Native Studies teacher Pamela Vanderburg from East Northumberland Secondary School in Brighton, Ontario has come up with a unique way to present Project of Heart to her grade 10 learners.

Here’s Pam on just how she did it:

  “The Grade 10 Native Studies class buddied up with the Grade 4 elementary school students across the road.  We met periodically over the semester to tell Native Legends to one another. Because we have a Metis Elder meet with my class once of week, the class is allowed to experience the culture. We also have an Aboriginal Consultant who came to the school to talk about the Medicine Wheel as well as the Indian Residential Schools. We spent about two weeks studying them. Project of Heart was very timely as I introduced it to the students as a Culminating Activity and it became part of their final exam.

“We had 20 secondary schools students mentoring 25 Grade 4 students and the bonding and learning that took place was phenomenal! As you can see from the photos, the children were focused and on task– and took their efforts seriously. It took three sessions to complete the tiles. Afterward, the two classes came together again for the Smudging Ceremony and Dedication. The Metis Elder smudged the tiles and shared his knowledge about the tragic situation of the Residential Schools. On the final day of class, some students did a Reflection which I have included with the tiles.

“One of the most inspirational moments for me was the Social Justice piece, where the students wrote to the Prime Minister and/or Member of Parliament. The students began to truly understand the what the Indian Residential Schools were all about. It was very timely that the CBC had shown 8^th Fire.  The second episode, “It’s Time”, showcases Project of Heart. I showed this episode in class and the students were amazed that their project was on national television!

Vanderburg continues her reflection with a call to improve our Ontario’s public school curriculum by including balanced, factual historical content. “As head of the Canada and World Studies Department at our school, I am amazed that the Grade 10 History Course is called Canadian History and yet it does not contain any Aboriginal history– only the European Civil Wars. As we move into the 21^st Century, it is vital that our youth — and Canadians generally — understand Canadian Heritage.”

This past semester students from Ottawa’s Nepean High School once again participated in Project of Heart, marking the second time in two years their school has partnered with POH. Four Grade 9 Geography classes designed a total of 300 tiles in commemoration of the young lives lost at the Ridgemont Home for Children in Whitehorse and Pine Creek Indian Residential School in Manitoba.

Here’s what teacher Leigh Williamson had to say about the experience:

Prior to the tile designing, the students researched the history of the Indian Residential Schools. They were shocked by the information that shook their confidence in all that they’d leaned about Canada being anything but a peaceful and accepting country.  The reality of this chapter in our history was one that left many students grappling with their notions of fairness and they were inspired to take action.  They took their civic responsibilities seriously and did so by addressing the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women.

Posting pictures of missing Aboriginal women, signing petitions in support of Amnesty International’s “Stolen Sisters” initiative, and writing letters to MPs in Parliament — all ways the young learners engaged in action as gestures of reconciliation. Here is an example of a letter sent by one of Leigh’s students:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, Minister John Duncan, Minister Robert Nicholson and Minister Vic Toews,

This is an e-mail regarding Gladys Tolley.

If you have not heard of her she was an Alqonquin woman who was hit on highway 105 by a Police Patrol car.  None of the required tests and analysis’s took place regarding her death. Her body was simply sent to a funeral home.

This is unacceptable.

The investigation of the scene was conducted by the brother of the Officer responsible for hitting her. And to make it even more biased, another brother was present during the investigation. Now unless these men were utterly andtotally loyal to their job, then I would assume that maybe they actually took this seriously. However, they are only human beings so it would be obvious that they stuck to the guilty officer’s side, (their brother’s side). Gladys left behind a daughter, Bridget Tolley.

For years she has been trying to make sense of what happened to her mother. She and her family have asked to see the results of the investigation. Yet their wish has been declined. Briget has been refused again and again for this information, and she is holding the officers accountable for her mother’s death. Last year with the support of eight organizations:

Native Woman’s Associtation of Canada, Quebec Native Woman, the Assembly of First Nations, Assembly of First Nations Quebec and Labrador, Amnesty International, Amnesty Montreal, Algonquin Nation and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, they asked for a private investigation into the death of Gladys Tolley. They were refused.

All they are asking is that the Federal Government gives them support against the Government of Quebec’s decision regarding this tragedy.  And all that I am asking is that you honesty and truly take a look at this.  Imagine if this was your mother wouldn’t you do the same?

Sincerely

Martha Zacharias

For the final segment of the Project, IRS survivor Chris Snowboy came to the Grade 9 classrooms to share memories of his own residential school experience through words and song.

