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Faculty Toolkit : Learning Resources
Learning Resources
This section provides links to documents and multimedia resources that support learning and discussion on topics such as: Truth and Reconciliation, Treaties and the Indian Act, Canadian Residential School System, M.M.I.W.G. and Indigenous Worldview.
This collection of videos and documents was created to help the college community incorporate Canadian Indigenous Relations and Indigenous worldview into the classroom. This place is meant to be a starting point or a stepping stone in personal and professional development. A place where you can begin to prepare yourself to have the knowledge to facilitate difficult conversations about the unethical actions of the Canadian government. Empowering yourself with this knowledge is a positive way to start taking the steps to reconcile Canada’s past and present state with ourselves, the land, the nation and Indigenous people.
This page is no longer updated or maintained. Please visit the The Maamwi Hub- opens in a new tab instead. If you have any questions, please contact: info@tlp-lpa.ca- opens in mail
The Honourable Senator Sinclair on Reconciliation
Tips for Facilitating
- Familiarize yourself with the student supports at your institution should the conversations trigger any of the participants.
- Be transparent and explain that the objective of this learning is to develop critical thinking and challenge personal and public thinking.
- Set ground rules for respectful and engaged interaction.
- Be a model of diplomacy by teaching your students to understand and appreciate different viewpoints.
- Be proactive and ask the students how they are going to take care of themselves following the lessons and offer healthy suggestions.
- Thank the students for being open and honest.
- Consider using Indigenous Methodologies for facilitating conversations by using a talking stick -open in a new window or using a sharing circle -open in a new window.
- Confederation College’s Diversity, Equity and Indigenous Lens Tool - Opens in a new window can help you evaluate if your programs and practices are free of elements that enable the exclusion of Indigenous peoples.
Resources to Support Learning about Indigenous Topics
Truth and Reconciliation (TRC)
Videos
- How Canadians can Work towards Reconciliation
In this video, Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Murray Sinclair says Canadians can work toward reconciliation by reading the report and finding a call to action that interests them. - Murray Sinclair: Truth & Reconciliation
Senator (then Justice) Murray Sinclair discusses the progress of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and why it matters to all Canadians. - Senator Murray Sinclair: The Truth is Hard. Reconciliation is Harder.
Senator Murray Sinclair's keynote speech to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-BC.
Documents
- Familiarize yourself with the 94 Calls to ActionThe Truth and Reconciliation Committee's Calls to Action.
- Reconciliation Canada - Reconciliation Dialogue WorkshopThis document provides the learning material and questions necessary to start the conversation of reconciliation in your classroom. It focuses on the injustices Canada has placed on several culture groups and offers opportunity for your class to think critically and start the conversation for how they can be part of the solution.
Treaties
General Information
- Indigenous People on Treaties - Opens in a new window
A playlist of Indigenous Elders and knowledge holders talk about treaties and treaty relationships and right in Ontario. - We are all Treaty People - Opens in a new window
An illustrated history of treaties from an Anishinabek perspective
The Robinson Treaties
The Numbered Treaties
- - Opens in a new window What is a Treaty? Example of Treaty #9
The video was created for Treaty Week by Tamara Gagnon for Confederation College, to tell the story of the signing of Treaty #9. - The James Bay Treaty by Archives of Ontario - Opens in a new window
A virtual exhibit the explores different interpretations of the James Bay Treaty; a background, its impact on Indigenous communities, and the role that archival records and other forms of memory have come to play in the story of Treaty No. 9. - The Treaty 9 Diaries - Opens in a new window
In 1905, representatives of the Canadian and Ontario governments travelled through Northern Ontario by canoe, and met with First Nations groups to negotiate Treaty 9. The Treaty commissioners came to these meetings with a pre-made written Treaty document. This document was only written in English, which the First Nations representatives could not read. The Commissioners made a simple presentation through interpreters. Diaries were kept by some of the attendees that reveal that the oral communication of the treaties was not reflective of the treaty agreement.
The Indian Act
- Two-Axe Earley - Opens in a new window
This video produced by Tamara Gagnon for the Learning Portal describes Mary Two-Axe Earley’s journey to fight sex descrimination in the Indian Act. It summarizes Mary Two-Axe Earley’s 20+ years of advocacy that eventually led to the Canadian Government revising the definition of status for women through Bill C-31 in 1985. - Justice Murray Sinclair on The Royal Proclamation of 1763 - Opens in a new window
Chief Justice Murray Sinclair discusses the Royal Proclamation and its impact on the nation-to-nation relationship between the crown and Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. - 21 Things you Didn’t Know about the Indian Act Presentation - Opens in a new window
Bob Joseph talks about his book, 21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act. - Breaking Down the Indian Act with Russel Diabo - Opens in a new window
In this interview, First Nations Policy Analyst Russell Diabo talks about the Indian Act. - The Indian Act Explained - Opens in a new window
Bob Joseph talks about the Indian Act and what he covers in his book, “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality.”
