TakingITGlobal

Whose Land? www.whose.land special place to the Indigenous Peoples of this territory that we are going to learn more about. Note: When referring to Indigenous Peoples, "peoples" has an "s" as a way to reinforce the distinctness of our nations. If you were to say "Indigenous people" it would sound like all Indigenous people are the same, when we are not. Each Indigenous nation has its own language, culture, customs, history and relationship with the Canadian government through various treaty/settlement negotiations and processes. Ongoing Assessment: Ensure students are grasping the main concept by asking them guid- ing questions throughout to reinforce their relationship to the land and place. For example, you may ask each student how they care for their special place or how they would feel if they no longer had access to their special place. PART 2: WHOSE LAND? (20-30 MINUTES) Big Idea: Recognizing Indigenous perspectives and connections to land and place Review and summarize student learning from Part 1. Visit the Whose Land website at: https://www.whose.land/en/ Begin by showing students the map of traditional Indigenous territories on the main page. See if anyone can pinpoint where their school is on the map (roughly aiming for the province, city, town or community). Click on the territory and see which Indigenous nation's traditional territory you are on. Click on the nation that pops up to learn more about the Indigenous People who have lived on and acted as stewards of the land since time immemorial (note: the term time immemorial refers to a time so far back that there is no date to identify it with). Discuss the difference between people who are Indigenous to this land, and people who came to this land as settlers. 1. Indigenous Peoples are people who lived on and took care of this land since the begin- ning of time! The land is very important to Indigenous People because we believe it has a spirit along with animals, water, plants and other sources of life. There are many differ- ent groups of Indigenous Peoples in this country, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit. 2. Settlers are people from other places who came to this land to live and share the resources. Even though many promises to share the land and resources as equals were not kept, it's important that the descendants of settlers today learn about and honour historical promises to share the land. Today, everyone in Canada benefits from the land! *Note that this simplistic understanding will serve elementary students well as it reinforces the concept that we are all beneficiaries of the historical agreements made between Indigenous groups and settlers and therefore have a responsibility to actively work towards honouring Indigenous Peoples as equal partners in sharing the land; but of course, it does not address the complexity of the topic. For example, there are Indigenous communities in Canada today that still do not have access to clean drinking water or suitable housing, both of which are basic human rights. Historically, Indig- enous Peoples have not been able to benefit from the land in the same way or to the same degree that settlers have. A small thing that we can all do to honour the Indigenous Peoples whose traditional territories we are occupying as well as the promises to share the land that were made is create and say a meaningful land acknowledgement! Next, tell students that you are going to show them a land acknowledgement video written by an Indigenous person. Show them Ariana Roundpoint's Land Acknowledgement Video which found on the main page of the website (www.whose.land) After the video, ask the class some debriefing questions such as: 1. What is Ariana's special place? 2. Why is this place special to her as an Indigenous person?

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