This is My Miskasowin Journey

My Miskawsowin Journey Video

Script

Hi, I’m Madison Fouhse and welcome to my miskasowin journey. Miskasowin is defined as finding one’s sense of origin or true sense of self. I feel as though my miskasowin journey started from when I began to be aware of those around me and how I saw myself fitting in. But that is not the miskasowin journey I wanted to be on. The miskasowin journey I represented through my visual is for me, it represents my awareness and immense journey the past 6 weeks has taken me on and how it will grow into my future.

When beginning this journey it was really hard for me to shake the feeling of guilt every time I heard the terms White Settler. That was something that I knew I could easily grow out of through a process of learnings and understanding.

My visual representation represents how I see myself, where I came from and where I am going. When first looking at my visual many individuals always start at the top and work their way down. I used this as a representation of who I am, where I am going as well as my journey, and the bottom is where I come from and who I have kinda left behind in a way. It is represented in a very linear way but just know that this process was not linear and I do not believe it could have ever been linear. This was a free flow of information that in my vision had to be set up in a way that explains my life in a chronological order but again that is not how this journey happened.

The sun at the top represents me and who I am,  as that is what I have always been called and see as part of my identity. The sun is crucial to the growth of the planet and I am crucial to the growth of my journey. At the bottom of the page is a field of wheat and grass this represents my past, where I come from as well as the close-minded people I had grown up surrounded by. It is something that I don’t focus negatively on but I use it as a learning experience and an important part of my growth process. In the middle of the page, you see a line of images flowing together. This is my journey represented by the wind. Wind will never stop blowing and my miskasowin journey will never stop growing.  The Cluster of flags represents my acknowledgement of my white settler ancestry. Having the Norwegian and Canadian flags on top represents what I grew up knowing about myself and the bottom flags represent things I have uncovered through finding my sense of origin. The next image is the school sign in my hometown of Neilburg Sk. This place is where I have spent all but 2 years of my life. It had a major impact on who I was and who I am now, not only the school but the town. Having the school sign is represents the education of my country’s dark history that was hidden from me and even my educators. This school has had its pros and cons in my journey but I believe I would not be a future educator if it wasn’t for this place. Treaty 6 territory is the land in which I was born and raised, it is hiding behind the school sign to represent that treaty education I did not receive and how I was not aware of the history of the land I benefited from every day. The holding hands part of the journey is a big one for me. The holding hands represent the relationships that have helped shape me, guide me and question me. Whether that relationship is with my parents, my partner, siblings, or friends. They have made me think and reflect on my views and understandings whether ours be different or the same. The legislative building represents my move to Regina for my post-secondary education. I chose the legislative building as my image because this is the place I always think of when I think of Regina due to my first time ever coming to the city in grade 9. I thought this building was amazing which it is, but I also did not understand the dark history again of our country that was hidden behind those doors. The crown represents many things, it shows that Canada is under the British crown as well as it shows the crookedness of the British settlers that first came to Canada. How ever the viewer interprets the crown I believe that represents a part of their own miskasowin journey. Treaty 4 territory is the land in which I live and benefit from today. It is coming out of the shadows of the other images as it is something I am now aware of and recognize. Now we begin to see the importance of this class in my miskasowin process. The sage plant with smoke flowing from its leaves and the feather to its right represents the first day of this class. That first day I knew that this was exactly where I needed to be in this moment of my life. I cannot thank Evelyn and Audrey enough for the ways in which they have opened my mind and have taught me to think so critically beyond those normative narratives we see every day. I cannot be more grateful for the class as well, how supportive and non-judgemental they all were, there was a sense of community in that classroom that I will always remember and reflect on. The feather to the right represents the way in which we go around the circle. This is where I learned that I am a treaty event. The circle played a major part in our classroom and it is definitely something that will always be incorporated into my future classroom, that is where that sense of community grew. The four-course themes of this class have been incorporated into everyone’s journeys and that was something important for me to recognize as the stories shared helped my understandings grow even further and clearer. The podium represents action and the importance of justice in the truth and reconciliation process that I have learned through the words of Pam Palmater, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Audrey and Evelyn. The last image that flows through the wind is a never endings series of books. Books represent the education that I will never stop getting, whether that is self-education or education gained in a school setting. Self-education and awareness are major factors in the continuing of my miskasowin journey.