Transcript Slide 1

Goal #4: Parents of FNMI students
are involved in the school
community and perceive the school
as inviting and engaging to parents.
Theme 15: FNMI Recognition as an
Integral Part of the School
Activity: Four Questions
Divide the participants into groups. Use questions such as:
• What do you hope to learn from this workshop?
• What does “recognition” mean to you?
• What are your favourite pastimes or hobbies?
Each group member takes a turn answering the questions for the
rest of their group.
Activity: Sharing Circle
FNMI culture needs to be recognized and respected as an
integral part of the school.
Sit in a sharing circle and share stories and opinions about the
recognition of FNMI students in their school and community.
Activity: Brainstorming
Brainstorm the various achievements of the FNMI students and
people of your community. What talents, skills, and goals do they
have?
Remember that displaying and celebrating FNMI achievements in
the local and world community helps to make the school more
inviting for FNMI parents.
National Aboriginal Achievement Awards
From www.naaf.ca
The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards were established in
1994 to pay tribute to United Nations International Year of the
World's Indigenous People.
The NAAA is an awards system recognizing career achievements by
Aboriginal people in diverse occupations.
In total 14 awards are presented to recognize twelve occupational
achievers, one lifetime achievement recipient, and a youth achiever
who receives a $10,000 prize to further their education.
The awards were created as a way to build self-esteem and pride for
the Aboriginal community and to provide role models for Aboriginal
youth.
National Aboriginal Achievement Awards (continued)
For the general public, the awards cast the capabilities and
aspirations of Aboriginal people in a new and powerful light. They
serve to inform this audience of the strides that can be made when
an individual has the discipline, drive and determination to
accomplish their goals.
The Awards are bestowed to individuals of First Nations, Inuit and
Métis heritage who have reached a significant level of achievement
in their respective occupations. To date 140 outstanding men and
women have been recognized for their career achievements.
Sample of Previous Recipients:
• Pearl Calahasen – Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
Development, first Métis woman ever elected in Alberta, MLA since
1989
• Osuitok Ipeelee – sculptor
• Tina Keeper – actor
National Aboriginal Achievement Awards (continued)
Special Youth Award
The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards will bestow a special
youth award upon a young achiever between the ages of 15 and 24
who is of First Nations, Inuit or Métis ancestry. The youth recipient
will receive a $10,000 scholarship to further their education and/or
career, and will be recognized at the gala event.
To nominate a youth achiever, complete the official nomination form
and send to the NAAA Secretariat with two letters of support and a
résumé or biographical equivalent. The nomination form and letters
should articulate a strong and coherent argument as to why the
nominee would merit the youth award.
Activity: Awarding FNMI Achievement
Review the material presented about the National Aboriginal
Achievement Award. In groups, discuss the following questions:
• What is the value of these types of awards?
• How could this award be promoted in the classroom or school?
• Are there local awards for Aboriginal achievement in your
school or community?
• If there is no such award locally, could you create such an
award? How?
Volunteers from each group present the highlights of the group’s
discussion to the others.
FNMI Role Models
Adapted from Safe and Caring Schools for Aboriginal Students, the Alberta
Teachers’ Association
Why are role models important?
• help FNMI students see the possibilities for their own success
• counter negative stereotypes that feed prejudice and discrimination
• is important in the development of self-esteem and self-respect
How can I recognize and promote role models in the classroom?
• Use FNMI role models to illustrate success, pride and
accomplishment
• Use a bulletin board, posters or a class website to feature FNMI
success stories
• Integrate FNMI role models into language arts (autobiography,
poetry, literature, etc.) and social studies (historic figures, political
activists, etc.)
