[1]

Flowers bloom in the different

colours of the Medicine Wheel.
Photo Credit: Vida Tirilis
NEAO NEWS
Issue I 2013/2014 Formerly known as the Native
Education Association of Ontario
(NEAO), The FNMI Education
Association of Ontario (FNMIEAO)
is the official Subject Association
in Ontario for teachers of both
First Nations, Mtis, and Inuit
Studies (Grades 9-12) and Native
Languages (Grades K -12).
TURTLE MEDICINE WHEEL ABORIGINAL GARDEN
By Renata Spudic (Teacher with the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board, Mississauga, Ontario)
In October 2012, a Medicine Wheel
Turtle Garden at the front of St. Gerard
Elementary School in Mississauga,
Ontario was planned. The footprint of
the garden was placed in November
2012, and it was completed in its
entirety in June 2013. The motivation
for the Medicine Wheel Turtle Garden
was to show that the school honours,
respects, and recognizes that the land
on which it is situated is land that
belongs to the people of the
Mississaugas of The New Credit First
Nation.
With the advice from elders at Peel
Aboriginal Network the abilities of
volunteers from the Cloverleaf Junior
Gardening Club of Mississauga, the
counsel of The Perennial Gardener,
and the work of staff and students at
the school, the garden was created.
In the First Nations myth of the Turtle
Island Creation Story, the turtle carries
the world on its back, so we chose the
shape of a turtles back for our garden.
We also decided to represent this
Creation Story within our own Catholic
schools sacred space. Although the
Catholic Creation Story is different
from the First Nations Creation
Stories, we felt it appropriate to honour
and respect the creation story of the
Mississaugas of The New Credit First
Nation within our schools sacred
space.
As the Medicine Wheel incorporates
many teachings and symbols, we chose
to place it on the turtles back. One of
the representations found within the
Medicine Wheel is Mother Earths
seasonal cycles; the circle is what
nourishes life and is divided into 4
directions: East, South, West, and
North. The plants in each section of the
circle were selected by colour,
following much thought. White plants
were placed in the North; yellow ones
in the East; blue, purple, and black
ones in the South; and red ones in the
West.
In close proximity to the Turtle
Medicine Wheel Garden (i.e., along
our schools wall), six cedars were
planted. Tall grasses of North America,
which would have been part of the
early Native landscape, were placed
between the cedars. A seventh cedar
was planted within the garden,
on the turtles back. This was done
because the Turtle Creation Story
describes a cedar being on the turtles
back. We chose to add seven large
rocks to the garden and plant seven
cedars in total as the number seven is
significant in many communities, such
as the Seven Grandfather teachings:
honesty, respect, humility, love,
wisdom, truth, and courage.
We also planted a white/paper birch
tree close to our Turtle Garden.
Traditionally, birch trees have been
very important in some communities as
they are used for the construction of
canoes and covering of wigwams.
Our motivation for planting a Medicine
Wheel Turtle Garden was also to
promote good ecological and
environmental practices. With many of
the destructive deforestation practices
currently taking place, it is especially
important to plant and protect trees and
plants so that they continue to exist in
our world.
Our staff and students are not only
leaving a legacy of a beautiful school
garden, but we are also sending a
message to the people of our
Aboriginal First Nations: we
remember, Treat the earth well, it was
not given to you by your parents; it was
loaned to you by your children. We do
not inherit the earth from our
Ancestors; we borrow it from our
children. Aboriginal Proverb
www.fnmieao.com
NEAO CO-CHAIRS UPDATE - With
the resignation of Marg Boyle from
the co-chair of Native Studies
position in April, the NEAO council
has appointed Jodie Williams and
Jennifer Palmer as interim co-chairs,
until our Fall AGM when elections will
be held.

SAVE THE DATE for our traditional
gathering and AGM - October 18th
and 19th 2014 at Bonnenfant Y
Outdoor Education and Leadership
Centre in Dunrobin, Ontario. This is
an opportunity for teachers,
administrators, other educational
workers, and professionals who work
with children and youth to learn about
First Nations, Mtis and Inuit
traditions, teachings, language
centered activities and the arts,
directly from elders, traditional
teachers, faithkeepers, and arts
people. The retreat style professional
development event will also include
our AGM where we will hold elections
for executive council positions.

