Weaving Knowledge Systems Resource Materials

A piece I did for CBC's The National... what else can I say? My dad not only survived but thrived and my son is my sole motivation for doing any good in this [From YouTube]

American Indian/First Nations/Native people have been historically under-represented in the ranks of college and university graduates in Canada and the United States. From an institutional perspective, the problem has been typically defined in terms of low achievement, high attrition, poor retention, weak persistence, etc., thus placing the onus for adjustment on the student. From the perspective of the Indian student, however, the problem is often cast in more human terms, with an emphasis on the need for a higher educational system that respects them for who they are, that is relevant to their view of the world, that offers reciprocity in their relationships with others, and that helps them exercise responsibility over their own lives. This paper examines the implications of these differences in perspective and identifies ways in which initiatives within and outside of existing institutions are transforming the landscape of higher education for First Nations/American Indian people in both Canada and the United States. [From Author]

This resource is a visual journey to support classroom teachers, post secondary and adult educators to understand and learn about the hidden history of Indian Residential Schools.

This document can be used towards developing self awareness in every discipline. Developing self awareness is a key element on the journey towards reconciliation. This resource can be used from K to post secondary in a diverse manner. [From Website]

This paper begins with a critical exploration, from the location of a settler, of how land acknowledgements and practices of self-location function in child and youth care teaching and learning. I critically examine settler practices of acknowledgement, self-location, appropriation, consciousness-raising, and allyship. I use the concepts of settler ethics and responsibilities to underline the importance of accountability in child and youth care pedagogy. I argue that settlers have a responsibility to take action within the challenging ethical landscape of teaching and learning within the settler colonial context. My overall aim is to contribute to the critical and decolonizing literature in child and youth care from the location of a settler educator and child and youth care practitioner. [From Author]

In reflecting upon two qualitative research projects incorporating an Indigenous methodology, this article focuses on the use of the conversational method as a means for gathering knowledge through story. The article first provides a theoretical discussion which illustrates that for the conversational method to be identified as an Indigenous research method it must flow from an Indigenous paradigm. The article then moves to an exploration of the conversational method in action and offers reflections on the significance of researcher-in-relation and the inter- relationship between this method, ethics and care. [From Author]

This report is founded upon a belief that Education and Social Work share commonalities in serving Indigenous peoples. Both Social Work and Education share the experience of serving Indigenous children, youth, and families. Both are seeking ways to better respond to the Indigenous community. It is our belief that to better serve Indigenous peoples, both disciplines of Education and Social Work require practitioners who possess a philosophical orientation and practice capacity that respects and actively integrates Indigenous points of view. [From Author]

In December 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its calls to action for reconciliation related to the oppressive legacy of Indian Residential Schools. Required actions include increased teaching of intercultural competencies and incorporation of indigenous ways of knowing and learning. Intercultural Communication as a discipline has primarily been developed from euro-centric traditions based in three domains of learning referred to as Bloom’s taxonomy. Scholars and practitioners have increasingly identified problems in the way that intercultural competency is taught. The decolonization of education is implicated in finding solutions to those problems. Indigenization of education is one such effort. This chapter posits the Medicine Wheel, a teaching/learning framework that has widespread use in indigenous communities, for use in instructing intercultural communication. Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains, is missing the fourth quadrant of the Medicine Wheel, spiritual. Examples of the spiritual quadrant are offered. [From Author]

Based on a review of works by Indigenous educators, this paper suggests a four-domain framework for developing course outcome statements that will serve all students, with a focus on better supporting the educational empowerment of Indigenous students.
The framework expands the three domains of learning, pioneered by Bloom to a four-domain construction based on the four quadrants of the Medicine Wheel , a teaching/learning framework that has widespread use in the Indigenous communities of North America (Native American, First Nation, Metis, Inuit, etc.). This paper expands on the cognitive (mental), psychomotor (physical) and affective (emotional) domains to add the fourth quadrant, spiritual, as being essential for balance in curricular design that supports students in their learning goals. The description of the spiritual quadrant includes a progression of learning outcomes and suggested verbs for developing learning outcome statements. Evaluation and practical implications are also discussed. [From Author]

It is abundantly clear that Aboriginal nations cannot progress as long as this pattern of recycling trauma and dysfunction generation after generation is allowed to continue. Something is needed to interrupt the cycle and to introduce new patterns of living that lead to sustainable human wellbeing and prosperity. [From Author]

Kayla Lar-Son from the Xwi7xwa library discusses OER and Indigenous Knowledge and content.

There are an increasing number of articles written by Indigenous and First Nations authors about their worldviews, cultures, research and ways of being and knowing in relation to Indigenous theories and pedagogies. As a result, their experiences, philosophies and approaches emphasize the increasing borders for understanding the importance, value and rightful place of Indigenous theories and pedagogies in research, teaching and practice. Additionally, non-Indigenous authors are also writing messages of encouragement and support for Indigenous theories and pedagogies and highlight ways for non-Indigenous practitioners/teachers to reframe a worldview that incorporates Indigenous worldviews in a “good and respectful way”. [From Author]

Nishnaabe Kinoomaadwin Naadmaadwin
Published by the School of Native Human Services - Native Social Work Journal, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario. The Native Social Work Journal is registered with the Canadian Association of Learned Journals. Cover artwork by Leland Bell. An open access journal. [From Website]

Increasing evidence shows that more than a century of assimilative government policies has resulted in personal, familial and community trauma for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The institutions and systems, such as residential schools, implemented as a result of these policies attempted to eradicate Aboriginal perspectives and values and replace them with ideological systems that continue to undermine life for Aboriginal peoples. Generations of people continue to be affected by the traumas of abuse, state-enforced separation and racist devaluation of culture. This chapter reviews the evolving literature on intergenerational trauma and explores how culturally appropriate therapeutic interventions need to be informed by the history of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Based on my own experience as a social work practitioner and therapist, the infusion of culturally appropriate healing strategies within therapeutic responses is a viable model for addressing the mental health needs of Aboriginal people. [From Author]

Recoveries of unmarked graves have put a spotlight on the genocide committed through the Residential Institution system in Canada from the 1800s until the 1990s. As First Nations from coast to coast to coast pursue searches of Residential Institutions and the number of recoveries grows, we must remember each number represents a loss - a child with a name, a family and a community coping with grief. This is our shared history. [From Website]

This study involved the use of personal interviews of six Aboriginal students at the University of Alberta in the fall of 1999. This article includes a brief literature review of other articles that consider adult Aboriginal people as library patrons and a section on Indigenous knowledge and values. Findings include three main concerns: a lack of Indigenous resources in the library system; a lack of resource or research development concerning Indigenous issues; and a lack of services recognizing the Indigenous values of “being in relationship” and reciprocity. [From Author]

This Web exhibition recounts first-hand information illustrating the complex and often contentious relationship between the Canadian government and Canada's Aboriginal people from the late 1700s to the mid-20th century. Archived Content. [From Website]

Adoption into an Indigenous society can be thick with obligations and relations if the adoptee understands they are entering into a legal order that organizes and regulates their new kinship relations. Implicit within these kinship orders are limits to what inclusion into an Indigenous society provides. Conversely, adoption can be used as a thin line of extraction, aiming at social capital within Indigenous communities. Adoptions void of an understanding of the legal order they should be accountable to, may be used in a way that circumvents obligations towards Indigenous stories, knowledge systems, and law, and to continue to prop up the modes of extraction of Indigenous cultural knowledge. A turn towards Indigenous laws and legal orders provide an accountability against those who may use adoption into an Indigenous society as a means for extractive, unreciprocated, personal gain. [From Author]

I had the pleasure of participating in the Ethnohistory Field School during the Spring of 2009. Initially, the Stó:lō Nation invited me to do a project on their
ethnobotanical garden and make some recommendations for landscaping around a newly constructed care center for Stó:lō elders. While I began research related to those initiatives, I couldn’t keep myself away from the archives, which contain a plethora of dusty interview transcripts rich in ethnobotanical knowledge. I also had the opportunity to conduct interviews with three Stó:lō elders. These interviews were full of so many discoveries that I was obliged to include in this paper a few rich ethnobotanical accounts that are not directly related to the ethnobotany garden. Therefore, I have adjusted the topic of my paper slightly to accommodate them. [From Author]

The TK and BC Labels are an initiative for Indigenous communities and local organizations. Developed through sustained partnership and testing within Indigenous communities across multiple countries, the Labels allow communities to express local and specific conditions for sharing and engaging in future research and relationships in ways that are consistent with already existing community rules, governance and protocols for using, sharing and circulating knowledge and data. [From Website]

Like many others seeking to make room for alternative voices in the narrow canon of CYC theory and practice, our work is steeped in theoretical and activist perspectives on colonialism, neoliberalism, normativity, social power, and social change. This critical, multidisciplinary lens is too often cast outside the realm of authentic CYC. In this article, we share our simultaneous struggles with and passion for our work and the CYC field and consider what can be gained from a critical ethic of practice, research, and activism. Our transtheoretical framework, drawn from Indigenous, postcolonial, queer, feminist, and poststructural perspectives, helps us unpack how coming together critically, hopefully, productively enables us to trouble exclusionary notions of CYC. We present vignettes from our practice and research that explicitly challenge the assumption that critical practice is somehow less effective and less responsive to the realities of the diverse children, youth, families, and communities with whom we work. [From Author]

In traditional times, storytelling was used for many reasons---to teach values, beliefs, morals, history, and life skills in Indigenous communities. Storytelling still holds value as it has become a powerful and interactive instructional tool in today’s classrooms. In this naturalistic research study, the co-researchers used conversational interviewing to explicate how teachers use storytelling as a teaching practice throughout the curriculum in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Seven First Nations and Métis teacher participants were asked how, why and when storytelling was integral to their professional practices. [From Author]

The Assembly of First Nations has developed the It’s Our Time: First Nations Education Tool Kit as the basis for a comprehensive strategy to reach out to First Nations students, teachers, schools, communities, and the Canadian public in general. [From Author]

Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have used formal protocol to acknowledge their surroundings, which is meant to honour their spiritual beliefs. This acknowledgment is often spoken in their own language. Indigenous people believed and understood that they are only one aspect in the great diversity of life on the land. They use a common expression such as “all my relations” – words that resemble an all-encompassing meaning – when acknowledging the people of the land, such as tqeltkúkwpi7 (Secwepemc version of Great Spirit). Their acknowledgement includes or specifies water, ancestors, animals and plant life, all of which are considered to be alive and therefore having a “spirit.” [From Author]

Indigenous communities in Canada face significant challenges with intergenerational trauma, which manifests in substance use disorders. There is consensus that connecting treatment approaches to culture, land, community, and spiritual practices is a pathway to healing trauma and substance use disorders for Indigenous peoples. Indigenous residential addiction treatment programs have been established as the primary intervention to provide healing for Indigenous peoples with substance use disorders and intergenerational trauma. However, there is limited evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of these programs. In collaboration with the Benbowopka Treatment Centre, this paper describes a study protocol which aims to evaluate the effectiveness of blending Indigenous Healing Practices and Seeking Safety for the treatment of Indigenous patients with intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders. [From Author]

As with many Indigenous groups around the world, Aboriginal communities in Canada face significant challenges with trauma and substance use. The complexity of symptoms that accompany intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders represents major challenges in the treatment of both disorders. There appears to be an underutilization of substance use and mental health services, substantial client dropout rates, and an increase in HIV infections in Aboriginal communities in Canada. The aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate current literature on how traditional Aboriginal healing methods and the Western treatment model “Seeking Safety” could be blended to help Aboriginal peoples heal from intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders. A literature search was conducted using the keywords: intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, Seeking Safety, substance use, Two-Eyed Seeing, Aboriginal spirituality, and Aboriginal traditional healing. Through a literature review of Indigenous knowledge, most Indigenous scholars proposed that the wellness of an Aboriginal community can only be adequately measured from within an Indigenous knowledge framework that is holistic, inclusive, and respectful of the balance between the spiritual, emotional, physical, and social realms of life. Their findings indicate that treatment interventions must honour the historical context and history of Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, there appears to be strong evidence that strengthening cultural identity, community integration, and political empowerment can enhance and improve mental health and substance use disorders in Aboriginal populations. In addition, Seeking Safety was highlighted as a well-studied model with most populations, resulting in healing. The provided recommendations seek to improve the treatment and healing of Aboriginal peoples presenting with intergenerational trauma and addiction. Other recommendations include the input of qualitative and quantitative research as well as studies encouraging Aboriginal peoples to explore treatments that could specifically enhance health in their respective communities. [From Author]

Offered between 2006 and 2009 and graduating 21 Inuit candidates, the Nunavut Master of Education program was a collaborative effort made to address the erosion of Inuit leadership in the K-12 school system after the creation of Nunavut, Canada’s newest territory, in 1999. Delivered to a large extent in short, intensive, face-to-face courses, the program also made extensive use of online supports. This paper outlines the design challenges – geographical, technological, pedagogical, and cultural – that faced the development and delivery of the online portion of the program. It highlights the intersection of the design decisions with the decolonizing principles that framed the program as a whole, the various and varying roles played by the online environment over the course of the program, and the program’s contribution to student success. [From Website]

Decolonizing Pedagogies Teacher Reference Booklet presents: an overview of what “decolonizing pedagogies” means; how and why educational scholars and Indigenous educators suggest they be used to support learning in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal education environments; examples of decolonizing pedagogies (especially in history education); and, some of the opportunities and challenges identified by educators and scholars in implementing decolonizing pedagogies. [From Author]

In Canada, it is estimated that 3 times as many Indigenous children are currently in the care of the state compared to when the residential schools’ populations were at their peak. It is imperative that action be taken. This article explores the continuities among residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and child welfare in Canada today. In particular, we examine how colonial and neocolonial discourses operate through and justify these policies and practices. We propose nine policy recommendations, which aim to transform child welfare and support Indigenous families to care for their children. Although transformative policy change is unlikely within this neocolonial and neoliberal climate, the recent change in federal leadership has made it more possible to move these policy recommendations forward. [From Author]

Annotated bibliography of resources.

The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre has a mandate to become a centre of excellence of Aboriginal healthcare. Integral to that mission is the development of a culture of research. In collaboration with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and other northern organizations and researchers, Meno Ya Win nurses, physicians and administrators have produced a substantial body of academic literature. These contributions include both cross-cultural works on First Nations healthcare delivery and clinical articles on the practice of rural medicine. Papers in this complication include: palliative care, maternal care, cross-cultural care and rural medicine. [From Publisher]

The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre has a mandate to become a centre of excellence of Aboriginal healthcare. Integral to that mission is the development of a culture of research. In collaboration with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and other northern organizations and researchers, Meno Ya Win nurses, physicians and administrators have produced a substantial body of academic literature. This is the 5th Research Compilation of Sioux Lookout-based cross-cultural research. Each volume encompasses several years of peer reviewed literature reproduced with permission of the authors. We thank the clinicians, fellow researchers, administrators, study participants and the SLMHC Research Review and Ethics Committee for contributing to the knowledge of the medical and social realities in our region. Over the past decade, research has become an integral part of the fabric of our healthcare provision and we are pleased to continue the tradition. Papers in this complication include: addiction medicine, maternal care, infectious diseases and rural medicine. [From Publisher]

"Exploring intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities--and strategies for healing--with provocative prose and an empathetic approach Indigenous peoples have shockingly higher rates of addiction, depression, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions than other North Americans. According to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, these are a result of intergenerational trauma: the unresolved terror, anger, fear, and grief created in Indigenous communities by the painful experiences of colonialism, passed down from generation to generation. How are we to turn this desperate tide? With passionate argumentation and chillingly clear prose, author and educator Suzanne Methot uses her own and others' stories to trace the roots of colonial trauma and the mechanisms by which trauma has become intergenerational, and she explores the Indigenous ways of knowing that can lead us toward change." [From Publisher]

When I was five, my family moved to a farming community in Germany. My mother regularly wrote home to her parents, telling them about our lives and sending them gifts, which they put in their modern curiosity cabinet. This is a very reasonable situation and one which happens all the time. Nevertheless, what if foreigners who moved to Germany were only ever allowed to read my mother’s letters as the complete and acceptable truth for the entire German nation and its people. Would one deem this an accurate history? Would it be enough to analyze German culture, religion, and society? Would looking at the gifts be enough to determine their use without talking to a German? One would most likely answer no to such questions. I chose this narrative because it mirrors the trust adventures, academics, and so forth have put in the archival records written about Indigenous Peoples and their ways. Europeans writing about the Peoples they encountered did not speak the local languages, nor did they understand the cultural practices. Therefore, everything they wrote was interpreted through a strictly European lens, which in turn means that their writings were utterly biased and their interpretations often misconstrued. Nonetheless, many scripts have ended up in archival institutions. In kanata, this form of literature has continued without much interruption, and many such writings continue to be archived. This thesis will analyze the history of archiving in kanata using a decolonizing lens. It will analyze four archival institutions who are doing it right and four crucial documents, although not the only crucial documents, relevant to decolonizing, indigenizing, and reconciling the archival field in kanata with Indigenous Peoples. Finally, through the use of a case study, it will demonstrate the modern problems surrounding the archiving of Indigenous knowledge not produced by Indigenous Peoples nor housed with any community engagement. The point of this thesis is to call out archivists responsible for the continuing oppression of Indigenous Peoples and provide them with ways of rethinking the archival protocols and practices they put onto Indigenous knowledge contained within archival records. [From Author]

"With the growing strength of minority voices in recent decades has come much impassioned discussion of residential schools, the institutions where attendance by Native children was compulsory as recently as the 1960s. Former students have come forward in increasing numbers to describe the psychological and physical abuse they suffered in these schools, and many view the system as an experiment in cultural genocide. In this first comprehensive history of these institutions, J.R. Miller explores the motives of all three agents in the story. He looks at the separate experiences and agendas of the government officials who authorized the schools, the missionaries who taught in them, and the students who attended them. Starting with the foundations of residential schooling in seventeenth-century New France, Miller traces the modern version of the institution that was created in the 1880s, and, finally, describes the phasing-out of the schools in the 1960s. He looks at instruction, work and recreation, care and abuse, and the growing resistance to the system on the part of students and their families. Based on extensive interviews as well as archival research, Miller's history is particularly rich in Native accounts of the school system." [From Publisher]

Student success is facilitated by strong bonds between families and schools, including a shared sense of purpose and mutual trust. However, for Indigenous peoples these relationships are often broken, undermined by the legacy of residential schooling and assimilative educational practices. Drawing on interviews with 50 Indigenous (mainly Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Métis) and non‐Indigenous parents and educators, this paper examines the ways in which issues of class and race shape interactions between teachers and Indigenous parents. The interviews reveal that legacies of racial discrimination against Indigenous peoples in schooling affect family/school relations among middle‐class (MC) and lower‐class (LC) parents in different ways. MC parents intensify relations with the school while, in comparison, LC parents tend to disengage as a consequence of their negative schooling experiences. [From Author]

Concerned by the need to decolonize education for Aboriginal students, the authors explore philosophies of Indigenous ways of knowing and those of the 21st century learning movement. In their efforts to propose a way forward with Aboriginal education, the authors inquire into harmonies between Aboriginal knowledges and tenets of 21st century education. Three stories from the authors’ research serve as examples of decolonizing approaches that value the congruence between 21st century education and Indigenous knowledges. These stories highlight the need for two-eyed seeing, co-constructing curriculum for language and culture revitalization, and drawing from community contexts to create curriculum. [From Author]

I am aware as I begin this plenary paper that members of the library profession that are drawn to a presentation slotted under the theme, Indigenous Knowledge, are most likely interested in the systems and issues for managing information in that area.
And as soon as I presume that, the breadth of the issues springs to mind - the classification of information about Indigenous peoples’, collection, storage, retrieval, access, copyright, intellectual property, the sensitivities of culturally different clients and communities, the politics, funding, distance issues, networking issues, the concerns about historical texts - and the list can go on (e.g. Edwards, 2000). This paper is not a discussion of these issues although I hope, from what I say today, you can draw some broad implications. [From Author]

The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) is a national Indigenous organization established in 2005 by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public health renewal and health equity through knowledge translation and exchange. The NCCIH is hosted by the University of Northern BC (UNBC) in Prince George, BC. [From Website]

The National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance blog focuses on Indigenous (First Nations/Metis/Inuit) coming together to address matters related to Indigenous knowledges, language, cultural memory, etc. [From Website]

The Deepening Knowledge Project (DKP) seeks to infuse Indigenous peoples' histories, knowledges and pedagogies into all levels of education in Canada. The project is a part of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, which is located on the territories of Anishinaabe and Onkwehonwe peoples. Led by a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, students and staff, DKP provides information about the history and perspectives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit and Native American cultures; information related to the issues of pressing concern to Indigenous peoples and their communities today; as well as curricula for teachers to incorporate this into teaching practice.
All of the resources on the Deepening Knowledge website are organized by grade, subject, and theme. Please browse our site using the menus at the top and to the left of this page to find lessons and links to help support your classroom learning. These resources provide ideas, lesson templates, and links to books, films, and music to bring Indigenous perspectives, knowledges, and stories into your classroom. We encourage you to use them with other resources and determine what is appropriate for your class. [From Website]

This project is the culmination of work done over the past two and a half years by 13 members of OSSTF/FEESO, most of whom are First Nation or Métis, or work extensively with Aboriginal students.

The lessons are designed to be implemented in a range of courses, such as civics, history, social sciences, English, geography, business, careers, physical education and science. The resource has been produced as a PDF file on CD with an accompanying video on DVD. Although the lessons are intended for use with high school curricula, the video and activity sheet may be of use to all Federation members who work with students. [From Website]

The term “learning styles” refers to the concept that individuals differ in regard to what mode of instruction or study is most effective for them. Proponents of learning-style assessment contend that optimal instruction requires diagnosing individuals' learning style and tailoring instruction accordingly. Assessments of learning style typically ask people to evaluate what sort of information presentation they prefer (e.g., words versus pictures versus speech) and/or what kind of mental activity they find most engaging or congenial (e.g., analysis versus listening), although assessment instruments are extremely diverse. The most common—but not the only—hypothesis about the instructional relevance of learning styles is the meshing hypothesis, according to which instruction is best provided in a format that matches the preferences of the learner (e.g., for a “visual learner,” emphasizing visual presentation of information). The learning-styles view has acquired great influence within the education field, and is frequently encountered at levels ranging from kindergarten to graduate school. There is a thriving industry devoted to publishing learning-styles tests and guidebooks for teachers, and many organizations offer professional development workshops for teachers and educators built around the concept of learning styles. The authors of the present review were charged with determining whether these practices are supported by scientific evidence. We concluded that any credible validation of learning-styles-based instruction requires robust documentation of a very particular type of experimental finding with several necessary criteria. First, students must be divided into groups on the basis of their learning styles, and then students from each group must be randomly assigned to receive one of multiple instructional methods. Next, students must then sit for a final test that is the same for all students. Finally, in order to demonstrate that optimal learning requires that students receive instruction tailored to their putative learning style, the experiment must reveal a specific type of interaction between learning style and instructional method: Students with one learning style achieve the best educational outcome when given an instructional method that differs from the instructional method producing the best outcome for students with a different learning style. In other words, the instructional method that proves most effective for students with one learning style is not the most effective method for students with a different learning style. Our review of the literature disclosed ample evidence that children and adults will, if asked, express preferences about how they prefer information to be presented to them. There is also plentiful evidence arguing that people differ in the degree to which they have some fairly specific aptitudes for different kinds of thinking and for processing different types of information. However, we found virtually no evidence for the interaction pattern mentioned above, which was judged to be a precondition for validating the educational applications of learning styles. Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis. We conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice. Thus, limited education resources would better be devoted to adopting other educational practices that have a strong evidence base, of which there are an increasing number. [From Author]

The historical and ongoing struggles for Indigenous communities in settler-designed school systems across what is now named the United States call for radical educational reform that includes a decolonized curriculum model for Indigenous children. These efforts must first acknowledge that Indigenous education existed prior to European contact and that settler-designed schools were and are detrimental to the well-being of Indigenous children and communities. Radical reform efforts must also recognize the continued systemic racism ingrained in school structures that privilege the dominant, whitestream communities and disadvantage communities of color, including Indigenous communities. [From Author]

As Indigenous educators who share a passion for innovative approaches using instructional media, we are inspired to explore the ways in which technology can
support teaching and learning from Indigenous perspectives. Several scholars advocate the use of technology in reclamation of First Peoples’ voices, stories and other ways of knowing (Ginsburg, 2000; Iseke-Barnes, 2002; Dyson, Hendriks & Grant, 2007). Reflecting social constructionism, we believe media can be designed to build educator capacity within these special interest areas. By highlighting work that is currently underway within Indigenous education, we invite readers to imagine their own possibilities for transformative and decolonizing pedagogy. [From Author]

A Back Pocket Reconciliation Action Plan is a starting point for individuals to think about how to make reconciliation part of their lives. These cards are designed to be portable and shareable.

At age 30, John Reilly was the youngest Provincial Court Judge ever appointed in Alberta. He presided over courts in Canmore, Banff, and Cochrane, and it was in Cochrane that he had his eyes opened to the inequities faced by aboriginal people in our justice system.

Last year, he wrote Bad Medicine: A Judge's Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community, which chronicles the change in his worldview that came from trying to understand the aboriginal people. In this moving talk, he shares stories of how he came to have a deeper understanding of what real justice is beyond simple punishment and deterrence. [From YouTube]

This report has been prepared for and commissioned by the Association of BC Deans of Education (ABCDE), First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC), and the Indigenous Adult Higher Learning Association (IAHLA), referred to as the ABCDE-FNESC-IAHLA Working Group. The ABCDE-FNESC-IAHLA Working Group identifies increasing the number of professionally certificated teachers who are of Aboriginal ancestry as a top priority. From the “Report on the Aboriginal Student Retention and Recruitment in Education Symposium” (Hare, 2018), increasing the number of Indigenous educators is highlighted as crucial for Indigenous student success for a number of reasons, including Indigenous educators serving as role models and having more familiarity with Indigenous students’ cultures, languages, worldviews and learning needs. Therefore, with the ultimate goal of contributing to Indigenous student success, via increasing the number of Indigenous teachers, Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule and the research team were commissioned with the task of documenting the various strategies that different TEP’s employ internationally and in other Canadian provinces and territories to recruit and/or retain Indigenous teacher candidates, and/or support them in their roles as teachers following graduation. [From Author]
Click on the view in Zotero link to download the attachment.

UFV library's libguide to various items in our collection about Indigenous matters as well as Weaving Knowledge Systems Resource Materials.

This is a joint work between my Mom and I. It begins with a story passed down to my Mom about my grandfather's experience at an Indian Residential School. My Mom asks me questions about the story and I respond, learning more as we talk. We ended up writing back and forth to one another over a few days to complete this. I found it very important and educational to write about. We share this story fully acknowledging it is only one story, and it is shared with the intent for learning. I have heard many people say Residential Schools happened a long time ago. My mom started to share this story several years ago with primarily non-Indigenous social work students to demonstrate how Residential School and the Sixties Scoop impacted the five generations she speaks of in the story. My brother's first day of school became a much bigger moment for her and my Mushum. We share this story with deep respect for all the families who were impacted by Residential Schools and the Sixties Scoop. We stand with you and support all of your voices and recognize many of you have lost far more than we have. For all our non-Indigenous family and friends, we share this with respect for you as well, and to foster better understanding and as a step towards reconciliation. This is our truth. [From Author]

Although teacher education programs across the country are currently under significant review and reform, little attention is paid to the importance of Indigenous principles that could inform or transform them. Attention to Indigenous principles such as those presented in this paper can, we believe, serve to decolonize teacher education, offering programs that enable greater success for a wider array of diverse students, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and address their needs and interests. The intent of this paper is to draw attention to the ways Indigenous principles offered by Lil’wat scholar Lorna Williams have influenced one teacher education program, and to share some of the ways that these principles have been enacted within the program. We offer our perspectives as narrative accounts of what we have done in our courses and in our teacher education program that reflect the principles explained in the paper. We do not feel we can express this perspective any different other than to recount shifts made and our observations as educators. These could be expressed as case studies but this would only be paying lip service to claiming a methodology that was not really followed. We offer this paper more as a sharing of narratives drawn to the indigenous principles. Authenticity comes from our common perceptions from different perspectives in the program. [From Author]

This paper explores how a dominant Western ontology rooted in white masculinity and coloniality is embedded in the systems and structures of professional helping in Canada. With a critical, post-colonial feminist analysis, this paper locates Canada’s colonial history as fundamental to ongoing policies and practices in the human services and child and youth care (CYC). The implications of coloniality for CYC suggest that as practitioners we might consciously engage in deconstructing the theories, structures, and values that shape how we practice. Cartographies can assist us in reflexive and deconstructive endeavours. As one maps out the parameters and identifies the existing horizons, one might begin to envision how to then move beyond them. In examining the hegemony of professional helping, the intention is an invitation to work collectively toward models that foreground the social context of problems faced by individuals as well as creative, collective responses. Strategies of an engaged solidarity and a model of socially just, decolonizing praxis offer potential sites for affirmative and transformative social change. [From Author]

The history of the relationship between child welfare agencies in Canada and First Nations has been fraught with pain, and the removal of children from their families and communities is often described as an attempted cultural genocide. The realities of colonization, residential schools, and the "60s scoop" have created a legacy of pain and distrust which can be difficult for today's Native child welfare services to address. Nog-da-win-da-min Family and Community Services (NFCS) is an Anishinaabe agency that decided to consult with its seven member communities in order to obtain their input about future service development, but, with this legacy, were unsure how to engage the communities in meaningful dialogue. As such, they partnered with a team of researchers at NORDIK Institute to design and carry out a community-based consultation. This article explores the collaborative process of creating and tailoring a consultation method to be an empowering and positive experience for participants, to be conducted within safe and accessible spaces throughout the communities. This required a thoughtful process development, which respected participants' knowledge and experiences (local knowledge), accommodated intergenerational trauma with sensitivity, and that employed Indigenous language and concepts (such as the Medicine Wheel) to guide the process. This article outlines some key learnings for others undertaking similar dialogues and consultations. [From Author]

This study focuses on the incorporation of Aboriginal content and pedagogy into senior level academic secondary school courses with students of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal ancestry within the English First Peoples curriculum. The results reveal the positive relationship between Indigenous approaches, student engagement, and academic performance as well as challenges and tensions resulting from the merging of diverse educational perspectives. Both theoretical support for the use of Indigenous pedagogy as well as practical classroom examples are described. These findings have the potential to support educators as we move towards increased collective understanding of the necessity of the acknowledgement of Indigenous culture and perspectives both within our public education system and society as a whole. [From Author]

Launched by healthcare providers in January 2018, the #aHand2Hold campaign confronted the Quebec government's practice of separating children from their families during medical evacuation airlifts, which disproportionately affected remote and northern Indigenous communities. Pediatric emergency physician Samir Shaheen-Hussain's captivating narrative of this successful campaign, which garnered unprecedented public attention and media coverage, seeks to answer lingering questions about why such a cruel practice remained in place for so long. In doing so it serves as an indispensible case study of contemporary medical colonialism in Quebec. Fighting for A Hand to Hold exposes the medical establishment's role in the displacement, colonization, and genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Through meticulously gathered government documentation, historical scholarship, media reports, public inquiries, and personal testimonies, Shaheen-Hussain connects the draconian medevac practice with often-disregarded crimes and medical violence inflicted specifically on Indigenous children. This devastating history and ongoing medical colonialism prevent Indigenous communities from attaining internationally recognized measures of health and social well-being because of the pervasive, systemic anti-Indigenous racism that persists in the Canadian public health care system--and in settler society at large. Shaheen-Hussain's unique perspective combines his experience as a frontline pediatrician with his long-standing involvement in anti-authoritarian social justice movements. Sparked by the indifference and callousness of those in power, this book draws on the innovative work of Indigenous scholars and activists to conclude that a broader decolonization struggle calling for reparations, land reclamation, and self-determination for Indigenous peoples is critical to achieve reconciliation in Canada. [From Publisher]

Of the 94 Calls to Action within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Final Report, almost one-fifth focused on matters of education. This represents a strong belief that formal teaching and learning can positively impact the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. However, there is no established framework for such education. Reflecting on the report and drawing on critical pedagogy scholarship, I work towards a better understanding of the necessary pedagogy required for education for reconciliation. Recognizing the ways in which the work of “reconciliation” is situated in particular cultural, historical, and social realities, I outline an approach to education for reconciliation that is attentive to the Canadian context. Drawing on both critical pedagogy and Indigenous knowledges, this framework attempts to honour the TRC Final Report, offering an approach that is both pointedly critical and deeply relational. [From Author]

"Sorting Libraries Out" is an opportunity for continued conversations for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people around Indigenous information practices and metadata for physical and digital collections. SFU Harbour Centre, March 11, 2019 – March 13, 2019

Aboriginal social work is a relatively new field in the human services, emerging out of the Aboriginal social movement of the 1970s and evolving in response to the need for social work that is sociologically relevant to Aboriginal people. Aboriginal social work education incorporates Aboriginal history and is premised upon traditional sacred epistemology in order to train both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social workers who can understand and meet the needs of Aboriginal people. The deficiencies of contemporary cross-cultural approaches and anti-oppressive social work education are highlighted as a means to emphasize the importance of social work education premised upon relevant history and worldview. The values and responsibilities that derive from Aboriginal worldview as the foundation for Aboriginal social work education are discussed in terms of the tasks that are implied for the educator and student of Aboriginal social work. Such tasks include self-healing, decolonization, role modelling, developing critical consciousness, and social and political advocacy. Aboriginal social work education, a decolonizing pedagogy directed to mitigating and redressing the harm of colonization at the practice level, is a contemporary cultural imperative. [From Author]

"How We Go Home: Voices of Indigenous North America shares contemporary first-person stories in the long and ongoing fight to protect Native land, rights, and life. ear from: Jasilyn Charger, who kickstarted a movement of Water Protectors at Standing Rock that roused the world; Gladys Radek, whose niece's disappearance led her to become a family advocate for Canada's National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; Ervin Chartrand, whose early experiences in the carceral system inform his documentaries on the overrepresentation of Indigenous people within the prison system today; Marian Naranjo, who led Santa Clara and nearby pueblos to document the environmental and cultural consequences of living next door to Los Alamos National Laboratory; and eight others. [From Publisher]

The “Sixties Scoop” describes a period in Aboriginal history in Canada in which thousands of Aboriginal children were removed from birth families and placed in non-Aboriginal environments. Despite literature that indicates adoption breakdown rates of 85-95%, recent research with adults adopted as children indicates that some adoptees have found solace through reacculturating to their birth culture and contextualizing their adoptions within colonial history. This article explores the history of Aboriginal adoption in Canada and examines some of the issues of transracial adoption through the lens of psychology theories to aid understanding of identity conflicts facing Aboriginal adoptees. The article concludes with recommendations towards a paradigm shift in adoption policy as it pertains to Aboriginal children. [From Author]

A virtual exhibit about the Sq’éwlets First Nation introducing main concepts in Halq’eméylem including sxwōxwiyám and sqwélqwel and the importance of the sturgeon to their heritage. [From Website]

Recently I was invited to join a provincial discussion about the high school social science curriculum. One area of contention was whether all students should be required to take a course that would combine and integrate social studies, history, and native studies. Aware that integration of native studies content into existing courses could easily result in the erasure of native studies, I suggested, at that provincial meeting, that all students should take such a course if its starting point and continued foundation was native studies. One participant, in response to this suggestion, stated, “Aboriginal people are not the only people here.” [From Author]

A large collection profiles, key indicators of various topics including education, health, language, income and more.

Indigenous peoples is a term used in Canada to describe three distinct cultural groups: First Nations (status and non-status Indians), Métis, and Inuit. There are approximately 1.4 million Indigenous people in Canada, representing about 4% of the country’s total population (Statistics Canada, 2009). Over 40% are under age 24, and 28% are under 14 (Statistics Canada, 2013). The Indigenous population has become highly urbanized. Since the 1970s, there has been a large migration of Indigenous peoples from rural areas and reserves to cities. More than 600,000—54% of the total Indigenous population—live in cities—and the numbers continue to grow (Statistics Canada, 2009). Urbanized Indigenous youth are the largest and fastest growing youth demographic in the country (Statistics Canada, 2013). [From Author]

The Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre is a group of highly experienced professionals with many years experience working within the Stó:lō community. We provide professional service with an understanding of, and respect for, Stó:lō protocols.
We maintain strong research ties to local universities and consulting firms. We offer high quality services that are both culturally and scientifically sound. [From Website]

A detailed map of the Stó:lō peoples. Click on view in Zotero to download attachment.

The Stó:lō Nation is the political amalgamation of eleven Stó:lō communities. The Stó:lō Service Agency (SSA) is the service delivery arm of Stó:lō Nation. SSA provides services to the Stó:lō and Aboriginal communities throughout S'olh Temexw.

S'olh Temexw is the traditional territory of the Stó:lō people. According to our swxoxwiyam, we have lived here since time immemorial. The Stó:lō traditional territory extends from Yale to Langley, BC. [From Website]

This article seeks to contribute to the knowledge base regarding efforts to increase the supply of employed Indigenous teachers. In addition to supporting the learning and well-being of Indigenous students, increasing Indigenous teachers is critical for remote Indigenous communities with chronically understaffed schools. This study was conducted as a scoping review of 50 Teacher Education Programs (TEPs) across Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that have enacted efforts to increase Indigenous teachers. The study found a range of effective strategies, and this article will depict three strategies that can be enacted by TEPs to support Indigenous teacher graduates as they transition to employment. The strategies are: (1) creating employment opportunities, (2) identifying community needs and collaborating over practicum placements, and (3) providing ongoing support. The article concludes with a call for collaboration, funding, and data collection for the continued evaluation and improvement of strategies to increase Indigenous teachers. [From Author]

In late 2015, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, the Executive Summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) final report, was released. In response, the Canadian Association of Social Workers pledged to move Canada forward from recognition of truth, to reconciliation, acknowledging this with the statement: “the profession of social work recognizes the very specific role and responsibility it has in supporting the implementation of the TRC recommendations with emphasis on those specific to Child Welfare.” The BC Association of Social Workers (BCASW) also announced its support for the 94 Calls to Action in the report, and it is now up to us to take meaningful action as the agents of change. [From Author]

Ara Irititja exemplifies how Indigenous ontologies are reshaping the technologies of information and cultural heritage management. A project that began in 1994 with the digital repatriation of photographs, oral histories, film recordings, and documents to remote communities in Central Australia, Ara Irititja is transitioning from an object-based FileMaker Pro database into a multimedia knowledge management system. In this article, I build on two years of anthropological fieldwork to interrogate three tools of knowledge preservation and transmission often taken for granted and/or presumed neutral — databases, archives, and the Internet—to argue that they can and must be actively re-worked as contemporary Aboriginal people imagine, produce, and safeguard their own cultural futures. [From Author]

In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action. [From Author]

Report published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada that deals with the history and purpose of the residential school system, its effects, and its ongoing legacy.

Our goal in this article is to remind readers what is unsettling about decolonization. Decolonization brings about the repatriation of Indigenous land and life; it is not a metaphor for other things we want to do to improve our societies and schools. The easy adoption of decolonizing discourse by educational advocacy and scholarship, evidenced by the increasing number of calls to “decolonize our schools,” or use “decolonizing methods,” or, “decolonize student thinking”, turns decolonization into a metaphor. As important as their goals may be, social justice, critical methodologies, or approaches that decenter settler perspectives have objectives that may be incommensurable with decolonization. Because settler colonialism is built upon an entangled triad structure of settler-native-slave, the decolonial desires of white, non-white, immigrant, postcolonial, and oppressed people, can similarly be entangled in resettlement, reoccupation, and reinhabitation that actually further settler colonialism. The metaphorization of decolonization makes possible a set of evasions, or “settler moves to innocence”, that problematically attempt to reconcile settler guilt and complicity, and rescue settler futurity. In this article, we analyze multiple settler moves towards innocence in order to forward “an ethic of incommensurability” that recognizes what is distinct and what is sovereign for project(s) of decolonization in relation to human and civil rights based social justice projects. We also point to unsettling themes within transnational/Third World decolonizations, abolition, and critical space-place pedagogies, which challenge the coalescence of social justice endeavors, making room for more meaningful potential alliances. [From Author]

On January 1, 2020, new federal legislation came into effect for all provinces and territories in Canada to create a “comprehensive reform of child and family services that are provided in relation to Indigenous children.” This paper is a primer on the new legislation, aimed at those working with First Nations children, youth, families, communities and First Nations governments. [From Website]

The intent is to provide a more accurate representation of First Nations in British Columbia. Boundaries shown are language areas and not an authoritative depiction of tribal territories. The names listed are the ones First peoples prefer to call themselves. Terms and spellings do not reflect all dialects or names used by First Nations living within the illustrated regions.

The JISD is dedicated to improving practice and expanding knowledge relevant to indigenous peoples’ social, cultural economic, and environmental wellbeing worldwide. The mission of JISD is to advance knowledge and understanding of:

-Indigenous peoples’ efforts to preserve, defend, and promote their life ways, knowledges, and values;
-Social development, as processes of resurgence, and/or social change, that improves individual, family, community, and cultural wellbeing so that all involved are supported to reach their full potential;
-Effective and promising social support and development practices (traditional and contemporary) with individuals, families, communities, and/or societies that create sustainability options in a changing world;
-How qualitative changes in the structures and frameworks of societies can improve Indigenous wellbeing of individuals, families, communities, and/or societies;
-Critical analyses of social barriers, challenges, and oppressions, and the progressive alternatives that support Indigenous peoples, families, and individuals facing these barriers, challenges, and oppressions; and
-Research, particularly research based in Indigenous methodologies, that supports the social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing of Indigenous peoples and which may come from a range of bases, including science, business, the arts, health care, education, policy, technology, and government. [From Website]

The I-Portal: Indigenous Studies Portal was launched in 2006 at the University of Saskatchewan as a tool for faculty, students, researchers, and members of the community to access digital Indigenous studies resources. Its primary focus is on Indigenous peoples of Canada with a secondary focus on Indigenous peoples of the United States, Australia, Aotearoa – New Zealand, and other areas of the world.

The I-Portal contains full-text electronic resources including articles, e-books, theses, government publications, videos, oral histories, reports, and digitized archival documents and photographs. As of 2022, the I-Portal had over 71,000 records and new content is added on a continuing basis.

The collection is developed through a variety of approaches, including:
1) Articles published in a core list of journals.
2) Resources identified in the reference lists of other publications such as articles, grey literature, books, and theses.
3) Resources suggested by scholars in the area.
4) Focused searches on areas of contemporary interest
[From Website]

Indigenous Affairs provides support and guidance as the University of the Fraser Valley develops and implement its Indigenization strategy. [From Website]

Online resources for K - 7 social studies curriculum including local Sto:lo resources.

This article uses a Medicine Wheel model, a structural social work framework and an anti-oppression stance, to practice culturally sensitive social work with Aboriginal peoples. The Medicine Wheel model is appropriate when working with many Aboriginal peoples because it considers spirituality important to healing. Using the Medicine Wheel guides the social worker to holistic, balanced practice. The recommendation of respectful social work practice tailored to the treatment of the client’s belief systems encourages healthy identity development. The Medicine Wheel model is used as an analytic tool used to illustrate the client’s states of being, location, and analyze various roles of, and form action plans for, social work practice. [From Author]

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) issued ninety-four calls to action – policy and program recommendations created to promote the reconciliation of Indigenous and settler societies in Canada. Although a small number of these are specifically aimed at Canadian museums and archives, many of the calls indirectly affect the work that archivists do. One thing is clear from reading the calls to action: they are about people. Although each call addresses an area of weakness in policy or common practice, the outcomes are intended to benefit people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. [From Author]

Abstract

Objectives
In Canada, and elsewhere, indigenous peoples who use illicit drugs and/or alcohol (IPWUID/A) commonly experience vulnerability and a disproportionate burden of harm related to substance use. In Vancouver, Canada, there are concerns that inequitable access, retention, and post treatment care within substance use treatment programs may exacerbate these harms. This study sought to understand the policies and practices with the potential to produce inequities and vulnerabilities for IPWUID/A in substance use treatment, situate the vulnerabilities of IPWUID/A in substance use treatment within the context of wider structural vulnerability of IPWUID/A, and generate recommendations for culturally safe treatment options.


Methods
This research employed a qualitative indigenous-led community-based approach using the indigenous methodology of talking circles to explore experiences with substance use treatment. Under the participatory research framework, community researchers led the study design, data collection, and analysis. Talking circles elicited peers’ experiences of substance use treatment and were audio-recorded and transcribed.


Results
The talking circles identified three key themes that illustrated the experiences of IPWUID/A when accessing substance use treatment: (a) barriers to accessing detox and substance use treatment; (b) incompatible and culturally inappropriate structure, policies, and procedures within treatment programs, such as forced Christianity within treatment settings; and (c) the importance of culturally relevant, peer-led substance use treatment programming.


Discussion
Our work demonstrates that some IPWUID/A have limited access to or retention in mainstream treatment due to excessive waiting times, strict rules, and lack of cultural appropriate care while in treatment. However, IPWUID/A narratives revealed strategies that can improve IPWUID/A access and experiences, including those informed by the diverse perspectives of IPWUID/A and those that include trauma-informed and culturally safe practices. [From Author]

As a way to implicate ourselves in the politics of teaching child and youth care, we write as witnesses of the world and, in so doing, we make risky attachments by exploring a politically engaged child and youth care education that does not promote insurance, control or detachment. Rather, in this paper we critically locate child and youth care education within the political and economic realities of today’s world. We grapple with the complexities of educating child and youth care practitioners deeply embedded in neoliberal capitalism and settler colonialism, and explore the conceptual shifts that we are experimenting with in our own teaching practices to engage in human service work that responds with care to individual and family need and suffering by engaging with the very structures that perpetuate harm and violence in our society. [From Author]

Marvin Williams of the Babine Nation talks about his hunts though archives to find Colonial proof for Indigenous land claims.

The title of this article is from the Líl̓wat language. In this language, there are various ways to speak about knowing. “Zwaten’ ” describes what a person knows, and the closest word that could be translated as “knowledge” is “emham,” meaning “to be skilled at doing something or to be good at something.” “A7xa7” is the state of wholistic knowing, knowing after a lifetime of training, practice, and study. Like most Indigenous languages, the Líl̓wat language focuses on the process, on the action, not on the object (Battiste, 27). How do we become “emham” or “zwaten” or “a7xa7”? For each individual, it is a process from before birth and continues throughout life. When asked to define the term “Indigenous knowledge,” it is a struggle because of the disruption of the languages and lives of Indigenous peoples due to colonization and the need to discuss the term using another language and worldview. The knowledge of Indigenous peoples is of value today as Indigenous peoples rebuild their lives after near annihilation. All people can learn from this knowledge. [From Author]

Finding ways to validate and encourage traditional Aboriginal values and customs into modern western (whitestream(f.1)) educational practices must become a priority for teachers who work with Aboriginal students. Circle work, sometimes referred to as "talking circles" (Four Worlds Development Project 1985) is one of many customs that can be adapted for classroom use, parenting (Bruyere 1984), healing (Hampton et al. 1995), and culturally relevant sentencing and justice treatment programs (Ross 1996). While serving as a useful tool for behaviour modelling and classroom management, the circle embraces and teaches the traditional values of respect, care, and noninterference (Ross 1992). [From Author]

Xwi7xwa Library is a centre for academic and community Indigenous scholarship. Its collections and services reflect Aboriginal approaches to teaching, learning, and research. Everyone is welcome to visit Xwi7xwa Library. [From Website]

I work with Tribal and Indigenous Peoples to bring mindfulness and neurodecolonization approaches to these communities for the purposes of healing and improving wellness. I use neuroscience research to examine how mindfulness approaches and traditional Indigenous contemplative practices can train the mind and positively change the structure and function of the brain. I study how experiences and perceptions change the brain (neuroplasticity); shape our DNA and affect the expression of our genes; activate different brain regions, change our brain waves, and shape specialized brain cells such as mirror neurons; and alter our neurotransmitters and modulators. I use my work as a means of translating the neuroscience of mindfulness and neurodecolonization to Tribal and Indigenous communities so they can understand why and how mindfulness and Indigenous contemplative practices work. [From Website]

In order for decolonization to be successful it must begin in our minds. Creative, healthy, decolonized thinking, actions and feelings positively shape and empower important neural circuits in our brain, which, in turn, provide us with the personal resources, strengths, talents and abilities we need to overcome and transform the oppressions of colonialism. On the one hand, a healthy, well-balanced mind and brain are essential to helping one to engage in proactive, creative and successful decolonization activities and, on the other, unconstructive, negative thinking, feelings and behaviours dampen and short-circuit our brain’s creativity and optimism networks and increase our susceptibility to the many stresses that arise in everyday life. The customary stressors, especially for Indigenous Peoples, are exacerbated by the additional trauma of colonialism. [From Author]

The mission of social work is to help people meet their basic needs and enhance their well-being. Through a strong empowerment orientation, the profession can aid people vulnerable to oppression as a result of racism, discrimination, and poverty. Social work can be a powerful force in advancing the practice of Indigenous education. Social workers and educators working together can use empowerment-oriented strategies to enable Indigenous people to influence educational decisions and practices that affect their lives. These strategies include building strong collaborative relationships with parents, teachers, students, and school administrators to increase their personal and political power; moving away from models that blame the student, family, or culture for Indigenous students' low academic achievement, high dropout rates, and nonconforming behavior; and overcoming oppressive structural aspects of school and community life that create disappointing outcomes for Indigenous children. Social workers and educators must acknowledge their professions' role in the painful legacy of boarding schools and mass removal of Indigenous children from their homes. Honest and meaningful dialogues with Indigenous peoples on this subject will promote respect for and validation of their narratives, survival, and experiences. Social workers can advance Indigenous education by assuming various roles: human services broker, teacher, counselor, staff developer, and social change agent. Social workers can use their understanding of social policy to analyze social problems and programs relevant to First Nations communities, and students of social work with field practicum experience in Indigenous communities can bring important cultural knowledge and understanding to schools. [From Author]

Dismantling systemic racism and white supremacy culture, so prevalent in our society, requires more than thoughtful commitment. While practicing mindfulness has shown promise in reducing implicit bias and stereotyping (Lueke & Gibson, 2016), sustained activism and intentional decolonization practices are needed for impactful and meaningful change. This article offers an introduction and context to decolonized mindfulness, perspectives on the importance of taking on this work, and how early childhood professionals can begin to engage in activist mindfulness practices. [From Author]

Archives
The Agassiz-Harrison Museum archives contains photographs, newspapers, subject files, biography files, maps, documents and manuscripts from people and organizations within the Agassiz-Harrison Valley.

Newspaper Collection
The archives contain an extensive collection of newspapers dating from 1923 to present. This includes copies of the Agassiz Record (1923-1924), The Agassiz Advance (1930-1999), The Agassiz-Harrison Observer (1990-Present), and The Voice (2005-2006). [From Website]

Archival holdings include subject and biography files, local history books, photographs and other media, family histories, city records, oral histories, artwork, and maps. Keyword searchable digital files of the Chilliwack Progress are available from 1891-1892, 1894- April 1983, microfilm from 1891-1.

Originally founded as the Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford (MSA) Museum Society, the Society recently voted to rebrand as Heritage Abbotsford Society in April 2017.

Heritage Abbotsford Society leads various programs and activities aimed to engage and promote the City’s history and heritage to visitors and local residents of all ages, including the young and the young at heart. [From Website]

Access in the Archives to:
Reference clippings files:
buildings and places
businesses/industries
events
family histories
landscapes (cemeteries, parks, etc.)
local issues/concerns
neighbourhoods
obituaries
organizations

Microfilm of historic and local newspapers, including:
The British Columbian, 1860-1869; 1890-1931
The Columbian, 1899-1919
The Valley Sentinel, March – May 1921
The Langley Advance, 1931-1996
The Aldergrove Star, 1974-1995 [From Website]

Our goal is to make access to our collections easy for you, regardless of your location. You can do a lot of research from home using our online resources. These resources were developed to help you locate descriptions, access digitized records, and understand how to conduct archival research. Read below to learn more about the resources we have available online. [From Website]