The narrative in the paper focuses on rehabilitation and decolonization by focusing on youth. The paper stresses the importance of Indigenous future generations are with the youth, and a central part of regaining Indigenous knowledge and decolonization is reintroducing them to their culture. We see this reconnection when the paper discusses the importance of Indigenous people and their relationship to the land. The paper says the connection Indigenous people had with nature that was lost during colonization and how it connects to children’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical and spiritual wellness. Another part of reconnecting youth to their culture was reintroducing them / or teaching them the importance of traditional knowledge. A large part of reintroducing children to traditional ways of knowing that were forgotten/forced to be ignored during the years of colonization is reconnecting them to their elders and community. By reintroducing youth and elders and building relationships between them, they are rebuilding bridges where knowledge can be transmitted. Another key aspect of decolonization we see throughout the paper is the importance of Indigenous knowledge. Residential schools and forced assimilation into European/settler ways of living caused the loss of language in many Indigenous communities. So the article also focuses on reintroducing language to youth in order to preserve and restore its position in Indigenous people’s lives.
My minor is in English, so this is a really good opportunity to incorporate Indigenous literature into my classroom. I can work towards incorporating Indigenous knowledge by focusing on Indigenous stories or Indigenous storytellers. This could also work towards the revitalization attempts at Indigenous language.
I am a social studies major, so it is really important to integrate these ideas into my area of study and my classroom. Social Studies can be broken up into multiple subjects in school (Social Studies, Indigenous Studies, History, Law, etc.), so Indigenous rehabilitation and decolonization could be part of multiple subjects that I could end up teaching. I think one of the most important parts of including these ideas in my classroom is that knowledge does not come from me. Like we discussed in our lecture this week, how can I teach Indigenous Studies? Who am I to teach about Indigenous culture to Indigenous students? So I think, while integrating these attempts into my classroom is important, they also must come from the write source. I would want to invite Indigenous speakers into my classroom, use Indigenously made documentaries that look into the colonizations (Residential schools, the pass system) and documentaries about decolonization attempts. I could work towards the goal of reconnecting with elders by inviting a few to come to speak to my classes, not only to just our Indigenous students; we all have a responsibility to work towards decolonization because we are all treaty people.
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