POSITIONS AVAILABLE - NEAO
has some regional representative and
other volunteer positions available. If
you are interested in becoming more
involved with NEAO, please contact
neaoinfo@gmail.com

NEW TEAM CREATING THE
NEWSLETTER - NEAO is pleased
to have a newsletter team that has a
strong framework that was developed
by our Council at the retreat we held
in 2012 at Six Nations. We will be
publishing newsletters including
some regular features such as;
profiles of First Nations, Mtis and
Inuit educational workers, teachers,
and administrators. We will also
include resource reviews for Native
Language and FNMI Studies
teachers and other educators seeking
to integrate authentic Aboriginal
content in their classroom practice.
The newsletter will have regular
columns by Mtis, Inuit and First
Nations organizations.
OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH
PEARSONS - NEAO`s partnership
with Pearson Publishing has been a
year-long project that has included
three NEAO members writing two
modules for Pearson`s new e-
publishing venture for Faculties of
Education across Canada. Samples
of the first module, entitled First
Nations, Mtis, and Inuit Student
Success was published as a sample
copy and will be available nationally
in January 2014. It is an excellent
resource for both student teachers
and educators in the system. It was
written by Deb St. Amant. It can be
e-purchased as a professional
development tool and for teacher
resource libraries. The next in the
Teacher Education series was written
by our elder advisor TerryLynn Brant
who is a Vice Principal at an
elementary school on Six Nations,
and by Dr. Nicole Bell, a professor at
the Faculty of Education at Trent
University. This module will be
entitled Culturally Relevant Aboriginal
Education. It was released this fall as
a sample copy and available for
purchase in 2014.

PROMOTING OUR ASSOCIATION
PROVINCIALLY: In the last year, the
co-chairs of NEAO presented and
promoted our organization at OISE`s
Indigenous Knowledge forum as well
as at the annual conference of the
Chiefs of Ontario.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Our
prime focus remains on Regional
Development, and we held three
regional events last spring that were
sponsored by OSSTF. We held a full
day workshop on Indigenous Arts at
the National Gallery of Canada in
Ottawa; sponsored elders for a bus
tour of the Mississaugas of New
Credit organized by NEAO member,
David Spencer; and funded the cost
of having our Co-chair, Marg Boyle
present at OISE in order to promote
more membership from the GTA.

OUR SUMMER COUNCIL
RETREAT- This past summer many
Council members met for a two day
retreat planning session and set
goals for this year. We have over 20
volunteer Council members active in
the various roles as well as three new
positions: Post-Secondary Liaisons,
Elementary panel liaison, and FNMI
board contacts liaison.

COMMUNICATIONS: Our prime
focus is also on strengthening our
communications with potential
members and community
members. We are revamping our
website and setting up online
membership payment. We have a
listserv that sends out information on
Aboriginal education on a daily basis
to hundreds of members.

ADVOCACY FOR QUALITY
ABORIGINAL EDUCATION: We
continue to lobby for hiring and
supporting of First Nations, Mtis and
Inuit educators and educational
workers as well as the development
of teaching resources created by
educators with a strong background
in Aboriginal Education.

Our Council continues to work
towards creating a sustainable strong
voice for teachers of Native
Languages, FNMI studies and
Aboriginal Education. Please assist
us by spreading the word about our
newsletter and mail outs; circulating
our membership information; and by
volunteering, if you have time to
commit to making our organization as
strong as it can be. We are currently
searching for regional
representatives.

Wishing the remainder of the school
year is filled with good health,
supportive communities and
balanced lives!

Meegwetch for your ongoing interest
in NEAO.

NEAO UPDATE
[ ] 2
Dear Members of NEAO,

I started NEAO in 2009 because I
believed that FNMI Studies and Native
Language teachers in Ontario needed a
voice, ways to share their knowledge,
and means to learn from each other. I
feel that we have accomplished some of
that initial vision. After two years of
dealing with a chronic health issue, I
have decided that NEAO needs me to
step down from co-chair of Native
Studies so the organization can develop
in a good way and not limited by my
health.

