Explore Indigenous teaching strategies

The resources in this section describe strategies for incorporating Indigenous content and ways of knowing into students’ learning experiences in the classroom and beyond. The strategies include (but are not limited to) land-based pedagogy, working with and learning from Elders and Knowledge Keepers, and making space for storytelling in the university setting.

In this article:

Incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing

The following resources introduce teaching strategies for incorporating Indigenous content and ways of knowing in the curriculum.

• Decolonizing pedagogies: Teacher reference booklet, by Heather E. McGregor (booklet, 15 pages)
  This booklet begins with an explanation of the key terms used in conversations about decolonization and Indigenization. It describes the need for decolonization and the potential challenges one may face during the decolonization process. Sample curricula focusing on decolonization are provided.

• First Nations and higher education: The four R’s – respect, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility, by Verna Kirkness (Fish River Cree Nation) and Ray Barnhardt (article, 18 pages)
  This article articulates the importance within higher education institutions of respect for Indigenous students’ identities, opportunities for reciprocal relationships, and the need to allow students to have agency and responsibility within the learning environment and beyond. Institutions’ expectations of students and students’ expectations of institutions may not be aligned; bridging this gap in courses can better support all students, and the article offers some illustrative examples. 

• First Nations principles of learning, by Martin Brokenleg (Rosebud Sioux) (video, 9 minutes)
  This video describes principles of learning in First Nations cultures, called the Circle of Courage. Aboriginal methods of teaching to the heart, mind, spirit, and body are described, and the Medicine Wheel is used to explain teaching approaches. Indigenous perspectives on learning and how it occurs are described in the context of elementary school education; some techniques can apply to higher education.

• Guiding voices, by Alberta Education (website)
  This in-depth curriculum development tool aims to help teachers integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into the classroom. It provides guidance for structuring lessons and assignments, organized in four sections: relationships; language, cultural identity and voice; experience and worldviews; and ancestors, time, and place.

• Indigenous cinema, curated by the National Film Board (NFB) (videos)
  The NFB’s portal for Indigenous-made films that are viewable online is searchable based on the film’s language or production date, the director (alphabetical by last name, searchable by nation / people), or subject. Films’ production dates and historical context should be kept in mind when considering their content and framing films constructively in courses.

• Indigenous presence: Experiencing and envisioning Indigenous knowledges within selected post-secondary sites of education and social work, by Margaret Kovach (Sakewew p’sim iskwew, Plains Cree / Saulteaux), Jeannine Carriere (Métis – Cree Assiniboine / French), Harpell Montgomery (Irish-Canadian / Mi’kmaq), M. J. Barrett, and Carmen Gillies (Métis) (report, 98 pages)
  This report explores the shared responsibilities of post-secondary educators and social workers to develop understanding and capacity in terms of Indigenous ways of knowing. The report is framed by the elements of “the lodge (Indigenous Knowledges), fire (motivations and intentions), smoke (relationships and movement) and the path (possible courses of action)” (pp. 6-7).

• Into our classrooms, by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley (Yup’ik) (book chapter, 21 pages)
  As part of the Difficult Dialogues series, this chapter discusses how instructors can use Indigenous pedagogies, mutual learning experiences, and oral learning activities, and emphasizes the value of educators working together. 

• Learning from Indigenous worldviews, by University of British Columbia (video, 10 minutes)
  Indigenous educators share theories of learning that can be applied in courses and can help to engage students from all backgrounds.

• Learning from knowledge keepers of Mi’kma’ki, by Stephen Augustine (Mi’kmaq), Unama’ki College, Cape Breton University) (course)
  This free online course includes 12 recorded lectures. It “was designed to allow for many opportunities to share knowledge and intercultural dialogue, which will emerge as we discuss the rich history, culture, and wisdom of Indigenous peoples in Mi’kma’ki and across Canada” (from the website).

• Teaching Resource Center, by the National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education, First Nations University of Canada (website/databases – written and video recorded)
  This website shares a collection of teaching resources searchable by learning level, discipline, province / territory, and common search terms. Other features of the website include over 600 short stories (videos) describing Indigenous educational initiatives across Canada, a searchable resource library about Indigenous education, and more.

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Consider going beyond the classroom walls with land-based pedagogy

Land-based pedagogy is learning that incorporates the land and nature into learning experiences outdoors. Such lessons allow individuals to feel and visualize the concepts they are learning. 

• Greetings, by Gabrielle Iakotennikonhrare Doreen (Kanien’kehá:ka, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory) (article, 2 pages)
  In this introduction to the journal Ecopsychology, the author offers the Words before all else, the Ohe´n:ton Kariwate´hkwen. This is a way of greeting and welcoming readers to the journal issue and the conversation it aims to foster. The Ohe´n:ton Kariwate´hkwen express the relationality and unity of all beings, grounded in an attention to the lands, waters, and all living things.
  Learn more about Professor Doreen and her work at McGill.
  

• Indigenous knowledge curriculum project: Whitefeather Forest Initiative (Pikangikum First Nation) (report, 8 pages)
  The Whitefeather Forest Initiative is a community-led project that gives students opportunities to learn from and on the land. The Generative Curriculum Model (Pence, Kuehne, Greenwood-Church & Opekokew, 1993) informing this project draws from community-based approaches, respect of multiple cultures, an appreciation of participants’ strengths, and makes relationships explicit between the project, participants, and their communities.

