Welcome to our mini-blog of resources to get you started in teaching your First Nations learning outcomes with compassion and sensitivity.
Thank you for taking the time to explore and to learn.
You may not know that Indigenous culture and Indigenous communities are beautiful, filled with warmth, love, grace, kindness, respect, faith, and fun.
There are some emotionally challenging topics to cover, but there is also a beautiful, dynamic Indigenous culture alive in Canada today. Thank you for taking the time to learn with an open heart.
Fiction
Authentic fiction sources can be among the best ways to open up dialogue sensitively with your child. Indigenous communities have long histories of storytelling and this tradition can be seen in modern Indigenous authors who are finally telling Indigenous history and truth from their own perspective.
Please try to find books that are written by actual Indigenous authors.
Books can be found for every age level.
A great list to start with can be found here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/10-books-about-residential-schools-to-read-with-your-kids-1.3208021
More great titles:
https://www.amazon.ca/Dear-Canada-Residential-School-Pesheens/dp/1443133183/ref=sr_1_1/156-0167329-1340039?ie=UTF8&qid=1483836377&sr=8-1&keywords=ruby+slipperjack
https://www.amazon.ca/Little-Voice-Same-Boat-Slipperjack-ebook/dp/B00QFY2A9E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1483836408&sr=8-4&keywords=ruby+slipperjack
https://www.amazon.ca/Birchbark-House-Louise-Erdrich/dp/0786814543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483836449&sr=8-1&keywords=birchbark+house
Teaching Supports for Truth and Reconciliation
Christian point of view
The
Mennonite Church of Canada has taken an active role in Truth and Reconciliation. If you would like resources from a Christian point of view, their website is a great place to start. They are also open to answering questions through e-mail and Facebook chats.
http://home.mennonitechurch.ca/indigenous/learn
The
Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Canada has a great prayer guide on Truth and Reconciliation:
http://www.cmacan.org/tr-prayerguide
Likewise, the
Anglican Church of Canada has a great website filled with resources from a Christian point of view, lots of easy to follow video clips:
http://www.anglican.ca/tr/
United Church of Canada and Indigenous Justice:
http://www.united-church.ca/social-action/justice-initiatives/reconciliation-and-indigenous-justice
A fabulous Christian-based social justice group, Kairos. Find out about and participate in a blanket-exercise:
http://www.kairoscanada.org/
Starting from the beginning: why all the fuss?
Wab Kinew, one of Canada's Aboriginal leaders and now a member of the legislature in Manitoba, takes us back to the very beginning, in an easy to follow documentary series. A great place to start:
http://www.cbc.ca/8thfire/2012/01/wab-kinews-walk-through-history.html
EASY TO READ. TIMELINE of Residential Schools in Canada:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-timeline-of-residential-schools-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-1.724434
Why can't "those people" just get it together?
Intergenerational trauma changes DNA similar to Holocaust survivors. Documented and researched by leading academics:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/buffy-sainte-marie-wab-kinew-and-how-dna-remembers-trauma-1.3242375/lasting-effects-of-trauma-reaches-across-generations-through-dna-1.3243897
Important websites
Truth and Reconciliation Canada
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=905
Participate in Project of Heart
http://projectofheart.ca/
Find speakers, attend workshops
http://reconciliationcanada.ca/
Plan your own Orange Shirt Day for your homeschool community (September 30th)
http://www.orangeshirtday.org/
British Columbia Teachers' Federation Truth and Reconciliation resources:
https://bctf.ca/IssuesInEducation.aspx?id=13404
Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre
www.micec.com
National Association of Friendship Centres
http://nafc.ca/en/
Council for Aboriginal Education in Manitoba
https://www.7oaks.org/Resources/aboriginaleducation/CAEM/Pages/default.aspx
Fun cultural links
Indigenous communities love to dance
Jigging
http://www.vnidansi.ca/
http://www.vnidansi.ca/media/videos
A bit about pow-wow, from Dr. Richard Lyons, OC (won the Order of Canada for his contributions to bringing back Ojibwe culture and also danced for the Queen of England):
http://tvo.org/video/archive/ontario-shorts/people-of-ontario-richard-lyons-native-people
West Coast Indigenous dance
http://damelahamid.ca/gallery/photos
Contemporary Indigenous music (for your teen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbrvwaVXJ48
Great traditional plants guide (Ontario)
http://manitoumounds.com/medicinal-plant-guide/
A bit about beading
http://apihtawikosisan.com/2011/06/my-current-obsession-beading/
Seven Sacred Values (and colouring for your kiddos)
https://www.thunderbaypolice.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/TBPS%20ALU%20Seven%20Teachings.pdf
Learn Ojibway/Cree phrases with Aandeg Muldrew
YouTube: gaagaagi gaagiigido
Documentaries/stories
Cecelia Cashore-Reekie, Langley, BC's first Aboriginal school trustee, adoption story and TED talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-KcMefnqUs
Just whose family heirlooms are those in the museum?
https://www.nfb.ca/film/totem_the_return_of_the_gpsgolox_pole/
Powerful documentary (for adults and older teens only) on Residential Schools,
We Were Children:
https://www.nfb.ca/film/we_were_children/trailer/we_were_children_trailer/
We welcome your questions and thank you for your open-hearted interest. We ask that you keep all comments respectful. Thank you.
