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LISTEN & LEARN

Indigenous Education newsletter for teachers

Teaching Outside on Indigenous Land & Being Italian on Turtle Island

In this issue

Update from Angela
Taking your students outside: Learning on Indigenous Land
Analyzing an Orange Shirt Day tweet from the RCMP
Upcoming free online workshop: Being Italian on Turtle Island

Dear Listen and Learn community,

I have been thinking of you all these last few months as the newsletter has been silent. I know that many of you have returned to in-person or online classrooms and that teaching looks and feels very different this year. I am inspired by how everyone is doing their best for their students while carrying such heavy work and mental loads.

Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule and I have put a temporary pause on the Kikinoo'amaadawin Webinar Series in order to give ourselves, our guests, and our audience space and time. What I can share are webinars that we have recorded in the last two years, that specifically focus on land-based learning, and supporting Indigenous ways of knowing. Keep reading for more!

Covid-19 In Indigenous Communities

Back in April I wrote about my concern that many Indigenous communities in what we currently call Canada do not have water safe enough to wash their hands in. I also worried about the past response (that is the LACK of response) of the Canadian government when First Nation communities have experienced outbreaks of infectious diseases. A number of Indigenous communities have experienced outbreaks of Covid-19. Indigenous communities by many accounts did an amazing job of preventing Covid-19 from taking hold in their communities during the first wave.

From setting up road blocks at the entry and delivering groceries to their residents, to educating the community on testing and hosting virtual events to stave off loneliness and boredom, it was inspiring to see the creative community-driven solutions that emerged.

Now as we climb the second wave, infections are up in communities. However again I am witnessing the political will to take meaningful action again fail to materialize.
For instance, Indigenous advocates raised concerns after the Federal Throne speech this week that the government might be delaying its promise to eliminate boil water advisories in First Nation communities from the 2021 deadline it had set in 2019. The reason - delays caused by COVID-19.

Again, we saw with the swift implementation of the CERB benefit that if something is seen as an emergency, money can be found and action can be taken by the Federal Government. As I write to you this morning, I find myself wondering what meaningful action I am going to take this time. Because it seems like Listening & Learning is not enough.

To all of our community, especially those readers from Indigenous communities, I wish you health and well-being as we transition into the Autumn Season.

Take good care,
Angela

Taking your students outside: Learning on Indigenous land

I know many of you might be thinking about how to facilitate learning outside, where the risk of Covid-19 transmission is lower.

I'm asking myself:

How do we move forward in a way where all learners can build healthier relationships with the land and each other?
Can we learn from Indigenous ways of knowing on the land without engaging in appropriation?

Many of us are thinking "how can I teach outside?" But what if we collectively dug deeper. The land holds wisdom, language, medicines, and so much more. What if we were to approach this work with respect, humility, and by centering Indigenous Nations and their sovereignty on the land.

In this spirit, Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule and I have a number of free webinars available to for you to view. Below are direct links to the recordings on Youtube. You can also find and their related resources all posted on my website.

1) In March 2020, we met with the team from Natural Curiosity, who specialize in inquiry with the natural world. The second edition of the teacher guide includes incorporating Indigenous lenses of this work, which was a main focus of the webinar we recorded.

2) In November 2019, we met with author and illustrator Joanne Robertson and teacher Peter Cameron to learn about Nokomis Josephine Mandamin and her journey walking for water. They shared about the ongoing work of the Junior Water Walkers A ReconcilACTION project which encourages you and your students to build a relationship with a nearby body of water and to engage in advocacy for the health of that water.

3) In April 2020, Dkhale Hayle Gallup joined us to speak about her work bringing Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Place-based learning into the STEM classroom. She provided many free resources to aid in your learning, all of which I posted at www.angelanardozi.com/webinars.

Analyzing an Orange Shirt Day Tweet from the RCMP

Orange Shirt Day was yesterday, and it was amazing to see educators recognizing the day, raising awareness about the horrible conditions that children faced in Residential Schools, and taking action for Indigenous children today.

Here is one example I saw:

Nancy Steinhauer, principal of the Mabin School in Toronto, shared this lesson about how to use Orange Shirt Day to move towards advocacy and action.

I appreciate how the SK teacher here connected Orange Shirt Day with the present injustices against Indigenous children, specifically the Federal Government's inequitable funding practices and the horrible conditions many Indigenous children are still asked to attend school in.

I noticed yesterday that Orange Shirt Day is now so well known that many institutions, governments, and organizations make statements in support of the day.

This tweet below issued by the RCMP provides a perfect opportunity to engage in critical analysis about such statements with your students.

Perhaps you might notice as I and many others have that the words "sent away" are doing a lot of work here.

Here are some questions I have about this Tweet:
1. How did Indigenous children come to arrive at Residential Schools?
2. What compelled them to attend?
3. What was the role of the RCMP in this process?
4. What conversation needs to be started? Where else are those conversations already being held?
5. How is the use of the passive voice in this Tweet operating?

Also:
What is preformative or optical allyship and how do we know when we, someone else, or an organization is engaging in it?

As a final comment, I will leave you with an image from Prince Edward Island newspaper The Guardian in July 2018 of Cree artist Kent Monkman standing in front of his painting, "The Scream".

Being Italian on Turtle Island

Everyone is welcome to join me on Tuesday October 6th at 7 to 8:30pm for "Being Italian on Turtle Island", an online workshop hosted by Italian Canadians for Black Lives.

Here are the central questions that I will be diving into

How do we understand our Italian-Canadian identities in relationship to the colonization of Turtle Island?
How do historical Italian figures like John Cabot and Christopher Columbus factor into this story?
How might we transform our relationships with Indigenous peoples and uphold our end of the Nation-to-Nation relationship?

Registration is free and if you can't make it, sign up anyway to receive the recording after! Click here to save your spot!

Who is Angela?

Dr. Angela Nardozi is a guest on Turtle Island who is Italian-Canadian. She has spent almost a decade working alongside Indigenous communities and with non-Indigenous educators. She is a certified teacher and received her Ph.D. in Education from OISE/UT. She is now a consultant, coach, and a sessional lecturer. For more information about her services, email her at angela.nardozi@gmail.com.

F O L L O W on T W I T T E R

Tell me more!

The purpose of Listen & Learn is to inspire teachers to incorporate Indigenous content in their curriculum, share resources and ideas, create a space for different stories and voices, and to update folks on what Angela is up to!