• Have FNMI role models visit the class and describe how they
worked towards their accomplishments
FNMI Role Models (continued)
FNMI Role Models
Activists
Mary Two-Axe Earley, Giindajin Haawasti Guujaaw, Buffy Sainte-Marie
Actors
Gary Farmer, Chief Dan George, Graham Greene, Tina Keeper, Tanto Cardinal,
Jay Silverheels
Architect
Douglas Cardinal
Artists
Dinah Anderson, Kenojuak Ashevak, Kiawak, Ashoona, Pitseolak Ashoona,
Ramus Avingaq, Dorothy Grant, David Hannan, Gilbert Hay, Shirley Moorhouse,
Daphne Odjig, Bill Reid, John Terriak, Chrisitne Sioui Wawanoloath
Athletes
Waneek Horn (water polo), Tom Longboat (track and field), Alwyn Morris
(kayaking), Brian Trottier, Jordin Tootoo (hockey), Darren Zack (baseball)
Business
Wade Cachagee
Filmmakers
Alanis Obomsawin, Denis Arcand
Historian
Terry Lusty
FNMI Role Models (continued)
FNMI Role Models
Historical
Figures
Joseph Brant (politician and missionary), Gabriel Dumont (military leader), Louis
Riel (politician), Chief Crowfoot, Joseph Brant (Mohawk, Ontario)
Law
Rose Boyko, Roberta Jamieson
Medicine
Cornelia Weiman
Musicians
Susan Aglukark, John Kim Bell, Fara, Tom Jackson, Kashtin, Laura Vinson, Buffy
Sainte-Marie
Politicians
John Amagoalik, Georges Erasmus, Simon Baker, Phil Fontaine, Ethel BlondinAndrew, Dan Goodleaf, Abel Bosum, Elijah Harper, Matthew Coon Come, Ovide
Mercredi, Tagak Curley, Mike Mitchell, Billy Diamond, Charlie Watt
Writers
Jeanette Armstrong, E. Pauline Johnson, Kateri Damm, Basil H. Johnston, Nora
Dauenhauer, Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, Joseph Dion, Drew Hayden Taylor, Tomson
Highway, Thomas King, Carla Robinson
Activity: FNMI Role Models
Review the material on FNMI roles models from summary sheet 2.
Discuss and brainstorm the importance of having positive FNMI role
models for FNMI students.
Divide into groups and create action plans for:
• Finding positive FNMI role models from the community
• Using role models in the classroom
• Incorporating these role models into the school community
Each group then presents its action plan to the other groups.
Elders’ Thoughts on Education
From Western Canadian Protocol Framework for Aboriginal Language and Culture
Programs K-12, June 2000.
Quotes on Education from Elders
“We came from a system of laws and relationships. The laws were
the parameters of acceptable behaviour within each relationship.
Our lifestyles have changed a lot but the necessity to survive with
integrity is still with me. We must elevate our discussion in a way
that we can identify the principles.”
Wes Fineday, Regina
“We need Elders to provide us with the guiding principles and to
interpret for us how the traditional principles are to be translated in
the contemporary urban context.”
George Calliou, Sucker Creek, Alberta
Elders’ Thoughts on Education (continued)
“Business cannot be separated from the environment. The
environment cannot be separated from the government.
Government cannot be separated from social and economic issues.
People cannot be separated from all of the above. Perhaps it is
time to recognize this and make efforts to reinstate a whole-life
perspective in education.”
Patrick Kelly, Sto:lo Nation
“What will happen a hundred years from now? We depend on the
wage economy but nothing much is going on. There are not a lot a
jobs for our people. Our trapping is being extinguished slowly. Our
young people don’t eat wild meat. They want peas and pork chops
from Edmonton. It is a mixed up lifestyle. We have to give our kids
independence. Something is missing from the education system.”
George Blondin, Rae-Edzo, NT
Elders’ Thoughts on Education (continued)
“I could master some of the things that were fed to me, but I didn’t
know how to place them internally. Tell me and I will spit it out back
to you, but how it fits in my perspective, it didn’t make sense.”
Yaqui voices
“Under self-government we are able to bring things back to our
people, develop our traditional laws. We are trying to put ourselves
back together. We speak with one voice. We try to bring back as
much as we can into our life, into our own future. When the
government paddles the other way, we know why. We make them
straighten up the boat so that nothing will go against us no more.”
Roddy Blackjack, Little Salmon/Carmacks, YT
Activity: Quotes and Letters
Take turns reading an Elder’s quote to the rest of the group. Then
divide into groups and choose one of the quotes as inspiration for a
“letter to the editor” for the school or local paper. The letter should
address “recognizing FNMI culture as integral to the community”.
Each group then shares their letter with the others.
Activity: Group Achievement
Each group decides on an award for each of its group members
based on his or her achievement and contribution during the
workshop. The awards are then presented to each group based
on their input and progress during the workshop, for example,
“imagination award”, “creativity award”, “hard work award”, or
“cooperation award”.
Activity: 5-minute Reflection Poem
Write:
•
one thing you LEARNED today
•
one thing that HELPED you learn today
•
one thing the you CONTRIBUTED to the learning today
•
one thing you feel you can TRY
•
how you FEEL