In October 2011, Kim Bruton from Sir Robert Borden High School in Ottawa contacted Project of Heart after hearing an interview regarding the Project on the CBC. It took no time for her to involve her Grade 12 “Canada: History, Identity, and Culture” course. Here’s what some of her students had to say after having completed the five-part education module, which commemorated students who died while attending an IRS, including those who lost their lives at St. Paul’s IRS in Cardston, Alberta:

“It shocks me that today in a supposedly fair and equitable society that Aboriginal people are treated like second-class citizens. The conditions that they have to withstand on reserves are jaw-dropping, things that most of us take for granted. The project was definitely eye-opening as I had heard about Residential Schools beore but not to the same extent as I did while working on this project. It still amazes me that such actions were tolerated in Canada.” – Becky Underhill

“To be completely honest, I barely had any idea of what occurred in Residential Schools before embarking on the Project of Heart. I was very shocked to say the least when I found out the atrocities that occurred. I am proud to be a part of it and playing my part to make a difference.” – Sarah Agulnik

“What struck me most during the Project of Heart was just how real and horrible the experiences of Aboriginal children were. The tiles are a very tangible way to represent the deaths of the children. When the tiles were laid out in fromt of me, it truly began to hit me, that each of those colourful tiles was there representing a soul of a lost child. As an Aboriginal student, in a mainly non-Aboriginal school, I often have to deal with ignorance. People seem to think that Aboriginal people get all sorts of benefits without reason….The awareness that this project raised, gives me hope that the message will continue to spread and the ignorance that exists toward the Aboriginal community will be eliminated.” –  Lindsay Bilodeau

“Project of Heart was enlightening to say the least. It wasn’t necessarily the things that we did, but what we gained as a result of what we did. It forced us to take a look at the IRS system. It gave us perspective. It made us think deeper and work harder on an issue we just didn’t know enough about. PoH taught us how to care about this issue. It was truthfully, an excellent experience.” –  Nicola Milutinovic

And finally, Brad McDonald offers his insights:

“Learning about how these children lost not only their language and culture, but also their families, was really depressing. Every bad thing I researched motivated me to work as hard as I could on this project to raise awareness to other students.”

Pickering, Ontario teacher Jenny Brown recently worked with her Dunbarton HS  students to decorate over 900 tiles to commemorating the children who lost their lives at Cecilia Jeffrey IRS in Kenora, Ontario, Grollier Hall IRS in Inuvik, NWT, and St. Peter’s IRS in Hay River, NWT.

With the students as they learned about Canada’s history during this dark era was Andrew Wesley, and IRS survivor and clergyperson.  Brown states, “The visit by Andrew was great.  My students were very moved by the experience and will never forget it!”

But Brown’s students didn’t stop there. They learned about Canada’s inaction on the drinking water crisis faced by First Nations people living on reserves and how it is shaming our country internationally. They then signed the water petition (please check out Amnesty International’s easy-to-join campaign to help you take meaningful action about this calamity). Students also signed Amnesty International’s petition called, “No More Stolen Sisters” to address the epidemic of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.

Congratulations Dunbarton High!

In the winter of 2011, Mark Buccino from Mother Teresa Catholic High School in Ottawa teamed up with Project of Heart to give his students an experience Buccino says they’ll never forget.  In relating his experiences with the grade 11 and 12 Native Studies students, Buccino emphasized the disbelief his students felt upon learning about the abuses endured by so many young aboriginal students.  It was not uncommon to witness anger, as the students learned about the Canadian government’s complicity in the crimes committed at these schools.

Buccino states, “I was excited that the students felt this much passion for the topic.  I researched ways my students could get involved and do something.  I came upon Project of Heart.  After presenting the idea to my students — that they could decorate wooden tiles which would commemorate the lives lost at Indian Residential Schools, the students were in full support of this endeavour.”

Project of Heart answered the call by sending 600 tiles, enough to commemorate the children who died at Sturgeon Lake IRS and Grouard IRS, both in Alberta.  Upon completion of the tiles, Jamie Koebel, a multi-talented Metis performer and cultural worker, smudged the tiles and taught them what it meant, and why this was such an important activity.  “It was a powerful experience,” iterated Buccino.

Project of Heart was invited to the University of Ottawa this past week, and made a presentation to a class of teacher candidates enrolled in Dr. Patricia Palulis’ “Holistic and Non-Traditional Approaches to Education” course. Thirty-five keen educators were on hand to hear from Sylvia Smith, coordinator of the project, who explained why it is important for our learners to know about our shared history, and to understand the reasons as to why this history has been marginalized, glossed over, or not taught at all.

Students decorated over a hundred tiles, each tile representing the life of a child who never returned home from the Birtle Indian Residential School in Manitoba. They were moved by the presentation; in fact, by the end of the morning, many were so enthusiastic about “walking the talk of reconciliation” that they signed up to witness a session of the Federal Court, where from February 13th to the 15th, an historic hearing is taking place.

Human Rights Tribunal Chair Shirish Chotalia’s decision to dismiss a Tribunal discrimination case regarding the chronic underfunding of First Nations children on reserves is being appealed to the Federal Court by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations.

