aWhen colonizers first came, they conquered and destroyed homes, families, and entire civilizations. We can make things better by working together, learning from one another. Using both Native science and Western science to guide and protect our planet. By understanding our connection and other's connection to the land and each other, we take a step closer to healing from those scars upon the past. Some people may not care about those scars. Some may not even know about those scars. But we all have a role to play, wither it's education, steps toward protecting the culture, combining the two divided sciences, or something completely different. The gap can only grow if we ignore this issue any further. To take action is just as small as being more aware of your environment, other people and yourself. If you want to change the world, you must first start with yourself.
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A local non-indigenous voice on the matter of education of the truth and the environment was Richard Corrie, a Princess Margaret Secondary School's Science and Outdoor Education teacher. Since the Truth and Reconciliation Act, he has adjusted his classes so there may be an experience and connection to the local voices. Within his Science 10 class, he has a unit dedicated to incorporating and exploring indigenous teachings. His Outdoor Education course is all about learning on the land, about the land, and getting a good workout in the process. An issue he has discovered in his Biology 11 course is that the course has been set in it's ways, it is hard to change so quickly. Richard does believe to honor and learn from the traditional local voices is essential as they have watched the land for far longer then any known resident.
Our morals affect our everyday actions. If one just by looking at British Columbia from 1980 to current day, you can see how global warming effects North America. The land has a deep connection for Indigenous people, it's the source of their culture, governance structure, laws, art, history, language, and identity. By acknowledging that connection, we are respecting who they are, and preserving their ancestral home and identities. Colonizers have become so obsess with knowing, creatures have gone extinct, resources depleted, and habitats destroyed. Mother Earth and Father Sky have turned into mere symbols that poses no true meaning. On August 5, 2015, Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado spilled 3 million gallons of mine waste, linings and other toxic elements into Cement Creek. It contaminated Diné lands called Diné bikeyah(the four sacred mountains). this could have been prevented if we nurtured, loved, and been more intimate with Indigenous people, and far more safe with our handling of the mine. "We all have heartbeats, drink water, and breathe air, no matter whether we are Democrat or Republican, Native, white, African, Asian, or Latino. No matter our sexual orientation, gender, religion, age, or generation, all of us have to restore ourselves Indigenously to situate ourselves as balanced and harmonious life beings in relation to other life beings on this Earth."(pg.52, Emerson) Morals are our base of personalities and actions, we can not allow them to fester and rot, but care for them with love, patience, and acceptence.
I spoke with Anona Kampe, the cultural coordinator in the local school district, and we spoke on ways to educate, bring awareness, and form a connection between the Penticton Indian Band and the City of Penticton and the other settlements in the area. The changes that have occurred since the Truth and Reconciliation Act have been prominent in the Okanagan. A local perspective has been placed in the schools to talk about the truth of residential schools and what has been done to the Indigenous people of Canada and around the world. To educate us on the traditional values and ceremonies of the Okanagan people, learn how to acknowledge the land. There is an issue with the land acknowledgement as some areas refuse to do it, such as in the lower mainland of British Colombia. The lack of education is one of the reasons for such actions. Teachers are essential parts of reconciliation. Allies acknowledges who they are, doing their part of educating younger generations. They are greatly appreciated, from an indigenous point of view. Barriers that keep the local voices out of the schools could be money, or lack of knowing how to incorporate the material into the lessons. Learning on the land, we retain more with our 5 senses, memory-wise according to studies.
To discover how to help bridge the gap between the Indigenous people and the colonizers will also be a way to heal the land, keeping the environment from being destroyed quicker. Talking with those in the local community will expand our knowledge and our connection with the land. Our only difference is where we come from, how we live, and who we are inside. What is more important? Our pride as beings who must stand above others, even if they are our sisters and brothers? Or our planet, our land and seas that we survive on. That allows us to harvest it's bounty, and in return we give part of it back. Hopefully by reading this, an understanding will come, and we all are able to do our part. To heal the land, we must first heal ourselves.
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AuthorShealyn Maxted wishes to convey how the Truth and Reconciliation Act is changing the Biology field and how we can continue to do so. ArchivesCategories |