Indigenous History, Resources & Pedagogy

Settler : identity and colonialism in 21st century Canada by Emma Battell Lowman; Adam J. Barker Canada has never had an "Indian problem"-- but it does have a Settler problem. But what does it mean to be Settler? And why does it matter? Through an engaging, and sometimes enraging, look at the relationships between Canada and Indigenous nations, Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada explains what it means to be Settler and argues that accepting this identity is an important first step towards changing those relationships. Being Settler means understanding that Canada is deeply entangled in the violence of colonialism, and that this colonialism and pervasive violence continue to define contemporary political, economic and cultural life in Canada. It also means accepting our responsibility to struggle for change. Settler offers important ways forward -- ways to decolonize relationships between Settler Canadians and Indigenous peoples -- so that we can find new ways of being on the land, together. This book presents a serious challenge. It offers no easy road, and lets no one off the hook. It will unsettle, but only to help Settler people find a pathway for transformative change, one that prepares us to imagine and move towards just and beneficial relationships with Indigenous nations. And this way forward may mean leaving much of what we know as Canada behind.

The inconvenient Indian : a curious account of native people in North America by Thomas King In The Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King offers a deeply knowing, darkly funny, unabashedly opinionated, and utterly unconventional account of Indian-White relations in North America since initial contact. Ranging freely across the centuries and the Canada-U.S. border, King debunks fabricated stories of Indian savagery and White heroism, takes an oblique look at Indians (and cowboys) in film and popular culture, wrestles with the history of Native American resistance and his own experiences as a Native rights activist, and articulates a profound, revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands. Suffused with wit, anger, perception, and wisdom, The Inconvenient Indian is at once an engaging chronicle and a devastating subversion of history, insightfully distilling what it means to be "Indian" in North America. It is a critical and personal meditation that sees Native American history not as a straight line but rather as a circle in which the same absurd, tragic dynamics are played out over and over again. At the heart of the dysfunctional relationship between Indians and Whites, King writes, is land: "The issue has always been land." With that insight, the history inflicted on the indigenous peoples of North America--broken treaties, forced removals, genocidal violence, and racist stereotypes--sharpens into focus. Both timeless and timely, The Inconvenient Indian ultimately rejects the pessimism and cynicism with which Natives and Whites regard one another to chart a new and just way forward for Indians and non-Indians alike.

Residential schools : with the words and images of survivors by Larry Loyie with Wayne K. Spear, Constance Brissenden.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action Final Report by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Pulling Together: A Guide for Teachers and Instructors by Bruce Allan, Amy Perreault, John Chenoweth, Dianne Biin, Sharon Hobenshield, Todd Ormiston, Shirley Anne Hardman, Louise Lacerte, Lucas Wright, and Justin Wilson "A Guide for Teachers and Instructors is part of an open professional learning series developed for staff across post-secondary institutions in British Columbia."--Overview

Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers by Asma-na-hi Antoine, Rachel Mason, Roberta Mason, Sophia Palahicky, and Carmen Rodriguez de France "The Curriculum Developers Guide is part of an open professional learning series developed for staff across post-secondary institutions in British Columbia.:--Overview

Think Before You Appropriate by SFU Cultural Heritage Project

Guide for Working with Indigenous Students: Interdisciplinary Development Initiative (IDI) in Applied Indigenous Scholarship by Western University

Unpacking Our White Privilege: Reflecting on Our Teaching Practice by Burleigh, Dawn; Burm, Sarah

Critical Analysis of the Production of Western Knowledge and Its Implications for Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization by Akena Francis Adyanga

Learning from the land: Indigenous land based pedagogy and decolonization by Wildcat, M., McDonald, M., Irlbacher-Fox, S., & Coulthard, G.

Activating the heart : storytelling, knowledge sharing, and relationship by Julia Christensen (Editor); Christopher Cox (Editor); Lisa Szabo-Jones (Editor) Activating the Heart is an exploration of storytelling as a tool for knowledge production and sharing to build new connections between people and their histories, environments, and cultural geographies. The collection pays particular attention to the significance of storytelling in Indigenous knowledge frameworks and extends into other ways of knowing in works where scholars have embraced narrative and story as a part of their research approach. In the first section, Storytelling to Understand, authors draw on both theoretical and empirical work to examine storytelling as a way of knowing. In the second section, Storytelling to Share, authors demonstrate the power of stories to share knowledge and convey significant lessons, as well as to engage different audiences in knowledge exchange. The third section, Storytelling to Create, contains three poems and a short story that engage with storytelling as a means to produce or create knowledge, particularly through explorations of relationship to place. The result is an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue that yields important insights in terms of qualitative research methods, language and literacy, policy-making, human-environment relationships, and healing. This book is intended for scholars, artists, activists, policymakers, and practitioners who are interested in storytelling as a method for teaching, cross-cultural understanding, community engagement, and knowledge exchange.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Indigenizing Curriculum by Ragoonaden, Karen; Mueller, Lyle This article examines the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy in an introduction to university course developed in collaboration with local and place-based First Nations communities, Aboriginal Access Studies and the Faculty of Education of the University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus. In keeping with requests that Indigenous worldviews be incorporated into curriculum, the content of EDUC 104, modelled on the University of South Carolina's University 101 Programs, was adapted to incorporate Indigenous traditions of teaching and learning. The introductory course included a holistic approach aimed at supporting the social and emotional well-being of students. Facilitated by peer mentoring, collaborative circles of learning introduced seminal concepts and facilitated the progressive use of newly learned skills. As part of a longitudinal research, the following presents the content of interviews conducted at the conclusion of the courses. Analysis indicated that three themes emerged emphasizing the importance of the circles of learning, peer mentoring, and the relationship with the instructor. In particular, the results demonstrated the perceived value of the course from the students' perspectives.

100 ways to Indigenize and decolonize academic programs and courses by Shauneen Pete, University of Regina

Walking together: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives in curriculum by Learn Alberta

Pedagogies for Decolonizing by Iseke-Barnes, Judy M. This article provides examples of introductory activities that engage students in initial steps in understanding the systemic structure of colonization. Examples of student group responses to the activities are provided. The understandings explored by students through these activities are then taken up through Indigenous literatures in university contexts in order to contribute to the ongoing decolonization of knowledge in the university and to explore indigenous understandings of pedagogies. The author explores various themes important to the decolonizing of educational practices through discussions of (a) colonizing and decolonizing agendas, (b) disrupting government ideology, (c) decolonizing government and reclaiming Indigenous governance, (e) decolonizing spirituality and ceremony, (f) disrupting colonizing ideologies and decolonizing minds, (g) reconnecting to land, (h) decolonizing history, and (i) community-based education and decolonizing education. Conclusions drawn include the importance of engaging students in Indigenous pedagogies so that they can find support for transforming understandings through Indigenous literatures and understand strategies and opportunities to decolonize education.

Incorporating talk stories into the classroom by Jacie Foy, First Nations Perspectives Journal, 2