Truth, Reconciliation, and Awāsisīwiwin
- Katie Daman
- Sep 30
- 6 min read
ᑕᐦᑐ ᐊᐋᐧᓯᐢ ᐃᐢᐱᐦᑌᔨᐦᑖᑯᓯᐤ [1]
This is the text on my Orange Shirt. A child asked me what it said yesterday at Forest Nursery, and I replied it says "Every Child Matters in Cree Syllabics, an Indigenous language from this land. "But how do you say it," he insisted. I repeated, "Every Child Matters". And again, he says, "No, not in English, it's another language." It was then I realized he was asking me how to say it in Cree, and I was humbled once again, to be reminded that the children are my teachers as much or more than I am theirs.
tahto (tah to) “each/every”
awāsis (a waa sis) “a child”
ispihtēyihtākosiw (iss pih teeh taa ko soo) “matters”
Today is National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC). This week at Forest Nursery, we read When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson and My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith, both illustrated by Julie Flett. It’s important to us that children know the stories and impacts of colonization in developmentally appropriate ways, while also helping grow their gratitude and awareness about what makes them feel safe and happy. In our Program's daily thank you song and reflections, we also invited the children to offer tobacco to the land or trees, in a way that was meaningful and personal to them.
The focus of National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) is often on residential schools, however, residential schools are merely a reflection of a larger problem that still persists today. This is a historical and ongoing, implicit and explicit, passive and active, effort to devalue, erase, and destroy Indigenous self-determination and ways of knowing.
“I came to recognize embedded colonization was in our education system. A colonized approach to education subverted alternative ways of knowing”. [2] Dr. Angelina Weenie
This quote is from the textbook in my Applied Childhood Development course, where our very first lecture was on the importance of incorporating Indigenous Ways of Teaching into our education work. In our class we discussed how Indigenous ways of teaching, learning, and relating to children are not only valid, but must be upheld as intentional, informed, and essential to children’s development. Educators trained in western perspectives can integrate this truth by learning from Indigenous cultural practices and thoughtfully incorporating them into our own practices. This is the work and the effort that Esther and I continue to commit to and grow each year, as non-Indigenous peoples, and alongside our Indigenous friends, family, colleagues, and neighbours. National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) is a reminder for us of this responsibility.
Expanding on the quote above, I want to share a little bit about its author. The author, Dr. Angelina Weenie is Cree (nehiyaw) from Sweetgrass Nation, Saskatchewan. She began her career as an Early Childhood Educator, and is now the dean of UPEI Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies (read more here – she has an impressive bio of experiences, skills, and knowledge).
As a Plains Cree speaker, Dr. Angelina Weenie begins her textbook teachings right from the title, which is Awāsisīwiwin: Early Childhood Education and Indigenous Ways of Knowing. Awāsisīwiwin means childhood in the Plains Cree language. By centering Indigenous language in her writing, she is reminding us as learners and educators that
“Concepts from First Nations worldviews, languages, cultures, traditions, and values can serve to build and enrich our knowledge of early childhood education.” [3]
When trying to learn more about the word Awāsisīwiwin, I came across a similar Michif phrase, Takaki Awasisiwin, meaning “a good childhood for the future of our people”. [4] Unfortunately, childhood is not always protected or safe, especially for Indigenous children. As educators, it is our job to continually observe, evaluate, and create the physically, emotionally, spiritually, and cognitively safe spaces children need to play, learn, and grow. National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) is a reminder for us of this responsibility.
Often in educational spaces, Indigenous Ways of Knowing are considered to be “alternative”. However, these ways were never alternative. They were and are inherent to this land, this place, and to the First People who live(d) here. As Dr. Angelina Weenie is now trying to advocate for and action, Indigenous ways should have been and should continue to be privileged. Indigenous ways are only “alternative” if one is centering western ways, which are the ways of the people who colonized Canada through Residential Schools and more. In the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Volume One: Summary), they state:
“The residential school system was based on an assumption that European civilization and Christian religions were superior to Aboriginal culture”. [5]
In our Forest Nursery Program, we have been asking ourselves how Indigenous Ways of Knowing can be embedded into our daily practices – through being outside, bringing in Indigenous teachers, incorporating Indigenous languages, using a mix of emergent and seasonal curriculum, as well as in our emphasis on relationships and place-based learning – so we do not perpetuate this harmful notion. National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) is a reminder for us of this responsibility.
Dr. Angelina Weenie is an inspiring teacher because she reminds us that we can always change our approach to education and incorporate more Indigenous Ways of Knowing. She is insistent about encouraging educators and policy makers to recognize Indigenous Ways of Knowing as foundational within the education system. When we do this, we are supporting teaching using a whole child approach and from a place of lived reality. We are considering what the lived reality is of the land where we play, the lived reality of Indigenous Peoples who have always lived here and cared for this land, as well as the lived reality as non-Indigenous Peoples who are now neighbours.
On National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC), as I learn, reflect, and renew my commitments to action, I am asking myself today how our Forest Nursery Program, our larger education system, and individual educators can continue to work towards privileging Indigenous perspectives? I am sitting with the truth that our education system is still assimilative in nature, given the ways it continues to undervalue Indigenous perspectives. I see many children suffering in the western education system – a system that is overwhelmed and often disconnected from the needs of too many children.
On National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (TRC), I am also reflecting on how grateful I am to work in a Forest Nursery School with relationships to and support from Indigenous teachers and an orientation towards decolonization and reconciliation. I am reflecting on how grateful I am for the land that holds us in all of our joy and in all of our struggles. I am reflecting on how grateful I am for all of the Indigenous teachers, like Dr. Angelina Weenie, who share so generously. And I am reflecting on how grateful I am that the children in our Forest Nursery Program have a safe place to learn and play.
This year’s commitments from our Forest Nursery Program:
Continue to explicitly affirm Children's Rights in our Program and Policies.
Continue to uplift children's cultural, family, and community practices as important and valued contributions to our space.
Make more time for focused Indigenous teachings aligned with seasonal Equinoxes and Solstices, with Alicia Alphonso coming in to share teachings at minimum twice/year. Ongoing efforts to secure more funding for this and increase visits.
Incorporate more Indigenous languages into our Program, through flashcards that help us learn the names of plants and animals, as well as learning numbers 1-10.
As educators, read and discuss the books “Renewal : Indigenous Perspectives on Land-Based Education In and Beyond the Classroom”, “Truth and Reconciliation Through Education : Stories of Decolonizing Practices” and “Teaching Where You Are : Weaving Indigenous and Slow Principles and Pedagogies”.
Review Calls to Action on Education and bring them to the attention of our Policy Committee to explore additional commitments in the coming year.
Did you Know?
It has been ten years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission delivered its Calls to Action. According to the Yellowhead Institute none of the calls related to education and young people (#6 to #12, and #62 to #66) have been fully implemented. [6]
Sources:
[2] Page 4, Early Years Education and Care in Canada: Engaging with the Past, the Present, and Future Possibilities. Chapter 1, Written by Dr. Angelina Weenie. Edited by Susan Jagger.
[3] Page 1, Ibid.
[5] Page 4, Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.
[7] Featured Image (Colouring Page): https://www.fnel.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Document-Orange-shirt-.pdf