I had goals for NEAO that have not been
met and I am thus sad to step down from
leadership of an organization that I
started and deeply care about, yet I know
that the Creator sets limits on us when
we need to refocus our priorities on our
path through life. I am stepping down so I
can do a good job at work, take care of
my lovely family, heal and do ceremony.

While not all of the goals have been met,
I am condent that the council can keep
things going in the direction of that vision.
I notied the council in April of my plan to
resign, once other leadership was in
place.

The council has appointed interim co-
chairs, who will work on getting the AGM
ready for early Fall. The AGM will be
combined with a gathering for elders
traditional teachings. Jodie Williams, our
GTA representative, and Jennifer Palmer,
our Eastern Ontario representative, have
generously volunteered to do this
important voluntary task until the AGM
elections. We are working on a smooth
and sustainable transition from my
leadership, to their capable leadership.

Here are some closing thoughts about
Aboriginal Education in Ontario and my
aspirations for NEAO:

I hope to see a day when the knowledge
of Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Mtis
and Inuit elders, parents, children and
teachers is embraced in all schools and
school boards. I hope to see a day when
school boards actively recruit, retain and
promote leadership for FNMI teachers
and respect the unique cultural,
linguistic,and spiritual perspectivessuch
educators bring to the job. I hope to see
a time when the voices represented by
NEAO can be truly heard fairly by the
Ministry of Education. I hope to see a day
when Aboriginal funding is audited, so
that all funds from the Ministryare used
directly for Aboriginal-centred, culturally
authentic programming for children in all
schools.

I hope to see a time when each region
has an active chapter of NEAO. I hope to
see a time whenFNMI Studies teachers
in one region can easily nd a way to
connect with a teachers of the same
course elsewhere in the province. I hope
to see a time when NEAO works with
Native Language teachers to create a
resource bank of lessons in all of the
FNMI languages offered in Ontario
schools.

I hope tosee a time when I do not hear
racist or paternalisticstatements about
our FNMI children, youth, elders,
teachers, parents, communities and
nations. I hope to see a day when FNMI
Studies and Native Languages are
equally valued in every school board. I
hope to see a day when FNMI cultural
prociency is not a coin phrase but a
reality.

I want every Canadian child to know what
First Nation, Mtis and Inuit lands that
they live on, and know about its cultures,
values, world views, and languages of
those lands.I want to see all our kids
share their cultures freely and with pride
in a school system that has changed
considerably since I started teaching 25
years ago. Despite this progress, there is
still more to be done toward inclusion of
FNMI children.I want all of theFNMI
students tosucceed while being
respected for who they are. I want
colonialization of our nations through the
tool of the education system to end.

These are large visions; but I think
NEAOhas been,and can continue to be,
a starting point toward supporting
teachers and administratorswho
genuinely care about our children.We
have met some goals that our
membership endorsed at the rst AGM,
so I thank all of you who have helped us
to date. We have facilitated the
development of two resources for
faculties of Education across Canada on
Aboriginal-specic education, and we
have held three regional events in the
last year. Our website is being revamped;
a traditional gathering of elders and
teachers is planned for the Fall; and
since the last AGM we have gained a
listserv. These are key steps in making
NEAO a sustainable organization.

It has been hard to know that NEAO is
being restricted by my health, and so,
with humility, I say I know there are many
of you who can take NEAO to where it
needs to be, so that this vision, which I
know our elders and our parents share,
can be realized. If you can offer
assistance in any way, please do. We
have ten active members of council but
encourage more educators, elders, and
community members to become involved
in NEAO.

As an auntie to many and a step-mom to
one, I feel compelled to say that we must
continue to advocate for authenticity in
Aboriginal Education and continue to
lobby for the hiring of First Nations, Mtis
and Inuit teachers teaching with the
wisdom of the nations behind them. This
goal has not been met, but with the
changes that I have seen over the course
of my career I know that if we continue to
use our voices, things can change.

My teaching, and my life has been
greatly enriched by the people I have met
through NEAO.
Wela`liog Ilnu, Msit No`kmaq

Marg Boyle, Kitchitwwizwin
niskandgwwan-oj, Migjigj Dodem,
Tabisintac FN, Listiguj FN, Mtis de la
Gespeg.
THOUGHTS FROM MARG BOYLE
[ ] 3
Upper Canada District School Board
(UCDSB) Program Resource Teacher
Romaine Mitchell, the Aboriginal
Education lead for UCDSB is referred to
as The Native Education Guru by some
of his colleagues.