Colonization
- Colonization Road - Opens in a new window
Comedian Ryan McMahon travels across Ontario to learn about colonization roads and their impact on First Nations and settlers.
Canadian Residential School System
There were residential schools in Canada prior to Canadian Confederation. But it was the Indian Act of 1876 that gave the federal government the power to start the systematic process of assimilation of Indigenous people in Canada. The Canadian government did this in cooperation with the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. In 1920 the Indian Act was amended making the attendance of Indigenous children mandatory to attend, “schools” which devalued their culture and religion.
Videos
- Canadian Shame: A History of Residential Schools – Ginger Gosnell-Myers - Opens in a new window
In this TEDx talk, Ginger Gosnell-Myers talks about her family’s experience in residential schools and the need for the process of reconciliation to continue. - Orange Shirt Day - Opens in a new window
Orange Shirt Day is a day for residential school survivors to share their stories and a day for us to humbly listen to the histories that were never told.
Website
- The Secret Path & Residential School Curriculum - Opens in a new windowThe music, videos, and book on this site tell the story of Chanie Wenjack, who died trying to escape a residential school.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (M.M.I.W.G.)
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (M.M.I.W.G.) and Their Voices will Guide Us is a great way to facilitate critical thinking, to reflect and analyze the impacts of colonialism on Indigenous communities, and to discuss perceptions vs lived realities of Indigenous women, girls and the 2SLGBTQQIA. Through the information and activities outlined in this document you can introduce meaningful conversations and lessons into your classroom and workplace. Starting with sharing the important role that Indigenous women play in their families and the community at large, their strength and traditional responsibilities. We all have a duty to ensure the rights of women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA are respected, protected, advocated for by pushing for social justice and reconciliation.
Documents
- Their Voices will Guide Us – Student and Youth Engagement Guide - Opens in a new windowThis guide is a resource for educators at all levels to introduce the value of Indigenous women’s and girls’ lives into the classroom and into the minds and hearts of young people. It will prepare educators to use a decolonizing pedagogy and a trauma-informed approach in their teaching.
- Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Canada lesson Plan and Teacher Resource - Opens in a new windowTeacher resources that explore the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
Indigenous Worldview
In this section I want to acknowledge that there are a variety of Indigenous subgroups across Turtle Island (North America) and that each one has its own customs, language, dialect and traditions. It is the responsibility of each individual to learn, build a relationship and appreciation for each region. We cannot assume that customs, traditions or protocols in each community are exactly the same, but there are parallels. The best way to learn what you want to know is to be humble and respectfully ask. Acknowledging your lack of knowledge is an admirable sign of humility.
Videos
- The Creation Story & Ojibwe History - Opens in a new window
A Wisconsin Public Television production featuring Eddie Benton-Benai. - Creators Garden with Joseph Pitawanakwat - Opens in a new window
Joseph is an Educator who specializes in plant-based medicine. This is a short video series about plant identification and the medicinal benefits of the plants - Four Directions Teachings - Opens in a new window
The four directions teachings are not something that can be learned in a 4:47 minute video, rather they are a collection of teachings Anishinaabe people earn over a lifetime. Learning the symbolism of the medicine wheel will give insight to the interconnectedness of the Ojibwe worldview. - Living a Circular Life | Dallas Arcand | TEDxYYC – super inspiring - Opens in a new window
In this TEDx talk, three time world hoop dancing champion Dallas Arcand explains how dancing in circles has taught him to find a healthy balance in life. - Mino Bimaadiziwin - Opens in a new window
TED talk by Winona LaDuke talks about Mino Bimaadiziwin, “the good life" and economic thinking for the 7th generation. A beautiful talk that eloquently describes the Indigenous Worldview from a modern woman. - The Rights of Nature - Winona LaDuke - Opens in a new window
In this video academic and activist, Winana LaDuke explains that respect for nature and reciprocity for all living things is at the core of Indigenous worldview and law. - Seeds of Our Ancestors, Seeds of Life - Opens in a new window
TED talk by Winona LaDuke explaining the reciprocal relationship Anishinaabe and nature. A beautiful talk that eloquently describes the Indigenous Worldview from a modern woman. - Seven Sacred Teachings - Opens in a new window
The seven sacred teachings can also be known as the 7 grandfather teachings - Why do some Indigenous People Smudge? - Opens in a new window
Elder Lawrence Wells from Membertou, First Nation teaches us the significance that smudging can have.
