Blog Six: Collective Treaty Mindfulness
February 17, 2020
I am mindful …
That I am a white settler on the Indigenous peoples’ Treaty 4 land and that I am a privileged woman on this land.
I am mindful …
That as a future English Language Arts teacher I will be representing the voices of the oppressors in the past to Indigenous voices, and will strive to use resources for multiple perspectives and representation in my own classroom, acknowledging that “the English language has been a main tool of colonization and assimilation” (Sheena).
I am mindful …
That knowledge and understanding holds a higher importance and that being comfortable with the uncomfortable and considering Chelsea Vowel’s quote that states that “[m]oving beyond territorial acknowledgments means asking hard questions about what needs to be done once we’re ‘aware of Indigenous presence’ … and it means making concrete, disruptive change” (Vowel, 2016).
I am mindful …
That as a future educator is my responsibility to teach Treaty Education authentically and respectfully.
I am mindful …
Indigenous works of literature that have been excluded from education and from the eyes of students and will work to include these narratives in my classroom.
I am mindful …
That I still have lots to learn about Treaty and will work every day to implement my learnings into my daily life.
Alex MacPherson 