Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again

Have you or your students heard of Mary Two-Axe Earley? Mary, a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) elder from Kahnawake, was an activist and a pioneer of the modern women’s movement on this land. You can learn more about her here, here, and here.

If you have access to a CAMPUS subscription through the National Film Board, beginning this month you will be able to view Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again and have access to the study guide which connects this film with Civics/Citizenship and Indigenous Studies, and is geared towards students aged 14+.

Watch the trailer, which includes footage of Mary standing her ground against an obstinate Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau.

Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again looks at gender discrimination in the Indian Act and connects it to the crises in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, by centering Mary’s story of activism.

In this clip, members of Mary’s family read the letter from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs which informed her that she had been stripped of her Indian Status after marrying a White man.

More links and information

Here is a link to the Q & A with the filmmaker, Courtney Montour, herself a Mohawk woman from Kahnawake. Montour explains the context behind the film, including the use of the term “Indian” and Canadian law under the Indian Act. You can also read this interview with Montour from October 2021 from the Toronto Star.

  The film has won multiple awards including

• Best Documentary Short American Indian Film Festival (2021)

• Documentary Short imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, (2021)

• Best Director Weengushk International Film Festival (2021)

Finally, you can view this short video from Historica Canada, who highlighted Mary Two-Axe Earley as part of their Women in Canadian History series. This video might be suitable for older Primary students as well.

Watch the Historica Canada feature on Mary Two-Axe Earley.

Missisakis : On The Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands

If you are hoping to centre the knowledge of Indigenous peoples in your teaching and bring social studies, geography, or history alive for your students, I think you will find this new short film VERY useful.

This month, the Bawaadan Collective released Missisakis: On the Indigenous History of the Tkaronto Islands. I loved watching this beautiful film and immediately thought it would be a wonderful resource to use in Junior, Intermediate, and Senior classrooms

• To discuss the limitations of the land acknowledgement

• To learn more about treaties and modern land rights from a Mississauga perspective

• To understand the significance of the Toronto (Tkaronto) Islands to the Mississauga people and how it has been used throughout time

• To introduce the concepts of land stewardship and revitalization.

The first voice you hear belongs to Darin Wynbega, who is the Traditional Knowledge and Land Use Coordinator of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation. He is followed by Margaret Sault who is the Director of Lands, Membership and Research, also at the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation.

I have often heard about the sacredness of the Islands to the Mississauga people, and this video is a wonderful testament to this long history. I am so grateful that this video was produced.

If you are teaching in or around Toronto, I think this is a must-watch.

Here is the description text from the Bawaadan Collective, who created this video.

Moving beyond land acknowledgements, Missisakis explores the history and significance of the Toronto Islands from a Mississauga perspective. As with any short film, we present an introduction to history that spans centuries. We encourage viewers to continue to explore this history, learn from Indigenous historians who can share this history, and attend to their calls to action. We wish to express sincere veneration to the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Massive Miigwetch / Nya:wen to Darin Wybenga and Margaret Sault for their supreme trust and generosity. Our approach to the research, development and concept of this video was led by our combined understanding of community engagement best practices with Indigenous partners and First Nations.

Missisakis : On The Indigenous History Of The Tkaronto Islands

Written / Directed / Score

Darin Wybenga / Margaret Sault / Bawaadan Collective

Produced in partnership with - Waterfront BIA / City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation

Introducing the Listen & Learn Community of Practice!

In January 2017 I began Listen & Learn, my free newsletter about Indigenous Education with the goal of sharing resources, questions I am currently exploring and highlighting the work of other educators. Five years and over 1500 followers later, I have decided to expand the world of Listen & Learn to include a monthly community of practice.

This Community of Practice evolves out of my ongoing inquiry about where I as a Seltter of Italian-Canadian descent can be useful in the field of Indigenous Education. As a educator and coach, I am excited to hold space for others as we deepen our commitment to Indigenous content in our teaching, while navigating how our identities and experiences can get in the way of, spur on, and inform our work.

While I imagine this will evolve to meet the needs of participants, I am excited to welcome a first cohort of educators to join me for three sessions, once a month beginning in the winter. This time together will be an opportunity to examine our blocks and fears, and chart our next steps in our practice of teaching Indigenous content.

Please note that spaces are limited to ensure a rich community experience for participants.

To learn more about the community of practice click here!

May We Have Enough to Share by Richard Van Camp

May We Have Enough to Share by Richard Van Camp is a beautiful board book for young readers, but I must confess that its themes of gratitude, community, abundance, interconnection, and generosity got me through the first year of the pandemic.

My son loved the images of young children and their families which were provided by tea & bannock a self-described “collective blog by indigenous women photographers.”

And my heart soared with every re-reading (and he demanded many) as I was reminded that another world beyond colonialism and capitalism is possible, has existed on this land before, and continues on in many families and communities.

May We Have Enough to Share’s beautiful text has prompted me to reflect on:

• How can I continue to centre contemporary images of Indigenous families taken or crafted by Indigenous peoples?

• What parts of my curriculum send the message to my students that the world is a place of scarcity? What parts of my curriculum instill messages of abundance and enoughness?

Thinking of purchasing May We Have Enough to Share? Consider supporting and Indigenous bookseller like Goodminds.com or Strong Nations.

Taking Action Together - Again

This Thursday is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation will be holding events as part of Truth and Reconciliation week (https://nctr.ca/) and APTN also has a day of broadcasting planned (https://www.aptn.ca/ndtr/) or perhaps you might consider donating to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (https://www.irsss.ca/) or an Indigenous-led organization like A7G who is doing awesome community-based on-the-land work (https://www.a7g.ca/donate.html).

In June when the unmarked graves of beautiful children were beginning to be identified at Residential "Schools" I called together a group of Settler facilitators, scholars, and, activists and we put together a letter writing event called Taking Action Together where over 300 folks came together in community to write letters to our MPs amplifying the demands of Indigenous people we had seen in our circles, online, and in the media. Our goal was to not burden Indigenous folks at that time, many of whom were grieving.

This Thursday to mark the holiday, we are planning another version of Taking Action Together, this time to write either (1) newly (re)elected MPs to amplify Indigenous voices and calls for justice or (2) his holiness Pope Francis to amplify the calls from National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations RoseAnne Archibald and President of the Manitoba Métis Federation David Chartrand to have the Pope travel to this land to issue an apology (as stated in Call to Action #58).

We have scheduled the event from 6:30-8:00PM EST on the 30th on Zoom, and if people would like to sign up to join us or to receive the templates, they can here bit.ly/TA2Gether

Please note: I have had some conversations and have received positive feedback about holding this event on the 30th, however, since it is the first National holiday of this sort, I acknowledge that this might not be the right time for non-Indigenous people to take action in this way, and so if we get feedback from Indigenous folks asking us to postpone, we will.