Abstracts
Abstract
What happens when traces of the past are invited to "haunt" the present, disrupting the colonial narratives inherent in local spaces, and creating openings for new stories and new relationships? Guided by Indigenous and post-human worldviews, this action-research project facilitated community learning about the q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie) Slough, while collectively imagining new futures for this waterway. Elementary students learned from Elders and environmentalists at the Slough, while simultaneously caring for the land. They then made art with the land, which, along with Elder stories, guided the creation of a school mural. The teachings of the mural and the children’s art continue to reverberate as their stories are shared with post-secondary students and teachers. This research informs how we might engage learners with the complexities and complicities of settler colonialism and provides an example of a local land-centred curriculum that informs how we might all live well together, contributing to real world change.
Keywords:
- land-centred learning,
- anti-colonial learning,
- post-human pedagogy,
- Indigenist pedagogy,
- relational renewal
Résumé
Que se passe-t-il lorsque les traces du passé sont appelées à « hanter » le présent, bousculant les récits coloniaux inhérents aux espaces locaux et ouvrant sur des possibilités de créer de nouveaux récits et de nouvelles relations? Guidé par une vision autochtone et posthumaine du monde, ce projet a favorisé l’apprentissage de la communauté sur le « q̓íc̓əy̓ Slough » (marais q̓íc̓əy̓), tout en imaginant collectivement de nouvelles perspectives pour l'avenir de ce cours d’eau. Lors d’une activité visant à lui apporter des soins, des élèves du primaire ont appris des anciens et d’environnementalistes à propos du marais. Les enfants ont ensuite produit des créations artistiques sur la terre et les récits de l’ancien, ce qui a inspiré la création d’un mural à l’école. Les connaissances acquises grâce au mural et à l’art des enfants continuent de retentir alors que leurs idées sont partagées avec des étudiants et des enseignants du postsecondaire. Cette recherche nous éclaire sur la façon d’impliquer les apprenants aux complexités et aux complicités du colonialisme de peuplement et fournit l'exemple d’un programme d’études local centré sur la terre qui nous éclaire sur des moyens de mieux vivre ensemble, en contribuant à changer le monde de façon concrète.
Mots-clés :
- apprentissage centré sur la terre,
- apprentissage anticolonial,
- pédagogie posthumaniste,
- pédagogie indigène,
- renouveau relationnel
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Appendices
Biographical notes
I, Cher Hill, am a settler scholar with Finnish, Swedish and British ancestry. I have lived on unsurrendered Indigenous territories all my life as an uninvited guest. For the past seven years I have been on a journey to learn about local traditional knowledge, as well as to educate myself more broadly about Indigenous worldviews. I am profoundly grateful to my teachers and mentors, including Murray and Jo. I am deeply committed Indigenous sovereignty over their lands and waterways and a passionate supporter of community-based learning.
My name is Rick Bailey I am an Elder and a long serving member of Chief and Council with q̓íc̓əy̓ First Nations. I have been hunting and fishing nearly all my life, learning these skills from my father, grandfather and Elders. Wherever I go, I tell people about the salmon. They need all the help they can get right now. Each year, less and less salmon come back to our watershed due to development, pollution, overfishing, global warming, and fish farms. My people come from the sockeye salmon. We need to care for the waterways so that my family will come home in numbers like they once did.
Contemporary Salish Artist, Cultural Educator, and Life Skills Facilitator. My father’s ancestors, the "river," people have benefitted from this livable region for at least 9000 years. My history speaks of geological events, which have shaped how we lived and adapted to this vast B.C. Coast with direct links to the Cascade Mountain Range. My teachers from all over North America facilitated a cultural experiential learning environment in its traditional and contemporary space. I excel as a self-determined artist with passions for sharing indigenous life skills, understandings and perspectives through education to all learners. All My Relations.
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