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Lesson Two: Dakota Bear 133 ACTIVATE: "FREEDOM" WORD SPLASH To begin the lesson, tell students that today they will be learning about the career of Dakota Bear, an Indigenous hip-hop artist and activist. Dakota works hard to bring light to issues that surround Indigenous peoples and he also puts mental well-being into the spotlight. As a class, you will listen to Dakota's song "Freedom". As students listen to the song, they will write down keywords, recurring themes, and/or feelings/emotions they have while listening to the song. When the song is finished, as a class you will create a word splash on the whiteboard using the dierent words and feelings students described. You may want to listen to the song 2-3 times for students to really understand the message that Dakota is trying to portray. While creating the word splash, the teacher can encourage students to either write down the same word splash, or design their own in their notes. ACQUIRE: DAKOTA BEAR'S FIRESIDE CHAT VIDEO https://www.firesidechats.ca/video/dakota-bear Dakota Bear is a Saskatoon-born, Vancouver-based Indigenous hip-hop artist and activist. His melodic rhymes carry stories of Indigenous peoples across Canada leaving listeners enlight- ened, inspired and instant fans of his music and message. His performances range from audiences of 30,000 (Global Climate Strike with Greta Thunberg, Downtown Vancouver, October 2019) to inspirational performances for youth in remote communities in Northern Canada. His work with Idle No More, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirited Peo- ples and the Global Climate Strike movement has intertwined his music with international social justice movements and connected him with fans across the country. He's shared stages with legendary greats like Bone Thugs n Harmony, Redman & Methodman, TechN9ne and more. Show the video of Dakota Bear's interview with Fireside Chats. To debrief the video, ask the class the following questions: 1.What does Dakota mean when he calls himself a "Warrior Entrepreneur"? 2.Why is it important to try new things and step out of our comfort zone? 3.What is intergenerational trauma? How does it relate to mental health? Inform students that they will use the teachings from Dakota's video and create a stress-kit that they will be able to use in the future to take care of their mental health. Students will use this experience to self-reflect about their own mental wellbeing. APPLY: MENTAL WELLBEING STRESS KITS Hand out the "Mental Well-being Stress Kits" handout. Students will create their own stress kits that will help them when they are feeling stressed, sad, overwhelmed, and need to feel grounded. The kits will help students cope with the stresses in their everyday lives at school and home. Stress kits are an amazing way to develop and apply coping strategies to manage students' physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing by focussing on their emotions and mental health. In Anishinaabe culture, each aspect of health is interconnected and aects each other. If one part of ourselves is not well, then our entire self will be thrown out of balance. Students must include at least six things for their kits. Some examples of items students could make: •Stress Ball •Calm Down Jar Lesson Plan