Reflection, Reflection, Reflection: Seminar 1 & 2

Seminar One – Numbered Treaties

Seminar One had a lot of deep understanding of what the numbered treaties mean, what they are are and what they represent. They taught us many facts that I had not known prior to the seminar as my treaty education growing up was insufficient. The two things that really stood out to me was the story read at the beginning out of the text Is Everyone Really Equal by Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo and the taping the treaties on the floor activity.

The story “A Parable: Hodja and the Foreigner” really stood out to me as it got my brain set for what information I was about to take in. The story really set off the two themes of their presentation which were, worldview and power. These two themes played a big part in the story of not only the Hodja and the Foreigner but also the First Nations of Canada and white settlers. These themes are not just in our past but they are apart of our everyday, as the story states, “there are many layers of complexity in this story, layers that have built up and been left unaddressed over generations”(p.xxvii).

The activity stood out to me in two ways, I was both happy to be moving and collaborating with classmates but also I felt a little confusion as to what the activity meant. The confusion could have definitely been my fault in not hearing the directions or context but I wish I had some understanding during as to what it meant for us to be mapping out the treaty territories in our province.

Overall, I really enjoyed this seminar and all the truths it told about treaties. The way in which they told their stories and information was very passionate and you could not look away.

Seminar Two – Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 

Seminar Two spoke of a topic that I have been aware of for many years but never reflected on it so deeply to home. The documentary we had watched before the seminar titled Finding Dawn spoke of these issues so close to Regina. This was definitely a seminar where I had done some hard reflecting towards the privileges I have as a white-settler woman but also the privilege of having the ability to turn my cheek to the issue and only think of it when it comes up in conversation. This was the moment in my miskâsowin journey where I became aware of this privilige as well as the guilt that came with not doing any good with it and standing up to those that make the racist comments.

The faceless doll activity was another major reflection point during this seminar. As the ladies were explain this activity I felt as though we were doing good as well as this is such a beautiful craft to represent something so tragic that needs to be brought to more peoples attention. But, once I got the paper and the scissors to begin creating my faceless doll I had realized how disconnected I had become to the meaning behind the activity. I was more concerned about the placement of the heart on her dress rather than understanding who the doll represents. Once coming to the circle these feelings of confusion as to why I had just gone straight to my eurocentric upbringing became clear. This activity has very real feelings of emotion, fear, and hurt.

This seminar had taught me many things about the realness of being a teacher. We must think and reflect on the activites we present to the class as we do not know the feelings that it may bring up within our students. We must be criticial when bringing up activities such as these and I am glad I had just a wonderful class to learn this with.