Indigenous Elders, Indian Residential School Survivors, Metis Fiddlers and First Nations and Inuit Singers and Drummers — they were all part of the program at Ottawa’s Immaculata High School Aboriginal Student Conference, organized by Immaculata teacher Debbie Tracy and the Learning Partner for Aboriginal Education for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, Carolyn Brambles.

Participants from Project of Heart, Kairos, and the Legacy of Hope Foundation joined Aboriginal knowledge-holders to conduct workshops on topics ranging from the Indian Residential Schools, 500 years of colonization, Aboriginal cultural traditions, and how to actively participate in all the singing, the dancing, and the drumming!

Project of Heart participants decorated tiles in memory of the students who lost their lives as a result of attending St. Phillip’s Indian Residential School on Fort George Island, James Bay.  Particularly poignant was the fact that IRS survivor Chris Herodier Snowboy, who addressed the grade 7 and 8 students at the conference, actually attended St. Phillip’s IRS and attested to the crimes committed against the children first hand.

Social activism to address Canada’s contemporary acts of colonization were the order of the day. Petitions to the Federal Government circulated, urging Canada to implement the UN Declaration defending Indigenous Rights. Students watched in amazement as  the Shannen’s Dream video graphically told the story of one young woman’s heroic struggle to bring to light the consequences of Federal underfunding of the education of First Nations children.

On May 4th, Project of Heart was invited to attend a joint effort by the Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic District School Board to the 4th annual Aboriginal Symposium aptly called “Spirit Calling Us to Share”, at the Education Centre in Whitby Ontario.

The morning keynote was provided by author David Bouchard, author of The Drum Calls Softly, I am Raven, The Song Within My Heart, The Great Race, and Voices from the Wild. Many of the workshops focused on resource kits developed this year by teachers, that support the infusion of Aboriginal Education in the classroom in all divisions.

Of special note for the morning’s activities, was a workshop by local Port Perry teacher, Nancy Hamer-Strahl titled “The 10 most significant Crossroads in Aboriginal History”. The Aboriginal resource kit Hamer-Strahl developed is based on Jan Beaver’s book of the same name, and includes a variety of activities, assessment pieces, slide shows, and media links. Teachers were alive with excitement as Nancy lead them through fun-filled, action-packed exercises, sure not to be forgotten. Continue reading →

Project of Heart went back to school for the Fall Institute held at the University of Ottawa in early October. This year the Institute’s theme was “Developing a Global Perspective for Educators“; the goal was to equip Faculty of Education teacher-candidates with tools to integrate human rights and social justice issues into the curriculum.

POH teamed up with Sustainable Lights for Learning and March for Justice to deliver a workshop called “Visual Arts: Drawing Together Global Citizens”. Thirty students gathered to listen, learn, and DO, as they discovered the similarities between the struggles of Indigenous people resisting colonization in Canada with those in northern Uganda and India as they too fight the globalization trend.

Students learned about Canada’s past genocidal attempts at assimilation via the Indian Residential Schools, and acted on their citizenship responsibilities by signing petitions urging our governing authorities to sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As well, participants signed Amnesty International’s petition calling on the government of Canada to address the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women.

The Ottawa U teacher-candidates weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, in fact, as part of a “Footsteps for Change” activity, they stenciled footprints on hand-woven Indian cotton to create banners that will be flown in 2012 as March for Justice supports the Gandhian movement for land rights through Ekta Parishad in India. For more information about Footsteps for Change, contact footstepsforchange@gmail.com.

In one of its last community activities as an independent congregation before amalgamating to form Kitchissippi United Church, members of Northwestern United Church in Ottawa’s west end gathered in May to participate in a Project of Heart workshop.

Led by POH co-founder Louise Madaire, the group met to do some research and find out a little of the Unitied Church’s complicity in carrying out the government’s “genetic engineering” project.  A map of the IRSs across the country show which denominations and which locations the schools resided.  Participants then met on a second evening to decorate the tiles and decide on a social justice issue to confront head-on. Click on the image to see the photo set from the two evenings.

On February 8 Project of Heart was part of a dual presentation at the Museum of Civilization, made to an attentive group of Ottawa area teachers from a variety of subject areas.

In a heart-warming contrast to the residential school experience evoked by the project, the presentation was followed by a talk by Debra and Kyle, two students from the Urban Aboriginal School in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. Some of the teachers present were not familiar with this amazing educational success story led by Premier’s Teaching Award for Excellence winner Celina Cada-Matasawagan.