• Indigenous land-based education (journal, 186 pages)
  This special issue of the journal Decolonization: Indigeneity, education & society explores learning on, and learning from, the land. An overview to the special issue exploring key themes is provided by guest editors Matthew Wildcat (Nehiyaw, Ermineskin Cree Nation), Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, Glen Coulthard (Yellowknives Dene), and Mandee McDonald (Maskîkow / Swampy Cree) in the editorial “Learning from the land: Indigenous land based pedagogy and decolonization.”

• One day with Elders on the land, by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley (Yup’ik) (book chapter, 26 pages)
  As part of the Difficult Dialogues series, this chapter discusses the process of interacting with and learning from Elders. Methods for establishing lessons with Elders are explored, as well as how to interact respectfully with Elders. A transcript of five Elders’ stories explores their personal higher education experiences.

Land acknowledgments

Even if your course is fully indoors, you can reflect on the land it takes place on and what this means for teaching and learning in your context. This reflection may involve including a land acknowledgment to welcome students to the course, whether verbally and / or in your course outline.

• Inose / field trip, by Yolanda Bonnell (Anishinaabe-Ojibwe), Jesse Pop (Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory), Dawn Matheson and Natasha Greenblatt with the Guelph Institute for Environmental Research (audio recording, 26 minutes)
  This audio recording “encourages participants to connect with their surroundings, awakening curiosity and the potential for new relationships with the natural world” (from the website). You can listen to it while walking around campus or when on other lands and waters that you encounter in your daily life.

• Land acknowledgment in the Quebec university context, by the Working Group on Indigenous Realities, Quebec Interuniversity Network on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (guide, 19 pages)
  This guide intends to support people preparing to present a land acknowledgement within a Quebec university context. It recommends that individuals identify their intentions and motivations, position themselves prior to formulating a land acknowledgment, and promote open dialogue with local Indigenous communities.
  Également disponible en français : La reconnaissance territoriale en contexte universitaire Québécois

• Native-Land (website)
  This website provides guidance for acknowledging the territory and an interactive map to learn about the nations, languages, and treaties associated with a given location.

• The land and peoples (web page)
  This web page gives tips for offering a land acknowledgment, including pronunciation guidance. It also provides links to resources for learning more about the land and peoples of Tiohtià:ke / Montreal and historical resources, both for the lands on which McGill’s campuses are located and further afield.

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Work with and learn from Elders and Knowledge Keepers

In Indigenous cultures, Elders are older individuals in the community who hold a high degree of knowledge and experience, and who are recognized as cultural teachers. Knowledge Keepers are individuals recognized in their communities for their cultural knowledge or traditional knowledge or expertise. Related roles include Faith Keepers, who help maintain their cultural traditions and ceremonies, and Pipe Carriers, who share a community’s needs through ceremony. Working with these individuals can enrich the higher education learning environment. These roles can vary from community to community.

• Conversation guide for advancing reconciliation: Relationships, by the Alberta Regional Professional Learning Consortium (guide, 8 pages)
  This guide explains how to form relationships with Elders so that instructors and students alike may have the opportunity to learn from them. The guide discusses who an Elder is, how to invite an Elder to the classroom, the gifts one can give, and also defines relevant terms.

• Cultural protocols (web page)
  This web page includes links to the cultural protocols of universities in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. It also provides links to language and cultural centres, and organizations representing Indigenous peoples.

• Elder protocol and guidelines, by the Council on Aboriginal Initiatives at the University of Alberta (guide, 65 pages)
  This guide offers practical information for those seeking to work with Elders. Specific topics include “Who is an Elder?” (pp. 9-12); “How to honour invited Elders?” (pp. 13-14); and “Considerations for collaboration with Elders” (pp. 47-53).

• Indigenous Elder and community protocols, by Wahéhshon Shiann Whitebean (Wolf Clan, Kanien'kehá:ka Nation) (web page)
  This web page describing protocols for reaching out to and working with Indigenous Elders includes frequently asked questions and definitions of who can be considered an Indigenous Elder or Knowledge Keeper (Knowledge Holder). 

• Working with Elders and Indigenous knowledge systems: A reader and guide for places of higher learning, by Herman Michell (Barren Lands Cree Nation) (hard-copy book, 89 pages)
  This thorough guide for how to work with Elders embraces the knowledge they offer. It may be a particularly helpful starting point for instructors who have not interacted with Elders before. 

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Make space for storytelling in the university setting

Storytelling and discussions are important ways of teaching and learning in Indigenous communities. By creating and sharing narratives, students can express themselves and engage with material in multiple ways. 

• Change the story: Harnessing the power of narrative for social change, by New Tactics in Human Rights (web page)
  This web page provides the reader with an introduction to narratives, followed by curricular examples of how to use oral comprehension and story-based learning for social and cultural change. Examples of discussion-based learning from cultures around the world are provided.

• Learning from story, by the University of British Columbia (video, 10 minutes)
  This video shares how storytelling can be integrated into course curricula as a way of Indigenizing the curriculum, and describes storytelling’s benefits for learning.

• Oral Traditions, by Erin Hanson (University of British Columbia) (web page)
  This web page provides introductory information on oral traditions in Indigenous communities, and explores distinctions between written and oral traditions.

• Storytelling, by the University of Alberta (video, 10 minutes)
  As part of the course “Indigenous Canada,” this video begins with a version of the Wisacejack creation story. It then explains how storytelling fulfills multiple functions, including connecting the past to the present and the present to future generations. While stories’ main messages typically remain consistent over time, stories may integrate new information and knowledge based on a community’s needs.

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