Summary of "Niinwi - Kiinwa - Kiinwi: Building Non-Indigenous Allies in Education through Indigenous Pedagogy"

1. “Niinwi – Kiinwa – Kiinwi: Building
Non-Indigenous Allies in Education
through Indigenous Pedagogy
Article by Lindsay Morcom and
Kate Freeman of Queen’s University

2. Build Allies through Teacher Education Programs
• Reconciliatory education can be accomplished through respect and love, alongside
an unyielding commitment to honour Indigeneity, speak truth and build wisdom
• True reconciliation – strive to create meaningful societal change where Indigenous
and Western perspectives are treated with the same consideration
• Use calls to action to focus on raising awareness of Indigenous peoples, cultures,
histories and intellectual traditions for non-Indigenous learners and to create
meaningful and accessible learning opportunities for Indigenous learners
– Calls to Action 62 and 63: develop curriculum, funding, pedagogy, training,
legacy of residential schools – build student capacity for intercultural
understanding, empathy and mutual respect
– Call to Action 10: close the achievement gap, curriculum development and
funding disparities, languages, parental engagement, honour treaty relationships
– Call to Action 16: post-secondary programs in languages
– Call to Action 65: collaboration between federal government, Indigenous
peoples, educational institutes and National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
to engage in research to advance reconciliation

3. Build Allies through Teacher Education Programs
• Anishinaabewin – Anishinaabe philosophy, worldview, culture and spirituality –
focus on this for teacher education
– Create safe spaces, community through feasts/social events, empower
students to engage in change, focus on Indigenous learning in all classes,
help them set up awareness-raising events for others
– Connect this work to the concept of responsibility to the last and next seven
generations through class content, discussions and Elder visits
– Examine colonization and systems of privilege as they existed in the past
and today
– Explore residential schools, causes and lasting intergenerational effects
– Medicine Wheel connects the teachings – focus on interrelatedness and
connectedness between various aspects of the person, of time and of
creation
• Reconciliation is not just about ascertaining what teachers need to know to
engage reconciliation in their classrooms; it is also about how they understand
it, how they feel it, what they do for it and how they honour it

4. The North – Knowledge and Bravery
• Medicine Wheel traditionally starts in east, but north focuses on knowledge building
• Most teacher candidates have not been exposed to accurate content – must find ways
to engage students and ensure they leave with a strong knowledge base
• Curriculum already includes some Indigenous content, but teachers not able to teach
appropriately – must fill the gaps and explore wide range of topics
• Must recognize/call out/correct stereotypical representations/misconceptions
• See relationships between all people, and recognize that history of Canada is of a
diverse and interwoven peoples whose stories and perspectives all have value
• Balance pan-Indigenous content with localized perspectives, knowledge of diversity of
Indigenous languages, cultures, histories, experiences and opinions
– More unrelated language families/cultures in Indigenous Canada than Europe
• Develop appreciation for Indigenous knowledge and appropriate pedagogies
• Use diverse resources: Elders/Knowledge Keepers, print/multimedia/online sources
• Bravery: takes courage to enter the classroom
– For Indigenous students, classrooms are Westernized, which historically have been
a place of hostility toward Indigenous cultures and knowledge
– For non-Indigenous students, it takes courage to recognize their own privilege and
choose to engage in the process of reconciliation

5. The East – Understanding and Humility
• Knowledge engages the intellect; understanding engages emotions and allows
students to make connections between knowledge and meaning
• Students understand value of Indigenous knowledge/Indigenization for ALL students
and WHY Indigenous content has been excluded in education
• Indigenized curriculum and pedagogy dismantle existing power structures
• Help students unpack/examine underlying assumptions and biases in education –
builds understanding of privilege and how it affects curriculum content and daily life
• Privilege comes in many forms – individuals’ identities constructed and influenced by
factors beyond race and ethnicity: gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, ability,
socio-economic status, geography, religion/spirituality, language, etc
• Sometimes encounter “White Fragility” – anger, withdrawal, guilt
• Racial privilege comes with a voice that others lack – the privileged are positioned as
agents of reconciliation to incite others to question their privilege, draw
attention/support voices of those less heard – take a “back seat” to direct Indigenous
voices
• Difficult balancing act to teach in a way that encourages students to engage in difficult
discussions without making room for White Fragility and Eurocentric perspectives

6. The South – Doing and Honesty
• Engage action for reconciliation
• “Perfect Strangers” – teachers who fail to incorporate Indigenous perspectives
while claiming ignorance and are thus complicit in the perpetuation of an
oppressive system
• Learning opportunities focus on thinking critically about the curriculum and find
ways to appropriately and deliberately include Indigenous perspectives and
pedagogies in all subjects across all grades
• Doing involves modelling – engage in metacognition – explain why we teach as we
do and include the content we do
• Encouraged to think of additional applications for activities, teach outside and
require class-based work where students explore their teachable/grade areas with
land-based learning
• Let students lead – encourage them to create professional development
opportunities/student-led awareness events – shows them they can be effective
change agents – gives them the confidence to effectively Indigenize their
classrooms
• Honesty: be honest about what they do know and do not know, and be willing to
take in new content and perspectives – teachers are lifelong learners

7. The West – Honouring and Respect
• Spiritual aspect of teacher education – by honouring, we can show respect and be
agents of reconciliation by knowing about, understanding and doing something about
Indigenous concerns and societal injustices – holistic
• Sophistication of Indigenous knowledge and peoples – Indigenous resilience
– Scars of past and current injustices hurt communities – not a weakness
– Lasting resilience, persistence and meaningful and relevant cultural knowledge and
wisdom is what allows Indigenous peoples to stand strong and grow stronger
• Decolonizing society does not mean developing expectations that European/other
immigrant cultures will cease to exist – it means coming to understanding that diversity
is a strength, but only when all communities regard one another with respect and in a
spirit of equality
• Métis sash is example of connectedness: threads woven together stronger than single
threads, every thread matters, different colours make the final product more beautiful
• We are all connected to the land – we all have responsibilities to create a fairer society
• Personalize learning so it is relevant – encourage them to act in a way that promotes
personal responsibility and a spirit of reconciliation and respect
• Respect: by moving away from the Eurocentric curriculum and engaging Indigenous
content, perspectives and pedagogies, respecting views as equal

8. Build Allies through Teacher Education Programs
• Meaningful reconciliation needs to be guided by Indigenous concepts,
including the rooting of research in the search to develop wisdom and tell truth
– must be sought collaboratively, rather than assuming Indigenous peoples will
carry the full burden to guide and manage the process of education and
reconciliation, and engage in appropriate research and teaching to see it go
forward in a meaningful way
• Allies must be invited to serve, support and collaborate on further Indigenous
interests and perspectives, rather than assuming primary leadership
• Once enough people understand meaningful reconciliation, it can come to
influence the actions of schools, universities and larger society – that shift can
only occur when allies with Indigenous people understand why it is needed and
insist it take place
• Individual reconciliation, guided by Indigenous teachings and done in love, is the
only thing that will result in systemic reconciliation
• Teachers have very important role in this process – guide the next generation