Treaty 2 Territory – Our Knowledge Council assembled to discuss the next steps on accreditation through the Knowledge College. Motion made and passed to move the First Nation in Treaty 2 Territory accreditation and certification process forward.
We are born with the inherent right to receive knowledge. This receiving of knowledge begins in our first school, our home with our mother. Our mother has had the knowledge she passes to us passed onto her. This is our ancestral way of learning; through storytelling and observation.
The Knowledge holders are the elders of our First Nations who are responsible for carrying and transferring our inherent knowledge forward from generation to generation since the time of creation.
Colonization interrupted the holistic transfer of ancestral knowledge with the residential school system. Colonial settler standards of learning were imposed. History reveals the ugly truth of how education was used as a tool for cultural genocide (TRC).
There are different kinds of way to learn. We find our purpose through learning in order to achieve a good life. The difference between the two types of learning is that it is the knowledge transferors who accredit us instead of being provided a document behind our names. Because of history and colonization, we need these documents to live in today’s world. In order to learn about who we are and where we come we need to restore our ancestral knowledge and learning systems in a way that harmonizes existing learning systems.
PRINCIPLES
Restoring First Nation Learning systems must be:
- Based on the students right to their culture, language and identity, and to a substantively equitable education that is appropriate;
- Carried out in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration among First Nations, the Government of Canada, and provincial and territorial governments; and
- Supported through commitment, accountability, responsibilities; through fiscal arrangements and achievable learning outcomes.
Last modified: October 9, 2019
