10 Notebook for Module 4

Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt

We are asked to honour these stories with open hearts and open minds.

Which part of the chapter stood out to you? What were your feelings as you read it? (50 words)

• The part of the chapter that stood out to me was how Indigenous people were not accepted to fight for Canada at first, then were actively recruited for the military. The original discrimination to me seemed to be from a racial standpoint, then the high requirements of their people also seemed to come from a racial standpoint.

Exercise 2: Padlet Prompt

Briefly define (point form is fine) one of the keywords in the padlet (may be one that you added yourself).

• Cultural assimilation
  • This term means to remove a person or a group of people’s background and knowledge from themselves and their community and implement what others believe to be the correct way of life. Certain social policies and things like residential schools are major tools in doing this. Often we see an implementation of Western values, as they are the colonizers, creating rules, institutions, and social constructs that actively diminish other cultures or ways of life.

Exercise 4: Notebook Prompt 

Although we have discussed in this module how the colonial project sought to suppress Indigenous cultures, it is important to note that it also appropriates and adapts Indigenous cultures and “body movement practices” (75) as part of a larger endeavour to “make settlers Indigenous” (75).

What does this look like? (write 2 or 3 sentences)

• This can be seen in institutions like residential schools, where they force Catholic and Western values as the norm. For example, Indigenous boys in residential schools were trained in military-style programs, which relates to Indigenous warrior traditions, but were forced to serve the Britsh, their colonizers.

Exercise 6: Activity and Notebook Prompt 

Visit the story called “The Skate” for an in-depth exploration of sport in the residential school system. At the bottom of the page you will see four questions to which you may respond by tweet, facebook message, or email:

How much freedom did you have to play as a child?

What values do we learn from different sports and games?

When residential staff took photos, what impression did they try to create?

Answer one of these questions (drawing on what you have learned in section one of this module or prior reading) and record it in your Notebook.

• As a child, I had a lot of freedom to play, which is not always the case for every child. I was allowed to play any sport, and I was exposed to all kinds of toys and activities allowing me the ability to build all kinds of skills and grow my knowledge. People often do not have this kind of freedom due to many factors such as finances, guardian views/perceptions, and other environmental factors.

Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt

Make note of the many ways sport is considered medicine by the people interviewed in this video.

• Providing therapeutic help
• Allowed to speak their native language
• A mental release
• Gift from the creator
• Makes us feel connected, like one being

Exercise 7: Notebook Prompt 

What does Waneek Horn-Miller mean when she says that the government is “trying but still approaching Indigenous sport development in a very colonial way”?

• She means that even though there are efforts to support Indigenous athletes and communities, the government’s methods are often still rooted in colonial perspectives. This is because government programs do not really involve Indigenous voices, they also do not truly incorporate Indigenous traditions and values within sports.

Exercise 8: Padlet Prompt

Add an image or brief comment reflecting some of “binding cultural symbols that constitute Canadian hockey discourse in Canada.”  Record your responses in your Notebook as well.

Turtle Island