[00:00] The importance of courage in Aboriginal education - Speaker introduces herself and her Squamish dialect - Courage is necessary for progress in Aboriginal education - Speaker's father is a residential school survivor and her hero - Family struggles due to intergenerational impacts of residential schools - Speaker's father taught her and her siblings to be strong-willed - Without her father's words of courage, she wouldn't be where she is today [02:54] The speaker struggled with his identity as a First Nations person in a predominantly non-indigenous school - The speaker attended school with mostly non-indigenous students - He felt pressure to conform and hide his indigenous identity - It took him 15 months to tell his friends about his identity - He eventually found pride in his indigenous heritage [05:48] Receiving his name in a 12-hour ceremony helped the speaker reclaim his First Nations identity - The speaker's father lost his identity through schooling for 7 years - The speaker also lost his identity as a First Nations person during high school - Becoming a teacher and administrator helped the speaker reclaim his identity - Several role models, including a teacher, Attorney General, and former superintendent, helped the speaker on his journey [08:41] Education is crucial for Indigenous students and requires courage from educators and community members - Students need to learn true history and Indigenous ways of knowing - Educators must be willing to change their philosophy and pathway to avoid repeating history - Community members must also learn about Indigenous ways of knowing to support successful education
This was posted several years ago and I think the message is as significant as ever. I would love to see resources and guidance on the "How" of building authentic indigenous education. Resources that can be implemented into the classroom from early childhood onwards.
I went to school at Queen Mary with other kids like Brad Baker and many of the Baker kids were cherished friends of mine! That school did such a good job, by the time I was there, at integrating Indigenous cultural values at our school!
