Visit to Wanuskewin Heritage Park and Meeting with Dr Glen Aikenhead
http://www.wanuskewin.com/
Due to impending bad weather it was decided that today would be the best day to travel to and visit Wanuskewin Heritage Park on the outskirts of Saskatoon. Wanuskewin means "seeking peace of mind" or "living in harmony". This is a place of cultural and spiritual significance, where generations of Aboriginal people of this region have come to hunt bison, gather food and herbs, share their stories and celebrate life. The heritage park provides detailed presentations and exhibits on Aboriginal artwork, dance, cultural significance of Tipi building, hunting techniques using buffalo jumps and information on traditional plants. Different peoples of many Nations and their traditions are represented at Wanuskewin as many have used the site.
Throughout our visit Glen was able to supplement the information present with his own rich knowledge gained from years working closely with Aboriginal communities throughout Canada. I learnt so much about these cultures during this visit.
During this time we also began to discuss "Rekindling Traditions", a series of units based on Aboriginal cultural knowledge for the Science Curriculum were developed by Science teachers, local Elders, students and community members and overseen and assisted by Glen. During this process Glen emphasised the importance of involvement by Aboriginal elders, family members and students in creating culturally and locally relevant units of work. These units were shared between different Nations who changed them as they saw the need. Glen acknowledged the busy life of teachers and emphasised the fact that these changes were often not made by teachers, but by Elders, community members and students. What really struck me about the development of these units was that the Aboriginal knowledge shared in Science classrooms was local, not broad and general.
Glen suggested that my best starting point would be to develop a relationship with local community members by approaching the Aboriginal Keeping Place in Armidale and by visiting Oorala at UNE Armidale and asking for assistance in incorporating local knowledge in the curriculum, rather expecting that this will be done for me. Perhaps taking the prescribed text and it's content along with the curriculum and asking for their opinion given local traditional ways of knowing. Glen also stated that my own repertoire of local Aboriginal knowledge would develop through contact with local community members and research. He suggested that once I have accessed suitable knowledge it may not be necessary to access this same knowledge again, but to then deliver this knowledge in my classroom independently. Something that I had not considered before. I believed that I would always need an Aboriginal Elder to deliver this knowledge or present to assist, but this may not be the case.
Glen also suggested texts:
Aboriginal Ways of Knowing - Hughes, More, Williams
Two Way Teaching and Learning - Purdie, Milgate, Bell
What Works? Explorations in Improving Outcomes for Indigenous Students
For possible future PhD research
Degeneralising Methodology
Culture Counts - Bishop, Glynn
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