https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt Where I began---->Where the learning has brought me en-us 2021-01-11 17:37:25 UTC 2025-11-18 08:37:03 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f422.png elizabethbonisteel https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1075272628 The majority of my Indigenous Education Journey has transpired over the past 6 or 7 years but Indigenous perspectives have been something I have considered and had my attention draw towards my entire life. 
As a small child, my mother always told me that my Father, who was not an active part of my life at the time, was Nicaraguan but more specifically Mikito, who are one of the remaining Indigenous Nations that inhabits the land along the Rio Coco between Honduras and Nicaragua. Like Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island, the Miskito are in conflict with the government over land sovereignty and the right to self determination. 
Growing up a Mixed-Race child in a small community, typically folks assumed that both my mother and myself were "Native". We both have dark hair and eyes and when my mother was a child, her teacher brought her to the front of the class during Social Studies and told the other students that this was what an Eskimo looked like. As a child, whether it was adults at church or school commenting on how dark my skin was every September after long summer days in the sun or being called an Indian by children attempting to be cruel, I felt "othered" yet was not connected to the part of my family that was Miskito.
During my twenties I made a deeper connection with my Father and his side of my family however, a result of colonial impact on our community in Waspam Nicaragua, there has been a strong conversion to Christianity and Hispanic ways of life. Very little remains of Miskito cultural practices in our family. My Father and his siblings however, all speak the Miskito language fluently as their communities never lost their language.  
So there is an element to my journey that is personal in regards to Indigenous Education. There are feelings of homecoming and shared experiences across all Indigenous people groups that I feel emotionally tied to, even though there is personal and geographic distance between myself and my Miskito family. At the same time, I treat all of the learning that I do in regards to the Indigenous people of this territory and this section of Turtle Island as new learning. These are not my or my family's personal stories. I have as much to learn and unlearn as anyone else who is on their own journey, but I have grown in confidence and my own ability to self-identify as equal parts Miskito and Settler Canadian and the learning I do helps me better understand this place I live and will strengthen kinship between myself and all my Relations from the farthest North to South and widest East to West. ]]> 2021-01-11 17:40:13 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1075272628 elizabethbonisteel https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089140390 I really believe that some of my most impactful learning has come by way of spending time in Community. My friend Patty, who is wearing red in the picture I am posting, is an incredible person to learn from and be challenged by. She is a writer, podcast host, singer, leader, movement mobilizer and all around amazing person. She is the friend who invited me to go to the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre to drum and sing with other women, brought me to attend my first PowWow and has the patience to have conversation with me, challenging beliefs and expanding my thinking. Patty is always learning and changing, reading and challenging herself and those around her. As an Anishinaabe woman she is generous and perhaps that is what I should have started with rather than describing how accomplished she is because she would probably hate that. But it all boils down to not what she has done for me but how she has shown me generosity and that that is something to learn about Anishinaabe people and their way of life. They are giving and generous people and whether it's loaning me a book or giving me a drum to play, Patty gives freely to everyone and has helped me understand the importance of listening more than speaking and learning from being in community. http://daanis.ca/   
Of course Patty is an example of many folks from the greater surrounding Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe communities who I feel really deeply fortunate to learn from and as I reflect I realize it's not necessarily what I've learned through their words or thoughts but through action, traditions and friendship.   ]]> 2021-01-14 20:20:06 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089140390 elizabethbonisteel https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089254771 I don't know about you but I'm only at 6 of the 35 books listed here as Indigenous Authored Must-Reads. As a Teacher Librarian I am very away that there's always more to read and every time I read the work of an Indigenous Author, I feel like my mind and heart are opened in new and important ways. I think it's one of the best paths to better understanding Indigenous people: listening to them speak or write in their own voices. Of the 6 I have read from this specific list, Moon on the Crusted Snow by Waub Rice is always my recommendation for people as a first Indigenous read as it is a relatively short book, easy to digest yet thought provoking. I think it also really illustrates the contrast between colonial and Indigenous mindset and the unsustainable nature of living a colonial way of life. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline is very similar and both are cautionary tales as to where colonial thinking takes us in dystopian future situations that sometimes feel a little more realistic than any of us would like to imagine.
Another book that isn't listed that I hold close to my heart is Birdie by Tracey Lindberg. That book is one that has helped me look more deeply at trauma and better understand healing. I think trauma is an essential, albeit devastating, shared reality of Indigenous Peoples across the world and if we don't look first at it, I don't think we can understand the Resistance and the Resilience of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people.
I would also add that I have spent a great deal of time listening to podcasts and programs that have helped in my Indigenous Education. Whether it's been Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo, Canadaland's Thunder Bay Podcast, Massey Lectures: All Our Relations series or tuning in to listen to Unreserved every week on CBC, some of my most insightful and deepest learning has been through listening to podcasts and programs. 
Making sure to take time and be personally responsible for what I read and listen to is essential. We are so fortunate to have great opportunities within our school board for learning but I really feel like there have been important foundations laid through my personal learning that just came from sheer volume of content digestion. ]]> 2021-01-14 20:53:20 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089254771 elizabethbonisteel https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089393714 There are some folks who walk into a room and a hushed silence falls. I have learned, sitting and listening to First Nations Elders in particular, that seems to happens every time they speak. I felt it when Oren Lyons (Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nation) spoke at Celebration of Nations. I felt it sitting around the fire at the Council of Outdoor Educators conference listening to Peter Shuler (elder from the Mississaugas of The Credit First Nation) share knowledge. There is a quiet understanding when a respected person enters a room and it's something First Nations communities know without being told. They listen first. They listen without cooking up what they want to say at the end of the talk in order to sound intelligent. And every Elder and Knowledge Keeper I have ever heard is more focused on sharing truth than trying to present within a time frame or speaking about a theme/providing easy answers to complex topics. I am grateful for every knowledgeable other that I have had the opportunity to listen to. Whether it's been a DSBN sponsored PD event, a conference or a special event in the community, I know that my education has been fed and nourished by incredibly rich voices. 
Full disclaimer: the picture I posted is of the Thompson brothers who are 6 Nations Lacrosse players from the film "Spirit Game" who I was fan-girling over when I met them at DSBN's Indigenous Youth Symposium. I wouldn't call them Elders but I did appreciate hearing them speak and I really like this picture of us all together because I feel like I'm the lost Thompson sister! Not sure they felt the same but we're all smiling right? ]]> 2021-01-14 21:39:06 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089393714 elizabethbonisteel https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089493406 I think, when I consider where I've been on this journey and where I am headed, if I can stress anything it's that I hope to maintain a posture of listening. Every time I am part of Indigenous Education I glean something new. Hearing stories gives me a new perspective and I cannot imagine a day when my learning will be complete. I'm also inspired, moving forward, to continue working to build a school community where our Indigenous students and their families feel heard and honoured. I want our school to be a safe place for that to happen and I hope to continue working towards having authentic community voices  shared in our buildings. One of my favourite Indigenous owned clothing companies called "Reclaim Your Power" makes shirts that read, 
Strong 
Resilient
Indigenous on the front in bold lettering. Indigenous People have always been here and we always will be. I want to be part of the continued reconciliation work between non Indigenous people and First Nations, Metis and Inuit Nations in our schools, communities and country. 
I've added a picture, with permission, of some of my First Nations students from a day we spent at Niagara Regional Native Centre's PowWow. They are two students I am very proud of as they take on leadership at school and in the community. They inspire me every day. ]]> 2021-01-14 22:24:38 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabethbonisteel/q1tezco5fa1ixuxt/wish/1089493406