FILM RESOURCE: "Kuper Island: Healing Circle"

http://vimeo.com/50154878

This documentary offers first hand accounts of Kuper Island residential school survivors and children of these survivors, vividly outlining the true experiences of these First Nations peoples. The film has a somber feel to it, offering raw emotion expressed by these damaged generations of families due to the harmful effects the forceful removal from their cultures had on them and their families. This film would be best utilized in grades 10 through 12 classrooms as some of the tragic stories of the survivors are quite graphically descriptive. However, the real emotion shown in this film is a great way to teach students about historical empathy while teaching them the Aboriginal history of residential schooling as well.

PRESENTATION RESOURCE (SD 34, Abbotsford)

Aboriginal Education Center – School District Program
The online presentation handbook is available online at:
http://start.sd34.bc.ca/aboriginal/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CP-handbook-2012



This website is full of different Aboriginal education presentation opportunities the Abbotsford school district offers. Elizabeth Zapanov, Aboriginal education resource provider, suggests the ‘First Nations Government’ 2-class presentation. It is delivered by two First Nations Education Center workers and can be geared toward any grade level. The presentation provides students with a full backgroud, pre-Confederation to present day, of how the First Nations government systems have altered from their traditional forms as a result of colonization. There are also many more presentation opportunities, which the online handbook outlines.

Textbook Resource: You Are Asked to Witness: The Sto:lo in Canada’s Pacific Coast History

You Are Asked to Witness: The Sto:lo in Canada’s Pacific Coast History

Edited by Keith Thor Carlson

This textbook offers an overview of the Sto:lo First Nations history from pre-colonization to the present day. The book begins by introducing who the Sto:lo First Nations people are; what does it mean to be a Pacific Coast Sto:lo? It moves on to describe the first encounters between the Sto:lo and the white colonizers. The book details the process of government coercion and then ventures into describing what a ‘Xwelitem’ world looked like after colonization, a Halquemeylem word meaning a world in which a Sto:lo exists alongside white colonizers. The book continues to describe the importance of the Sto:lo land and resources and how the division of these two key components of their culture has been discussed/debated over the years. And finally, the book closes with oral narratives, or first hand accounts of Sto:lo First Nations, outlining the importance of the oral history tradition in the Sto:lo culture. This textbook would be a great resource to use when focusing in depth on one First Nations group or even using the example of the Sto:lo experience as representative of many Pacific Coast First Nations groups.

Field Trip: Sto:lo Nation Longhouse Program

Field Trip: Sto:lo Nation Longhouse Program (Chilliwack)

Telephone: 604-858-3366

Responding to the Provincial School’s implementation of a First Nations unit in all Social Studies classrooms, the Sto:lo Nation has developed an experiential program for both elementary and high school students. The students are exposed to different stations set up at the Coqualeetza Longhouse such as bannock making, carving, leaving, drum making, cedar bark, the Halqu’emeylem language, Slahal gambling game, ceremonial dancing, cedar root basket making, and beading. The Longhouse program was created in order to provide teachers and students with local access to experiencing Sto:lo ways of life and ways of knowing first hand. The Sto:lo traditions and philosophies or life and introduced and are designed, within this program, to supplement the in-class curriculum. This experiential presentation can be geared toward any grade level and is a wonderful way to allow students to experience local First Nations history first hand.

Aboriginal Education Bibliography on First Nations Topics or by First Nations Authors

Aboriginal Education Bibliography on First Nations Topics or by First Nations Authors”

Compiled by John Chenoweth and Jean Kiegerl of Merritt Secondary School, this bibliography provides an extensive list of works on issues pertaining to Aboriginal education. As a new teacher, this bibliography would be a great resource to get started on an Aboriginal education unit.

Video: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: “They Came for the Children”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, “They Came for the Children” 

This is a comprehensive history of the residential school program that operated in Canada under the control of the Federal Government and a variety of church denominations for well over 100 years. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission puts together a valuable account of the history and impact of the residential schools that is very readable and aimed at creating an understanding of how the residential schools have shaped Aboriginal communities today. This video is easily accessible and available to put into the hands of your students for a research project or for jus general information.

SD79: Aboriginal Curriculum Integration Project

Aboriginal Curriculum Integration Project 

As the title suggests, the aim of this resource is to encourage the integration of Aboriginal education into the classroom. There are a number of sample lesson plans for Social Studies that are linked to the BC PLOs. These lessons include a number of valuable primary and secondary sources that can be used to supplement lesson plans.