Dr. Pat Palulis and many of her students will be in court and bearing witness as the case is heard. Bravo to the Holistic Education class for your caring, and “Having a Heart”!

November 30 and December 1, 2011 saw Project of Heart take part in two special sessions at the University of Regina.

POH Co-ordinator Sylvia Smith was honoured to receive an invitation from Dr. Marc Spooner of the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina to speak with the graduate students in his ED 808 “Teaching for Social Justice” classroom. Most of his students are themselves teachers in the Saskatchewan public school system.

Sylvia spoke to the educators about the core mission of Project of Heart: incorporating indigenously-influenced pedagogical methods in all subject areas, bringing “heart and spirit” into the classroom.

The next afternoon, Smith addressed a mixed audience of students, professors, teachers, and community leaders as current Project of Heart participants –SUNTEP students at the Gabriel Dumont Institute and their instructor, Christina Johns –  joined in the discussion while their gorgeously decorated wooden tiles were displayed for the group to see.

The authentic and thoughtful response emanating from both sessions was a clear signal concerning the urgent need for curricular initiatives that meaningfully engage young learners in Indigenous and settler-shared history. We are thrilled that POH’s two-part call to learn from the experts (survivors of the IRSs) and to teach for justice by “doing justice” in the classroom found such a warm reception in Saskatchewan.

Project of Heart is grateful to the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina for hosting the two events, and to all the attendees of the both sessions. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support given by the Associate Dean, Dr. Jennifer Tupper, and the warm welcome from the faculty’s Dean, Dr. James McNinch.
 

In October of 2011, students at Elizabeth Wyn Wood Alternative School in Ottawa put their books to the side, and instead studied a living history that until then few of them had known anything about.

Students watched videos, examined historical documents, and learned about the intergenerational trauma that is the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools. They  then poured their hearts into decorating the tiles, each one symbolic of a death due to the Indian Residential School experience.  The set of tiles the Wyn Wood students decorated were in memory of Innu children who did not survive the IRS at Sept-Isle. Students then heard first hand from the IRS survivor Christopher Snowboy Herodier, who continues to live with his own memories of Residential School, finding solace through musical expression and by returning to his cultural traditions.

As the photos above vividly document, Wyn Wood students put their feelings and words into action by attending October 4th’s “Families of Sisters in Spirit” Vigil on Parliament Hill  to commemorate and remember the missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. After the march from Parliament Hill to Victoria Island, students became part of the extended family of those missing and murdered women, coming together in support of those who had lost daughters, mothers, sisters and aunties.

By the end of the day’s program, Wyn Wood students knew they had been a part of a very special event, and were committed acting upon their new learning. Students sent letters of concern to parliamentarians and petitions and emails to  cabinet ministers, adding their voices to the call for justice for Canada’s missing and murdered aboriginal women.

photo by Adrian Beaulieu

We’re sending out big welcome to Becky Taylor’s grade 12 history class in Hartland, New Brunswick …the very first school in Atlantic Canada to join the Project of Heart family! From the town that boasts the World’s Longest Covered Bridge, these students will be learning about the Indian Residential Schools in Canada in one of the few provinces that didn’t have an IRS on its territory.

Becky’s class will be commemorating the lives of the children from Port Harrison Federal Hostel in Inukjuak (an Inuit settlement located on Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Innuksuak River in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec).

We welcome the grade 12 Canadian History class from the Hartland Community School in New Brunswick!

Project of Heart co-presenters Stacy Villeneauve and Laurie Joe joined POH coordinator Sylvia Smith as they introduced POH to University of Ottawa students at the “Developing a Global Perspective for Educators Fall Institute” on October 1st.

Participants in the worship progressed through the Indian Residential School learning module, recognized the impact of the IRS on generations of Aboriginal people, and learned how teachers, along with their students, can be allies of Aboriginal people today in their resistance struggles for sovereignty. Participants engaged in creating miniature works of art by decorating small wooden tiles, each tile symbolic of the death of one child due to the Indian Residential School experience. As students completed their first gesture of reconciliation to the IRS survivors, they also experienced “doing” social justice actions (petition-signing) in the workshop as their second gesture of reconciliation.

During the workshop, students were made aware of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Aboriginal Policy Framework and were shown how “including the Aboriginal perspective” can be accomplished through including Project of Heart from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in an inclusive, cross-curricular/interdisciplinary way.

Co-presenter Stacey Villeneauve provided direct evidence of profound “heart/spirit” student learning from her teaching experiences of Project of Heart and the impact it made on addressing the students’ learned racism. Laurie Joe, Project of Heart volunteer (and mother of a POH student who was invited to Rideau Hall for the re-launch of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2009) was there to provide the parental perspective of the importance of teaching a truthful account of our shared history with Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Thank you to the University of Ottawa for inviting Project of Heart  to this important event!