Romaine does not see himself as an
administrator. He is a teacher rst and in
that role, he facilitates teaching and
learning but does not do the programming
for the teachers. He attributes the success
of the implementation of Native Studies in
UCDSB to 'ipping the model'. We dont
mandate!we give ideas and ask people
what they want to do with them. We say,
'This is where you start and here is where
you end. How you get there is your
professional journey.' Invite people to
come and learn. Ask questions. Engage
students in questioning. Let their questions
guide instruction. We dont mandate
curriculum. We tell teachers to start with
their passion, their strengths and then let
the students questions guide them. We tell
them that they dont have to know
everything. In fact, we tell the teachers to
tell the students that their teachers are
learning with them.

Romaine acknowledges the concern that
school boards are spending a great deal of
time and money preparing non-Aboriginal
teachers to teach Native Studies. For over
100 years Native students have been
beaten down. How can you expect
someone to pick up the education stick if
they dont feel good about themselves? He
believes that Native Student Leadership
programs such as the one running in the
UCDSB, will begin to produce graduates
who will grab hold of the education
stick. We need teachers who are
passionate and curious and interested in
the human beings in front of them.
Kindergarten students dont know about
treaties but they understand about making
and keeping promises. Its not
about sharing information; its
about the lessons that apply to
all humans. We go into the
garden kinder-garten and
sow seeds. The Ministry wants
statistics that show the impact
our programs have made for
FNMI students. Who knows
which seeds will grow and how
long it will take?

Its different with the teaching of Native
Languages. Mitchell believes that the
Native Language curriculum should be
paired with the Native Studies curriculum.
We know that language is central to a
culture and its survival. However,
offering immersion programs in the local
native language is a challenge for the
current provincial hiring model. Very few
native language teachers have been
accredited by an Ontario teachers
college. As a result, each year, school
boards take on temporary language
teachers. Then, in June, they let them go.
These people want and need to work. We
need to commit to the Native Language
program and retain these teachers. They
may not have an education degree but
what they do have conferred upon them,
by their council of elders, is the role and
responsibility of keepers of the language.
The provincial system already has in place
the designation deemed to teach a
subject. The NEAO could lobby the
Ministry of Education to recognize the
authority of the Council of Elders and
deem to teach those who are already
acknowledged as teachers by their
community elders. Once these teachers
are in place, then we will use the Ministry
framework for establishing an immersion
Language program. Its a process.

According to Mitchell, the biggest threat
to the Aboriginal Education program is
time. Time is a manmade concept, and
Mitchell prefers to think of Education as a
journey. Mitchell began the journey to
his current position in 1994. He had been
a steel-worker for ve years, when one
day, he woke up after a fall, and the doctor
told him that he would not be an iron
worker any more. He spent much of his
recovery time having coffee with his dad,
talking without words. One day his dad
said, Our kids are not getting their fair
shake in education. Romaine asked
himself, What is the fair shake for our
kids? And that question took him back to
school and guided his education journey.

