share his/her perspectives on the Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers, as these Teachings originally stem from the Peoples of the Woodlands (Mino Bimawdiziwin, 2017). After such Gifting, I would seek support from the FNMI community in co-teaching the curricula, and thereby connecting school and community life through a project-based or inquiry-based learning formula (i.e., holistic education). Elders, Community Leaders, Families, and Organizations would be involved in shaping the learning environment throughout the school year and during each day, celebrating moments and achieving high expectations for each students' learning journey.

Meegwetch,

Sean