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

Teaching Treaties Webinar Available to view! (FREE!)

Last month, Alan Ojiig Corbiere, Bne doodem (Ruffed Grouse Clan) joined us to speak about Pre-Confederation Treaties in Ontario associated with the Anishnaabe.  The video is now available for you and your students to view for free! I hope you find it as eye opening as I did. 

Alan has extensive knowledge of these treaties, and he shared information which goes beyond any school-aged resource that I have encountered so far. He emphasized the importance of teaching the perspectives of both Nations involved in any particular treaty and spoke about Anishnaabe ways of remembering, recording, decoding, and reciting treaties. He also covered a number of different agreements including the Dish with One Spoon. I hope this recording will be helpful to you and possibly your students as you deepen your knowledge about treaties.

Looking for more information on teaching about Treaties?
See my past posts:
How do I teach about treaties?
Under One Sun - Teaching Treaties in Kindergarten
Kayak Magazine's "We Are All Treaty People" Issue

Upcoming Webinars
Coming in January and February, Dr. Restoule and I are planning two new webinars:

- Integrating Indigenous ways of knowing into Mathematics Teaching
- Focusing on Indigenous Art in the Classroom

Stay tuned for the announcement about dates and times! 

Reading "When We Were Alone" with students

I'm in the first two weeks of a new semester at OISE/UT and the teacher candidates in my classes are questioning "what age can and SHOULD we begin to discuss uncomfortable subjects with our students?" What I love about When We Were Alone (written by David A. Roberston and illustrated by Julie Flett [Cree-Métis]) is that after reading it, candidates immediately began to see how a subject like Residential Schools can be approached in an age-appropriate way. 

I love this book for so many reasons, beginning with the warm and comfortable relationship between the young girl and her kokum (grandmother) who are engaged in conversation propelled by questions from the child throughout the story. I also love that as kokum tells of being separated from her brother or having her hair cut off at school, she shares ways that her and her friends came together in moments of peace, connection, and resistance when they found themselves alone and unsupervised in the school. 

Still unsure about teaching this content to young children? View this video attached to the Parent/Teacher guide (explained below) which features the use of the book in a real grade 1 classroom. I especially liked the discussion between the author and the teacher about how she answers potentially difficult questions from the students, and what information she does not share with them.

If you want to use this book in your class, check out these additional resources:

• The publisher of this book, Portage & Main Press, has a FREE Parent/Teacher Guide you can access here which includes an interview with grade 1 teacher Pamela Dirksen from Winnipeg, Manitoba, discussing her use of the book in class.  
• You can watch the Cree Pronunciation video (embedded below) with your students to learn more about the meaning and proper way to say the words included in the text.

Two Short Documentaries

Two CBC documentaries caught my eye this month.

Karihwanoron: Precious Things (14:22).

This short film focuses on the Mohawk immersion program Karihwanoron located in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec. If you are interested in discussing language preservation with your students, or want to highlight contemporary images of resistance and resilience, this is a great place to start.

Young students might find the first few minutes which focus on the daily experience of Yagorihwanirats, a young Mohawk child, relatable.  
 

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Headdress (5:45) by JJ Neepin (Fox Lake Cree Nation) reflects on the importance of the headdress to her ancestors and her identity. Also check out JJ's article Why I made the 'Headdress' for additional commentary and context. 

If you are teaching about the appropriation of the headdress in contemporary population culture, this documentary could serve as a short but powerful perspective.