Indigenous Perspectives

Websites to provide information and generate ideas:

First Peoples Principles of Learning –  understanding how we might incorporate these principles

FNESC Science Resource (5-9) : First Nations Education Steering Committee detailed lesson resource, including background in integrating Indigenous knowledge into science and the following multi-age units: 

• Unit 1 – Traditional Ecological Knowledge
• Unit 2 – Plants and Connection to Place
• Unit 3 – Power from the Land
• Unit 4 – Bear and Body Systems
• Unit 5 – Climate Change
• Unit 6 – Shaking and Flooding
• Unit 7 – Interconnectedness of the Spheres
• Unit 8 – Ocean Connections

Aboriginal Curriculum Integration Project –  Cowichan Valley School District has assembled this collection of resources from across the province. Includes a variety of stories and many audio/video resources connecting to place and environmental issues.

Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science With Western Science – this free on-line book from UVic looks at how deep ecological knowledge of place can help us face the problems of the 21st centuries.  Filled with cases and resources, it is an excellent source of ideas for classroom use.  Edited by Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams.

Characteristics of Aboriginal World Views and Perspectives (this links to the Ministry of Education list of AbEd resources):

• Connectedness and Relationships
• Awareness of History
• Local Focus
• Engagement with the Land, Nature and the Outdoors
• Emphasis on Identity
• Community Involvement: Process and Protocols
• The Power of Story
• Traditional Teaching
• Language and Culture
• Experiential Learning

Suggestion Entry Point Lessons – North Vancouver School District resource includes science lessons for grades K-3 on Seasons, Cedar; and for grades 4-7 on Health, Fossils and Cyclical Changes in the Environment.

Coyote Science – a TV Show from the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network exploring science with Indigenous kids, Indigenous scientists, and elders.  For younger audiences. Canada-wide content, but does include lots of Coast Salish content too.  Full episodes can be streamed.

Science Resources – University of Toronto A Canada wide collection of resources for Indigenizing science education.  Be aware that many of the examples and lessons here are not from Coast Salish peoples.

Aboriginal Access to Engineering (primary/intermediate) – Queens University – What Engineers Do– specific to the Ontario Grade 3 curriculum, this is a unit that investigates stable structures from a First Nations’ perspective.  Materials provided also in French and in various central Canadian Indigenous languages.

Astronomy stories from Cree elder Wilfred Buck and other astronomy links; this teachers’ resource from the MacMillan Planetarium connects to their Sky Stories exibit; also here is a written resource of Inenewuk (Cree) Stories about the Stars.

First Peoples Principles of Learning

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
•  Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions.
• Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
• Learning recognizes the role of indigenous knowledge. ¨ Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.
• Learning involves patience and time.
• Learning requires exploration of one’s identity.
• Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations.