The keynote presentation by Niigaan Sinclair was the first presentation I watched in the context of a non-instructional day in a school setting. It was interesting to hear Niigaan speak and share his journey of how he got to where he is today. I appreciated how Niigaan Sinclair shared his experience as a grade 9 drama teacher and the ways in which he used his position as a teacher to learn about a new culture with the students. With the school being next to a synagogue, there are lots of Jewish students who attend. The play that they put on, Fiddler on the Roof, misrepresented Jewish culture so the students let Niigan know. There are lots of cultures around the world that are misrepresented including Indigenous cultures. Instead of letting it go and doing the play as is, Niigaan learned as much as he could about the culture while putting the students in a position to teach.
Niigaan Sinclair discussed the importance of incorporating Indigenous education into schools and people’s lives. There are so many things that Indigenous peoples practice and know that others do not and it would be beneficial to the students to learn through Indigenous education. For example, Niigaan talked about democracy and healthcare being two things Indigenous peoples invented. Most people probably do not know that because the two systems got taken over by colonialism. Indigenous peoples operate with democracy being a circle and healthcare means they feed the Elders first among other things.
Niigaan Sinclair used the analogy of building a fire during his talk. If they build a fire with a lighter and grass it will take hours to start. Once the fire is started, they also have to keep it going. Niigaan compared making the fire to raising children which was an interesting way of looking at it. Raising children includes teaching them about different cultures and letting them get to know their roots. Canadians only have a few roots and that is something I had not considered before.
We need to build the fire.