Documents
- Guidelines for Working with Elders - Opens in a new windowThis document from Carleton University provides guidelines and protocol for working with Elders who are invited to participate in events on campus.
- Medicine Wheel Teachings - Opens in a new windowThis document from the Ontario Native Literacy Coalition is a student manual on the teachings of the medicine wheel.
Indigenous Languages
- The Canadian Languages Museum - Indigenous Languages in Canada Booklet - Opens in a new window
This booklet is an introduction to the study of the Indigenous languages spoken in Canada including how to respectfully approach studying Indigenous languages, the geography of Indigenous language, writing systems, the effect of colonialism on language, and the need for language revitalization to ensure this knowledge is preserved for future generations. - 11 Facts you didn’t know about Indigenous Languages in Canada - Opens in a new window
This video was created by the traveling linguist to communicate 11 interesting facts and statistics about indigenous languages spoken in Canada. - Stats Canada 2016 Census information about Indigenous Languages in Canada - Opens in a new windowThis report includes the 70 Indigenous Languages spoken in Canada, the statistics for the number of language speakers and which province they are from.
- Assembly of First Nation’s Guide to Respecting Indigenous Languages - Opens in a new windowThis Guide is for any First Nations Rights holders, language experts and language entities (organizations) looking to start, or already involved in, Indigenous-led language revitalization activities
- Indigenous Language Resources for Everyone - Opens in a new windowThis website includes information about Indigenous language from the status and statistics on language speakers, pronunciation, orthography, as well as fonts and keyboards.
Algonquian Language Resources
The Algonquian Language Family is the largest spoken Language family in Ontario and all of Canada. While many of these languages like Blackfoot, dialects like Anishinaabemowin and Cree are more prevalent. Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 and the United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages in 2019, many efforts have been taking place at a community and organizational level to try and revitalize and Indigenous language.
- Algonquian Language Family Examples - Opens in a new windowSound bites of a variety of Algonquian Language family dialects.
- Anishinaabemodaa - Opens in a new windowOnline language lessons and resources. Offers a breakdown and explanation of how the language is constructed, as well as word lists, numbers, months, word games, vowel sounds, grammar, and an alphabet.
- Ojibwe.net - Opens in a new windowThis amazing website contains language lessons, a comprehensive list of resources in a variety of dialects, stories, songs and history.
- The Ojibwe People's Dictionary - Opens in a new windowFrom the University of Minnesota. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos.
Iroquian Language Resources
The Iroquian Language Family is predominantly made up of the Indigenous Nation’s that make up the Six Nations Confederacy also known as the Haudensaune. These groups are identified the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora group form the Six Nations and the languages include Cayuga (two dialects), Kanyen'kéha/Mohawk (several dialects), Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora and Wendat.
- CKRZ’s Language Program featuring speakers of the Ojibwe, Mohawk, Cayuga and Onondaga Languages. - Opens in a new windowThese audio visual lessons include the following vocabulary: Numbers, Conversational Phrases, Clans, Colours and so much more.
- - Opens in a new window Onkwawenna KentyohkwaA video collection of Mohawk Language learning resources. A wealth of multimedia information and fun.
- Six Nations Public Library Language Resources - Opens in a new windowSix Nations Public library has a list of language resources but also the programming to support language learners.
- Status of Haudenosaunee Languages - Opens in a new windowThis website breaks down and summarizes the status of the languages within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
- Woodland Cultural Centre: - Opens in a new windowThe website and organization are dedicated to the preservation of Indigenous Languages spoken in Six Nations Territory.
Trauma Informed Facilitation
- The Dart Centre Style Guide for Trauma Informed Journalism - Opens in a new window“This style guide is designed as a quick, authoritative reference for reporters, editors and producers working on tight deadlines. It includes brief evidence-informed guidance on news choices, language usage and ethics in reporting on the impact of trauma on individuals, families and communities; recommendations for appropriate use of relevant psychological and scientific terminology; and special considerations when reporting on consequential trauma-laden issues such as racism and sexual violence.”