National Truth and Reconciliation Day

Treaty 2 Territory 

I have been asked to present to K-12 students in a public school that sits in Treaty 2 Territory.  It has been a long time since I have worked with younger students.  

As I began to do my planning, it was important to have a clear vision of what I wanted students to feel, how I wanted them to move forward with what they have learned into their future.  

For the K-4 students we will be exploring the concepts of identity and courage.  

The 5-8 students will focus on citizenship and personal identity within a community; and the 9-12 students will see the residential school intergenerational impact through the perspective of the niece of a survivor.  

It was also important for me to link the content and activities to concepts and competencies of the curricular outcomes of the grade levels.  

The resources that I will be using are:  

Kindergarten to Grade 4:

School is starting in the forest, but Chester Raccoon does not want to go. To help ease Chester’s fears, Mrs. Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to give him the reassurance of her love any time his world feels a little scary. Since its first publication in 1993, this heartwarming book has become a children’s classic that has touched the lives of millions of children and their parents, especially at times of separation, whether starting school, entering daycare, or going to camp. It is widely used by kindergarten teachers on the first day of school.  

Life is changing for Canada’s Anishnaabe Nation and for the wolf packs that share their territory. In the late 1800s, both Native people and wolves are being forced from the land. Starving and lonely, an orphaned timber wolf is befriended by a boy named Red Wolf. But under the Indian Act, Red Wolf is forced to attend a residential school far from the life he knows, and the wolf is alone once more. Courage, love and fate reunite the pair, and they embark on a perilous journey home. But with winter closing in, will Red Wolf and Crooked Ear survive? And if they do, what will they find? 

With a pandemic threatening to take our elders, Sarain Fox gathers stories from her auntie and matriarch, Mary Bell, who holds the family’s history: the legacy, the trauma, the truth.

Valerie McInnes

Zoongi Gaabawa Keetahbih Mukwa (Strong Standing Circling Bear)

Lifelong Learning Bundle Holder