Telling Our Story

My idea is to create textbooks used in elementary, high school, and post-secondary education to tell the history of First Nations people in Canada in a truthful and outspoken way, and most importantly through the lens of an Aboriginal perspective. It appears that much of the textbook used to education minds about the history of Canada’s First People is told by non-native academics and scholars. In order to give voice, accuracy, and justice to First Nations people my vision is to create a textbook that tells our story, our history, from our perspective. This idea first came to me because as a First Nations person who has attended school the majority of my life, I have always felt that the mainstream curriculum taught in elementary, high schools, and post secondary omitted the spirit, truth, and knowledge of our First Nations people. As I young child I remember reading about the “Indians” in history books and not recognizing me as an “Indian” in the book.

My idea would make a difference because using it would allow for our First Nations people to speak about our experience as First Nations people of Canada in a first voice. To tell the stories beginning from colonization, to the residential schools, to the issues we face today. It would allow us as First Nations people to share our experience, remember where we came from, to move for change.

I would get other people involved by collaborating with others advocating for First Nations curriculum in the schools, contact First Nations academics and authors, elders, a variety of First Nations communities across Canada, as well as allies in the non-Aboriginal community. I want to build on the advocacy many Aboriginal

My idea will make a difference because not only will First Nations people learn about the history our people from their own perspective but we will be able to education other Canadians about First Nations people history.