CANS 306 discussion leadership

Week 9: kinship, community & state

intervention
Nikita, Anna, Echo & Danika
Foundations: First Nation and Métis families
Anderson and Ball

Do you think building communities around the upbringing of children, as in many

Indigenous communities, would help us move toward a more sustainable future?
Foundations: First Nation and Métis families Anderson
and Ball

The theory “wahkootowin” literally means kinship in the Cree language and demonstrates
the interconnection between family, land, and identity. What type of relationship does it
establish between humans and land?
Learning from Indigenous Knowledge in Education
Hare & Davidson

Hare and Davidson talk about how efforts to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into
curricula are being undertaken at the post-secondary and K-12 levels of education (p.
226). In Canada, the provision of education falls under provincial jurisdiction. How might
these two factors interact, and what challenges could arise?
Learning from Indigenous Knowledge in Education
Hare & Davidson

“Given the current state of traditional language loss among Indigenous peoples, language
revitalization is perhaps the most urgent realm of Indigenous education today and also has
the greatest potential to advance Indigenous education goals” (p. 228). Why do you think
this is the case, and what systemic barriers might be at play?
Elder Brother, the Law of the People, and
Contemporary Kinship Practices of Cowessess First
Nation Members
Robert Alexander Innes

“Classifying Aboriginal people has had profound impacts on the ways that non-Aboriginal
people view Aboriginal people and on how some Aboriginal people view themselves.”

Knowing the general population, its biases, and the systemic structures, how would it
impact the truth and reconciliation movement if complete control was given to general
public?
Elder Brother, the Law of the People, and
Contemporary Kinship Practices of Cowessess First
Nation Members
Robert Alexander Innes

Bill C-31 allowed for people who had lost or volunteered their status away to get it back,
however, no other changes were made to welcome the increased number of Indigenous
folks back to the reserves. Similarities can also be drawn to the incarceration system where
a law/policy is supposedly put in place to favour Indigenous folks, but no other systemic
changes are done to allow for a smoother transition. How can we draw parallels with this to
the land back movement and some changes that have happened for truth and reconciliation?
Kinship / Family reimagined

- Kinship in the Indigenous worldview is more than social hierarchy. It goes back to belonging (in
the community) and connections to the land.

- Moving beyond the notion of a “nuclear family”, welcoming wisdom and care from all members
of the community (human and non-human forms).

- Different nations have different traditions (7 major kinship systems in total worldwide)
Recommended video: Family Trees in other languages: our world’s 7 kinship systems by NativLang
Haudenosaunee
Family tree & Family garden
Reflect on:
1. What does the word “family” mean to you?

2. What are the commonalities and

differences between your understanding of
family and kinship and the Western views
on family?

3. What relations do you want to include in

this “family garden”?

4. Optional : Draw your “family garden”. Be

creative!