I really enjoyed the Indigenous Education Day, so wanted to follow up with Decolonizing Education with Marie Battiste. She opened her discussion with an overview of Indigenous peoples’ relationship with education and activism around framing our education models. How Indigenous people did not want segregated schools, they wanted to ingrate and be taught together, but that should not mean then being educated in a Eurocentric model devoid of their cultures or teachings. According to UNDRIP (2007) Indigenous peoples have the right to revililize, use, develop, and transmit to future generations:

  • Their Languages
  • Their Philosophies
  • Their Histories
  • Their Oral Traditions
  • Their Writing Systems
  • Their Literatures

How can Western education occur in a way that includes Indigenous perspective, culture, and allows Indigenous students to thrive? In order to accomplish this, she proposed a two pronged approach. First, we must dismantle the current Eurocentric Education model and reconstruct in a way that engages in heterogeneity and focuses on diversity as the norm; embraces respectful discourses regarding First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people; and reconceptualize what is considered “Mainstream”. Our Indigenous Youth population is on the rise and will take up 1/3 of the populations in Alberta and Saskatchewan, 58% of the Northwest Territories, and continually increasing. How can we let this large portion of our population fall to the way side. They are an untapped resource and by embracing and including this populous the entire population will benefit.

To deconstruct our current system, the following needs to be examined and acted upon:

    • Develop awareness and critique of Eurocentric colonial bias and its racialized negative discourses and values and its effects on everyone.
    • Examine laws (Indian Act), policies, history, and differential treatment and resources of Aboriginal peoples (Residential Schools, public schools, normative policies/practices)
    • Address intergenerational trauma, cognitive assimilation, loss of languages, Indigenous Knowledge, negativity, and stereotypes
    • Reconsider individualistic nature of skills and capacities and restore collective capacities and agency as peoples

“All of us… are implicated in the Imperial subjugation of Indigenous Peoples. Acknowledging that we are implicated does not have to be negative, stagnant place, it can be a springboard for action and consciousness” (Mather & Wong, 2011, p. 117)

So how do we rebuild…

  • Teach to heterogeneity, celebrate diversity
  • Build in Indigenous content and perspectives, histories, languages, values, and ways of knowing
  • Open Communication: “Nothing about us without us!” was a statement made that resonated with me. Any discussions around Indigenization, reconciliation, or Indigenous people should absolutely include Indigenous people! Majority of upper level positions in government and education are non-Indigenous people. So how do we remedy this, how do we ensure seats at this table? We need to start fostering, nourishing, and tending to our own up and coming professionals.
  • Promoting Indigenous leadership and professionals among youth and community.
  • Look to develop our own definitions, research methods, inquiry, and learning.
  • Make current boards and committees and other political areas open to Indigenous representation.
  • Invest in Indigenous Knowledge for all, resource development, seminars, and training.
  • Recognize that Traditional Knowledge holders are sacred, and their knowledge is as relevant and true as those with degrees. Their knowledge held goes beyond what is taught in school. This is thousands of years of developing these teachings which are customized to each region and nation.
    • This I feel is a critical piece as in so many of our classes, my peers say “I’ll bring an elder in” without realizing that their services are not free. They’re not as readily available as one would think. This resource is dwindling too. So many knowledge keepers pass each year, without ever fully being replaced. This ties in with my statement before that we must invest in resource development, seminars, and training. We as educators need to make full use of the resources available to us. There are books and a wide array of knowledge shared online. Language resources are available online or in social media. We need to be held accountable for ensuring meaningful Indigenous content is available and shared in our classes.
  • Look at who is privileged, who is already at the starting line? What obstacles stand in the path of the disadvantaged? How can we get their needs met to get to the starting line too?
    • Note that this isn’t just a question of non-Indigenous and Indigenous. I recognize that I grew up with privilege that others in my community did not. I never struggled with food shortages. I could compete academically with students of all nationalities. I grew up with faith and confidence in my thoughts and voice. I had been shown that I matter.
  • Make Indigenous language of the local people the normative language of the school.
  • Teaching self-discipline rooted in the ways of the Elders and community members, rather than individualized classroom rules.

Finally, we must redefine what success is in our schools. Currently we evaluate from an imperialistic or Eurocentric line of proficiency and success. Monetary and social status at the highlight of this success point. What about community? What about living in way that accounts for the interconnectedness of those around us? What about living with empathy and kindness? What about reconnecting to self and culture? What about engaging in life-long learning and recognizing that knowledge is fluid and continual? What about living in a way that is place based and utilizes our traditional spiritual practices? What about becoming a knowledge holder yourself and living in a way that shares this knowledge with those around you or breaking your inter-generational trauma for yourself and family?

I was successful in the business world. I pulled in close to 120k annually, had authority in my position, and was a valued member of my team. I felt disconnected from it all. I felt like I needed the time with my family. I needed to be more present for my family and myself. I was “thriving” in colonial standards, but barely surviving in my culture. I was working away from my homelands and extended family which are crucial elements to my upbringing, sense of well-being, and sense of self. I chose to leave this world and return home when my oldest son was about to start school. I wanted to refocus and recenter our family life. I now have a fulfilling life with my extended and immediate family. I spend Fridays having dinner with my extended family at my grandmother’s house weekly. I spend evenings visiting with my parents and my children have made their home a second home for themselves. I have a team of love and support around myself and my children. My children hear our language used, see their family in blankets and regalia, are surrounded by our artists, our artworks, and our land. They will spend summers on our traditional territory, a place our ancestors have held since time began. They will fish with my dad in the summers, share in the processing with their mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They will spend falls hunting with their dad and getting firewood to keep us warm. I moved us home to give them all the best things from my own childhood. These are things money could not buy. These are things that I needed to re-root myself to achieve for them. I hope to carry my love of this life into my classroom. I hope to show my students all that our community has to offer and bring community into our classroom.