Wapikoni Teaching Guide: Discover the Diversity of Indigenous Nations, Cultures and Expressions in Canada

High school teachers can now use this new teaching tool to address topics related to Indigenous cultures in Canada with their students in a fun way.

How does one broach the topic of residential schools or explain what being Two-Spirit means? What would you say to showing Réal Junior Leblanc’s short film Uprooted Generation before discussing residential schools? Or watching The Hearing, a short film by Russell Ratt Brascoupe, as a way to introduce the topic of Two-Spirit identities?

The Wapikoni Teaching Guide: An introduction to the diversity of Indigenous cultures in Canada recommends watching these films and several others created by young Indigenous filmmakers in the Wapikoni Mobile studio. The guide is a teaching tool comprised of clear, concise texts about Indigenous cultures, maps, statistics, suggested educational activities and a selection of 12 short films directed by young First Nations filmmakers, with a fact sheet for each film.

On the road toward reconciliation

Long ignored by school curricula, traditional First Nations, Inuit and Métis knowledge and teachings are now considered to be a first step toward reconciliation. School and education have a major role to play in the fight against prejudice and in the building of relationships between nations.

That’s why Wapikoni Mobile and the CCUNESCO developed this guide, in collaboration with Indigenous partners and teachers from the UNESCO Associated Schools Network.

Thorough and varied content

Written in simple, accessible language, the 100-page guide sheds light on terminology. Who are the First Nations, the Inuit, the Métis? What is cultural appropriation? What are ancestral rights? The guide untangles these concepts and many others, explaining historical events and providing answers to topical questions, with an aim to fostering informed and stimulating dialogue between teachers and students.

The guide covers major historical milestones like the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the adoption of the Indian Act, and the implementation of the residential school system, which is explored through a modern lens in reflections on the right to equality and by underscoring the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Other topics addressed in the guide include the notion of traditional Indigenous land and Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the environment.

The guide seeks to raise awareness of the violence murdered and missing Indigenous women have suffered—a current issue that continues to concern Canadians and which must be handled with respect.

Rooted in the here and now, the Wapikoni Teaching Guide also addresses the current fight for Indigenous language revitalization and recognition.

For more information about the guide, or to arrange for training for your teachers, contact us at guide.info@wapikoni.