The Power of Stories

“The truth about stories is, that’s all we are.”

-Thomas King

I have been on a journey of learning over the past several years, as an educator and as a Canadian citizen.  I have been learning about Indigenous Perspectives, and what has happened here on this land, Turtle Island.

This learning has impacted my teaching practice.  It has really helped to ground me in the importance of relationships and authentic community building.  Learning about Indigenous Perspectives has led me to realize that relationships are the foundation to everything that happens in my classroom.  It has helped me to realize the power of using circles in my classroom, where everyone sits at the same level, and all voices are heard.

Some of the best and most impactful learning for me and for my students has been sitting and listening to elders and Indigenous community members share their stories.

Troy Maracle, an incredible leader in Indigenous Education in this province, said during a PD session I attended,

“Students know the space that exists between themselves and their teachers.”

Ever since I heard Troy speak those words, I have been asking myself ‘How do I bridge that gap?  How do I make that space smaller?’

Something very powerful happened in my classroom this year.  Something that I didn’t expect. It has been a story that I have wanted to share.  

My class and I had been exploring Indigenous perspectives.  We learned about what treaty meant. We had been to Crawford Lake, sat in a longhouse and listened to a First Nations woman speak to us about her experiences and share her stories.  We had examined images about residential schools in Canada, read books on the topic, sat in silence as Gord Downie’s Secret Path played and we connected over Chanie’s story.  We were visited by Dawn, a survivor, who shared her story with us. We learned about colonization, and explored the question “How has colonization impacted Turtle Island?”  Our investigations led us to looking at some modern day realities in Canada, and at issues facing those living in remote reserves. Students wrote and performed found poetry.  We sat together sharing our learning and our questions in circles. We watched Jessie Wente’s short docs Keep Calm and Decolonize. We began to plan our Reconciliation Garden, in partnership with another class and Indigenous community partners. My students were beginning to understand what it meant to be a treaty person in Canada.   

One day, as we discussed the importance of culture and language and the implications of having that taken away, our conversation naturally expanded to include my students’ own experiences in our school and community. The realities of Indigenous Peoples having to hide who they were resonated with some of the students in the classroom. One person voiced that he didn’t always feel safe to share his religious and cultural background because of the social and political implications. Others shared that they didn’t feel their native countries were celebrated here, but rather were victims of a ‘single story’ perpetuated by a misinformed public. We recognized as a class that just as speaking Cree, Mohawk, and Mi’kmaq grounded people in their identify, so too does speaking Urdu, Arabic, and Mandarin.

A few weeks later we sat in a circle with Peter Schuler and Nancy Rowe, two elders from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.  Peter spoke to us about how important it was for him to introduce himself in Ojibwe. He invited us to go around the circle and say our names and where our ancestors came from.  What happened next was one of the most profound moments of my career. My students began introducing themselves in their Native languages. Organically a safe space had been created and students felt secure and confident to reveal their true selves in their first languages.

Together we discovered the importance of stories and the need to share them in our own voices.

This led to each of us exploring our cultures, identities, family histories and sharing these with each other.  We spent one period searching photos of rickshaws in Pakistan. Students shared how fun it was to ride on a rickshaw, we marvelled as a class at the colours and how beautifully decorated they were. Two boys sat together following this conversation and started talking about their religions, they began to connect over similarities between the two.  We were breaking down single stories together.

As a response to this, each student shared a story connected to who they are on their blogs. Some students even translated their stories into their native languages.  Our inquiry question, that we were investigating in History and Science, “How has colonization impacted Turtle Island?” led us to this point. Our journey led us to understand our role as treaty partners and about the importance of Truth and Reconciliation.  It also led us to share and be proud of our own languages, cultures, and stories.

-Christine