I am one person; I can inuence 70
teachers, who can affect 1000s of students.
Within the Native Studies program, we can
wipe the eyes of the brothers in the next
canoe to see clearly the journey ahead of
them, says Mitchell, referring to the
Haudenosaunee two row wampum.
Recently, Mitchell has been working with
teacher institutions to put in place Native
Studies AQ programs one that is
helpful. Its a hoop teachers need to go
through, but we need to make that hoop
accessible to both native and non-native
teachers. It shouldnt be an academic
status: set so high it becomes a barrier to
those people we need in the system, those
who teach the human not the subject.
Type to enter text
EDUCATOR PROFILE:
ROMAINE MITCHELL (UCDSB)
GRABBING HOLD OF THE EDUCATION STICK
AN INTERVIEW BY JEN PALMER
[ ] 4
I think it was the title that got me
started. Walking with Our Sisters
made me remember being a little girl
and walking with my older sister
through the forest. She would explore
paths and trails, and then, when she was
sure she knew them, she would get my
little brother and me and take us for a
walk. We found berries and waterfalls,
sun soaked rocks and pools of frogs...it
was always magical, and I never
worried about getting hurt or lost: I was
with my sister.
But some of our sisters have been lost.
Theyve gone mi ssi ng or been
m u r d e r e d . M o r e t h a n
some....many.....far too many....More
than 600 women in Canada are gone.
That s a huge number ; t hat s
overwhelming.
On June 15, there were about twelve of
us sitting around a table in Ottawa, at
an art event organized for members of
the Native Education Association of
Ontario (NEAO) by Marg Boyle and
Jaimie Koebel. The moccasin project
was started by Mtis artist Christi
Belcourt. Interestingly, we had just
seen Christis beautiful painting called
Water Song, part of the exhibition
cal l ed Sakahn: I nt er nat i onal
Indigenous Art at the National Gallery
of Canada. Now we were invited to
participate in a project called Walking
with Our Sisters: A Commemorative
Art Installation for the Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women of
Canada. At this event, hundreds of
people just like us were sitting alone or
in groups to create more than 600 pairs
of moccasin tops, called vamps, for one
large art piece that is currently being
exhibited across Canada. In this exhibit,
each pair of moccasins is to be
displayed as a winding path on gallery
floors and is meant to symbolize the
unfinished life of a missing or
murdered Indigenous women.

Sitting in that little room was
comforting. Marg and Jaimie showed
us the work they had done, as well as
some works in progress, and Marg
showed us the materials we would need
to create our own moccasin vamps. We
were given written instructions; pieces
of felt; and a variety of fabrics, thread,
and beads. Each of us started sewing in
our own way: some drew out their
designs, some traced theirs, some sat
thinking, while others gently handled
the materials. The experience of
quilting and beading was brand new for
some, while it was old hat for others.

I had fun choosing my materials. My
thoughts travelled from one woman to
another: first, to my sister and her
fondness for blue chicory, a weed that
grows wild along most country roads;
then, to Twylah Hurd Nitsch, my
adopted Seneca grandmother who
danced with me in her kitchen, while
she laughed and sang thanks to
Grandfather Sun. A piece of cotton
covered in blueberries took me North to
a sunny day picking berries with some
of the oldest Ojibwe women I had ever
met. These women had let me drive
them to their secret patch of berries
because they knew I had no sense of
direction and would never find it again,
even if I tried. They told stories and
laughed gently as we filled bucket after
bucket with berries.Those memories
shaped my moccasin tops. Those stories
created my design.

I only had part of a beaded sun finished
by the end of the afternoon. We packed
up and headed home. I was a little
worried; Im really good at starting
things, but not so great at finishing
them. I think it was the spirit of those
women that kept me going. Im not a
patient person, and I found out
firsthand that it is impossible to bead
quickly. Hour after hour passed, and I
stuck with it. Those hours were filled
with thoughts of the missing women
and their families, with thoughts of the
hundreds of people who were sitting
somewhere making vamps, with
thoughts of Christi opening each little
parcel in the mail, and with thoughts of
the women who shaped my design. It
was peaceful. It was emotional. It felt
good. Good, like wild flowers, and
sunshine, and berries. Good, like
laughter and stories. Good, like walking
with our sisters.



WALKING
WITH OUR
SISTERS
BY JAN SWAREN
(TEACHER WITH THE LIMESTONE BOARD OF
EDUCATION, KINGSTON, ONTARIO)
For more information on the
Walking with Our Sisters project
and an exhibition schedule, please
go to the Walking with Our Sisters
Facebook page, which can be found
at http://walkingwithoursisters.ca/
events/ , or the website
http://walkingwithoursisters.ca/
More than
600 Indigenous
women are
gone.
Photo Credit: Luc-Ann Salm
Photo Credit: Jan Swaren
[ ] 5
Inuit learn through observation and a
hands-on approach, so when teaching
about Inuit, the same methods should be
explored. We are fortunate to have
cultural teachers on hand at the Ottawa
Inuit Children's Centre to provide these
experiences but there are ways that
teachers anywhere can access resources
to incorporate Inuit teachings within the
classroom. The Inuit Cultural Online
R e s o u r c e ( I C O R )
(www.icor.ottawainuitchildrens.com) was
developed to share correct information,
not only about traditional Inuit life,
culture, and language, but also about
contemporary lifestyle too. Below is a
list of links on the ICOR website that can
be used in a variety of class subjects and
grades.

