Thanks to everyone who has stuck with the bookclub this far!
The next section looks at the loss of languages as well as Stephen Harper's apology for the grave mistreatment of First Nation, Metis and Inuit children in residential schools.
Here are some discussion questions for this section. If there is anything else you would like to discuss, feel free.
Language
1. How do you think the loss of language affected indigenous people today?
Official apology vs G20 meeting quote
Compare the official apology given by Stephen Harper with the quote from his speech at the G20 meeting. Do these two statements align? What message did Stephen Harper send not only to the Indigenous Peoples but also Canada as a whole?
Canada celebrates women’s sufferege and the fact that women got the right to vote in 1917. The Government of Canada denied “Indians” the right to vote in Canada until 1960. Reflect on what you learned in history class, or perhaps have taught in your school. How will this affect your practice in your classroom?
I feel that the loss of language is significant because it is probably the most difficult piece of the culture to gain back. With so many fewer people able to speak the language, only a few words can be passed on to the next generation without a great deal of time and effort to learn to actually speak and use the language again. It is fairly simple to learn the odd word or two to add into usage, but to be able to learn to speak whole conversations in a lost language would take years of study and the need to be able to converse with others to make it natural and become second nature. In some cases, these languages may be gone forever.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to read Stephen Harper's comments at the G20 meeting. This must have felt like a slap in the face to Indigenous People that had been given an apology, seeming like merely lip service to appease a group of people. The intent of the apology was to start building the bridge to reconciliation and with one off handed comment he was able to tear down those bridges.
I feel as teachers we need to provide our students with a better understanding of the facts and dates, such as for voting, which allows for valuable discussion in the classroom to examine "fairness" and the critical thinking of how we need to examine the whole picture with all the details, such as women being allowed to vote in 1917 and one therefore assumes all women, but it did not include Indigenous people and therefore not Indigenous women. It is important for us as educators to ensure our students do not assume the facts, but investigate them.
Their is an interrelationship that exists between language and identity. Not only does language express identity but it also constructs identity. If a language is lost then identity is fractured. Language and identity are so closely interwoven that the words carry ideological meaning. When a language is recovered the ideology can be lost or new meaning is assigned to it as ancient memory has been disconnected from the words. Words and language create or establish meaning. A cultural death of sorts or a loss of direction can occur when a culture loses its words (their meaning).
ReplyDeleteThe Indigenous people would have suffered an irreplaceable loss to their understanding of self and culture when their languages were lost.
Should be There is an....
ReplyDeleteThe loss of language affects the entire country as its part of a culture being lost. Especially as many of our communities are rapidly losing time to regain the language due to an aging population. I think Delaware nation has one or two speakers left trying to teach others the language. That is a huge task!
ReplyDeleteAs much of the First Nations culture and history was learned orally, it’s even more maddening knowing the government knew what they were doing and set out to erase the history of First Nations peoples.
Harpers message just proved he was ticking a box by apologizing. He clearly did not recognize or understand colonization or simply didn’t care.
The right to vote has allowed me to use clearer timelines with students. When discussing social justice and showing students these timeline differences is surprising to them. It has made me think different,y about the policies and politics of the government both in the past and present.
Language
ReplyDeleteI think language plays a key part of our identity and can affect how you view elements of your life. This thinking and idea reminds me of the power of language from a Ted talk that I recently listened to in which the cognitive scientist, Lea Boroditsky speaks of her research and her findings suggest that language can shape the way we think and the tragedy of losing many of the world’s languages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKK7wGAYP6k
Official apology vs G20 meeting quote
The two statements that Stephen Harper made contradict one another. In his apology it seems as though he is being honest in the actions the country has done against Indigenous people and is taking a step forward towards reconciliation but then his words become fake and empty as he states the country has no “history of colonialism” .