September 18, 2023 – SD57 Keynote Speaker

School District No. 57 (Prince George) was hosting the Indigenous Day of Learning on Monday, September 18, 2023 and my EDUC 405 class was at the same time as the keynote presentation. I may have been a bit of serendipity, but I wanted the class to watch the keynote. Although the keynote speaker, Dr. studentThis day was a non-instructional day and teacher candidates have the opportunity to participate. The keynote presentation was during my class time and I opted to have the EDUC 405 class and the keynote speaker, Dr. Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, was speaking in-person at the hight school theatre, it was also available with online access via Zoom. At first, I wanted the students to come to the university, but then reconsidered and provided the class with choice. They could watch the keynote presentation in-person, online at home, or online in class. Of course, I assigned this keynote presentation as a blog entry for their portfolio.

I went to the university to provide space and place for students who wanted to come to class to watch the keynote presentation. A handful of students showed up in class and we amicably watched the keynote online. All I can say is, WOW. Niigaan was an amazing speaker. He is of mixed ancestry and he was able to eloquently balance two-eyed seeing to help us to understand the importance of truth and reconciliation. He started with describing his experience as a new teacher, the assignment to teach drama and coordinate the BIG school play, and how he had to collaborate with the local community to understand their culture and not appropriate the contents of the play. I loved the story and the eloquence of his storytelling. With this story and through the enlightenment from the students to do it right versus re-enacting the singing and dancing from the movie. The story was the invitation to his big message, if he can do it, we can do it too.

After this story, I took copious notes. He spoke about Indigenous Education and asked, “how do we do it now?” The then speaks about a tradition with young males and the making of fire. He started to describe that making the fire was not just about igniting the fire, but also building it, then maintaining it. It’s not just about the fire. I’ve used this metaphor a few times in my classes since. It was amazing and applicable to many situations, particularly in education. Then he asks, “how do we make a fire?” Such a good question. He then introduces the outline to his curriculum for Indigenous Education. It was a series of questions: (1) Who am I?
(2) Why am I here? (3) Who can help me? (4) Where am I going? This learning framework require healthy and sustainable relationships. It’s holistic and a lifelong process. The learning is formal and informal. He then goes to another metaphor of the tree and the impossibility to learn about Indigenous Education without understanding the roots of the tree. Niigaan speaks truth. I’m listening.

He also mentions a tradition with young women as well and the importance of community. Niigaan says that Indigenous Voices Matter in any subject area. He even attempted to provide a formula for success, not just success in schools, per se, but success for all students. He reminded us of the 4R’s of RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT, RELEVANCE, and RELATIONSHIPS. I was so inspired by this keynote presentation. The way that Niigaan was able to interweave the western world’s way of being to what is really needed to address Indigenous Education in the classroom by wooing us with a story and concluding his message with the truth. For me, the building the fire story helped me to understand that it’s not just about starting the fire with a spark. There is work involved. Time and effort are needed. And the 4 questions provide a framework for curriculum. Regrettably, I was unable to attend his afternoon workshop that delves deeper into this curriculum, but I feel that my fire has started and it has been stoked. Let’s keep it burning.