ICOR has a variety of video podcasts
including: the Inukitut Podcast Project;
bannock making; celebrating Inuit pride;
circle time, traditional knowledge; DIY
bone and stick game; Inuit drumming;
Inuit games; inuksuk build and learn; the
Qulliq; and, throat singing.

ICOR also has useful information for
exploring Inuit history and language; the
arts, such as visual arts, singing, throat
singing, music, drums, and dance; sports
and games. Other topics include the
impact of Inuit on Canada; life on the
land, modern versus traditional life; and
country food. There is also a section
where you can see photos.

ICOR also offers a variety of teaching
resources, including activity sheets;
resources about the Inuktitut language;
and Inuit perspectives.






The Mtis Nation of Ontario (MNO)
Education and Training branch has
offices across Ontario. We are working to
improve Mtis education for all. In
partnership with the both the Ministry of
Education and the Ministry of Training
Colleges and Universities, the MNO is
working to create new resources and
develop key relationships with school
boards, colleges, universities and many
other educational stakeholders.

MNO staff can provide resources that can
improve your teaching practice and raise
the awareness of Mtis issues in the
classroom. The Trousse dducation
mtisse/Mtis Education Kit is fast
becoming a key tool for use in the
classroom. The kit includes resources
specific to Mtis in Ontario. Through this
important initiative, communities are
increasingly seeing a place for Mtis
culture and history in our schools. In
order to be able to use the kits effectively
MNO is working on both a companion
t eacher s gui de and Professi onal
Development sessions with the Ministry.

Another key program that addresses
Mtis students transition from high
school into post-secondary education is
MNOs Infinite Reach program. This
program, where upper year Mtis
students create a network for incoming
students, is based throughout colleges and
universities. Mtis facilitators are very
active at the March Camp, a camp we
will feature in the nextissue. If you are
interested in learning more, please
contact us at www.metisnation.org, and
keep an eye out for the next issue.

Since our children and youth deserve every
opportunity to be successful in school, an
ad hoc working group with the COO, the
Ministry of Education - Aboriginal
Education Office, Ministry of Aboriginal
Affairs and Indian and Northern Affairs
Canada, was established in 2010 to draft a
First Nation Student Achievement Strategy
by exploring and identifying priorities.
Strategy priorities were identified as
literacy and numeracy, assessment,
infrastructure, and family and community
engagement.

The Ontario Ministry of Education has
extended free access to many of its
eLearning tools and supports including the
Ontario Educational Resource Bank
(OERB) to all FN schools and educators
through a pilot project, Blended Learning
tools, and The Learning Management
System (LMS).

This OERB access project, involving over
50 FN schools and 9 FN organizations, was
regarded as a complete success, and in late
August 2013, seven of the initial pilot sites
indicated interest in participating in the
second phase pilot involving both the LMS
and Blended Learning tools.

Another key initiative was the development
of a First Nation Family and Community
Engagement Toolkit; this was made
possible by a regional grant from the
Ministry of Educations Parents Reaching
Out program, and in partnership with four
First Nation organizations. This material
will continue to be of value to First Nation
communities and their schools and school
authorities, but can also inform schools
operated by school boards throughout
Ontario as they continue implementation of
the First Nation, Mtis, and Inuit Education
Policy Framework.

The COO Education Unit has also
dedicated a full page on the COO website
to a wide range of resources and sites that
support student learning and success;
information can be found at: http://chiefs-
of-ontario.org/node/358


A Word from the
Ottawa Inuit Chilrens
Centre (OICC)...
A Word from Mtis
Nation of Ontario
(MNO)...

A Word from the Chiefs
of Ontario (COO)...
[ ] 6
On Wednesday June 19, 2013, Dr. Jean-
Paul Restoule and Angela Nardozi warmly
welcomed Elders, educators and students
to a day-long series of workshops. Dr.
Restoule is a member of the Anishinaabek
Nation and professor of Aboriginal
Education at OISE, and Angela Nardozi
was the conference co-chair and is project
manager of the Deepening Knowledge
undertaking at OISE. The goal of the series
of workshops was, to enhance, through
Aboriginal perspectives, the way we, the
audience members, might embark on
fut ure l earni ngs. A cont i ngent of
representatives of NEAO including Marg
Boyle, Krista Tucker Petrice, Noeline
Loccetti, David Spencer, and Jodie
Williams were present.

