Raquel Bellefleur & Michael Graham
Treaty Education has been mandatory for K-12 students in Saskatchewan for over a decade, yet many teachers still struggle with how to best implement it in their classrooms. This action research project will investigate the effect of developing a community of rural educators to take up the deep work of Treaty Education, focusing on unpacking our identities in relation to Treaty, learning the Treaty stories of our communities, and reflecting on our Treaty responsibilities. This will include deepening our understandings of settler colonialism and the harm embedded in settlers’ historical and contemporary relationship with Indigenous peoples.
Participants will learn from Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, participate in ceremony and land-based learning, read and discuss works by Indigenous authors, go on Treaty Walks of our communities, and create Treaty Walk experiences to use with our students. Data will be collected through interviews with participants, field memos, research journals, and written reflections. Researchers will analyze data for recurring themes to determine how this method might impact planning and teaching practices for implementing Treaty Education in authentic, meaningful ways.