To ready our energies and to create a
sacred space, a smudging ceremony was
conducted, followed by an address by
Elder Pauline Shirt who invited us to join
her in enhancing the lives and learning of
Aboriginal youth. What resonated with
me, said Marg Boyle, were Elder Shirts
words of how we each come to where we
are meant to be, and how each of us is
ready when we know we are. Boyle
encouraged us to search out elders and
traditional teachers when attempting to
teach authentic Aboriginal content. Elder
Pauline Shirt, like Dr. Restoule, answered
the question, Should I teach Aboriginal
customs and traditions if I dont know
enough? with Yes, if you learn as you
go.

In her own address to the participants,
Marg Boyle told of the long-awaited birth
in 2009 of NEAO as the official,
provincially recognized subject association
in Ontario for teachers of First Nations,
Mtis, and Inuit studies. She urged
attendees to spread the word of NEAO and
to join the voice it provides at the Ministry
of Education (http://www.neao.org/).
Currently, Marg is teaching in Ottawa,
where, to consistently support the needs of
Aboriginal youth, Marg taps into the
wisdom of local Elders; that, she said,
is something each teacher should do.

Another highlight of the day was the visit
of Joseph Roy and a group of his students.
Roys passion and dedication to his
students as an Anishinabe educator struck a
chord with the audience. Both Roys
parents were residential school survivors;
even so, they wanted their son to have an
education, as they later did. Learn their
system, they said to him, then come back
and teach our children. Initially, Roy was
ashamed of his background and only at
about fourteen did he begin to develop a
sense of pride.

At high school he knew of only three
Aboriginal students only: himself and his
two sisters. Their heritage, customs and
traditions did not feature in any of their
school learnings. When he qualified as a
teacher, the memory of that sense of being
invisible inspired him to dedicate himself
to providing a balance of Indigenous and
Western teachings. Having such a balance
at the core of the educational system
would, he believed, provide an education
of healing. Marg Boyle was taken with
how Roys st udent s spoke of t he
importance of being connected to First
Nations cultures in their urban school. It
was clear from the words of his students
that Roy always created a positive pathway
to self-acceptance for his students.
Aboriginal students who have flourished
under the guidance and unflinching support
of Roy shared with the audience their
stories of progress and hope for a better
future. Krista Tucker Petrick said,
Hearing from the youth made the
experience so meaningful. Those young
voices said so much in the short amount of
time they spoke. Their message came from
the heart and captivated the room.

A further bolt of illumination in a day of
many was the work of singer, songwriter,
and instructor Melissa Larkin, the founder
and lead arts-educator of Darkspark.
Larkin has worked extensively with the
progressive Quinte Mohawk School on the
Tyendinaga Mohawk territory. After
dividing students into groups of four,
Larkin played a piece of electronic music
to the students, and then the students
discussed the information and music. Each
group was then instructed to write a song.
Each group of four had a historian,
producer, visual artist, and a recorder;
would then have four days in a recording
the group would then have four days in a
recording studio. The package each group
was to deliver at the end of their time in
the studio was: a compilation of their
lyrics, an album cover, a study sheet, a
personal reflection from each member, and
a textbook cover to replace that of one
without Aboriginal representation.

A method Larkin used to open windows of
understanding into the pre-Indian Act and
treaty signing was to hand each student a
chunk of play-dough as s/he entered the
classroom. After each student had told of
his/her people, Larkin announced there had
been an alien invasion and everyones
piece of play-dough had to be rolled and
flattened into one indiscriminate chunk.
While the students peered at the lump of
play-dough, Larkin invited each student to
suggest an answer as to what had just
occurred. The students were regrouped to
be told the alien invasion should be
equated with the arrival of the Europeans
in Canada. After treaty signings with the
Europeans, the large mass of play-dough
was broken into little pieces. The students
wrote their songs on the creation of treaties
from the perspective of whom they chose:
a member of a First Nation, Mtis, or a
buffalo.

The afternoon was devoted to talking
circles. Marg Boyle said, [the talking
circles are] important for me. There were
teachers in my circle as well as other
professionals who work with First Nations,
Mtis, and Inuit families in the urban
context. I was struck by their commitment,
thoughtfulness, and honesty about both the
challenges and the gifts they get as
educators working in the urban setting.

Krista Tucker Petrick shared that The
conference offered concrete ways to infuse
our practice with authentic resources that
show First Nation, Metis, and Inuit people
in a contemporary manner, and not as an
extinct people. This is so very important in
ensuring that Indigenous students see
themselves welcomed in our schools and
reflected in the curriculum.

Besides the insights that were gained from
the Elders and the presenters during the
course of the day, Restoule and Nardozi
urged us to avail ourselves of the wealth of
information at http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/
deepeningknowledge/ .


Kimaaciihtoomin e-anishinaabe-kikinoo'amaageyak:
Beginning to Teach in an Indigenous Way
By Noeline Laccetti
[ ] 7
Text
Text














Full Circle: First Nations, Mtis,
Inuit Ways of Knowing is the fifth in
a series of Common Threads
resource documents written and
produced by OSSTF/ FEESO.
Released in January 2013, this
project is the culmination of two-
and-a-half years work by thirteen
members of OSSTF/FEESO, who
are either First Nation or Metis, or
who wor k ext ens i vel y wi t h
Aboriginal students.

This comprehensive document
consists of sixty lessons that cover
four broad themes: Land, Health,
Residential Schools and Identity.
Although the lessons are easily
incorporated into the FNMI Studies
courses, they are designed for use in
courses such as civics, history,
social sciences, English, geography,
law, business, careers, and science.

The goal of the project is to provide
educators with a set of high quality,
classroom-ready resources that meet
curriculum expectations, utilize
differentiated instruction techniques
and include assessment tools for
each lesson. The writers achieved
this goal by using a holistic teaching
model and incorporating traditional
Abor i gi nal t eachi ngs i n t he
organization and planning of each
lesson.

An important part of each Common
Threads project is an audiovisual
component. Through a partnership
with The Blend Audiovisual group,
the DVD that accompanies the
lessons profiles the lives of three
First Nation students, two Inuit
teenagers, and a young Mtis
woman. The stories of their
struggles and triumphs as they come
to terms with and celebrate their
cultures and heritage illustrate the
universal themes of teenage angst in
a quest for identity. All students
will recognize a part of themselves
within these young people as they
ask the quintessential questions of
identity: who am I and why am I
here? This is the common thread
that runs through all of the lessons.

Through a partnership with Pearson/
GoodMinds.com, selections from
the textbooks Aboriginal Peoples in
Canada and Aboriginal Beliefs,
Values and Aspirations were used in
some of the lessons. The sections
from these texts have been included
on the CD version of the project.

Full Circle: First Nations, Mtis,
Inuit Ways of Knowing is available
as a CD/DVD set for $20 for
OSSTF/FEESO members and $30
for non-members by visiting:
www.osstf.on.ca/commonthreads.
Every public secondary school in
O n t a r i o r e c e i v e d t h r e e
complimentary copies. The video
and a PDF version of the lesson
plans (without the textbook pages)
is available on the OSSTF/FEESO
website.

OSSTF/ FEESO al so provi des
workshops for groups of educators
who are interested in learning how
to incorporate this valuable resource
into their classrooms. For more
information, contact Rob Dubyk at
O S S T F / F E E S O ,
rob.dubyk@osstf.ca.

COMMON THREADS PROJECT
BY ALLISON WALLACE (OSSTF / FEESO)
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5.6+ /7 80/9&0:
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Contributors for this issue of NEAO News: Renata Spudic, Marg Boyle, Jennifer Palmer, Jan
Swaren, The Ottawa Inuit Childrens Centre), Mtis Nation of Ontario, Chiefs of Ontario,
Noeline, Laccetti, OSSTF / FEESO
Edited by: Jenna Bailey, Carol Windmill, Jennifer Palmer, Marg Boyle
Compiled by: Jenna Bailey
[ ] 8