Indigenous People for GR 4-7

Indigenous People for GR 4-7

Andy’s Tribal Canoe Journey

Andy’s Tribal Canoe Journey

Author: Seabacola (Christopher) Beaton, Jorja

Johnson, Cadence Manson

Authors Seabacola (Christopher) Beaton – Haudenosaunee, Kanyen’keha:ka (Mohawk) and St’at’imc (Lillooet, Lil’Wat) and Jorja Johnson – Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), Dzwada’enuxw; Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), Hesquiaht, and Cadence Manson – Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka),Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and illustrator Natalie Laurin, Métis, – bring the story of Andy and his Tribal Canoe Journey. Andy has had a rough school year and is ready for summer vacation. But when Grandpa Rick tells him that he will be participating in a canoe journey instead of enjoying his usual summer activities, Andy feels he is being punished. Join Andy as he experiences a Tribal Canoe Journey for the first time and learns what it’s like to belong to a canoe family. Follow along as Andy navigates physical and emotional challenges and finds an answer to the important question: “Who am I?”

Lesson Plan

Activity Booklet

The Sharing Circle

The Sharing Circle

Author: Theresa “Corky” Larsen-Jonasson

Editor: Emma Bullen

Illustrator: Jessika Von Innerebner

When two red foxes have an argument which breaks apart their community, a gentle buffalo decides to take a braid of sweetgrass to a local elder and asks her to help with a sharing circle for all the animals.

Lesson Plan

Activity Booklet

Weird Rules to Follow

Weird Rules to Follow

Author: by Kim Spencer

Mia knows her family is very different than her best friend’s.

In the 1980s, the coastal fishing town of Prince Rupert is booming. There is plenty of sockeye salmon in the nearby ocean, which means the fishermen are happy and there is plenty of work at the cannery. Eleven-year-old Mia and her best friend, Lara, have known each other since kindergarten. Like most tweens, they like to hang out and compare notes on their crushes and dream about their futures. But even though they both live in the same cul-de-sac, Mia’s life is very different from her non-Indigenous, middle-class neighbor. Lara lives with her mom, her dad and her little brother in a big house, with two cars in the drive and a view of the ocean. Mia lives in a shabby wartime house that is full of relatives―her churchgoing grandmother, binge-drinking mother and a rotating number of aunts, uncles and cousins. Even though their differences never seemed to matter to the two friends, Mia begins to notice how adults treat her differently, just because she is Indigenous. Teachers, shopkeepers, even Lara’s parents―they all seem to have decided who Mia is without getting to know her first.

Lesson Plan

Activity Booklet

Indigenous People Resources

Indigenous People Resources

Indigenous People Resources

Character Role Playing Cards
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Anti Bullying Activities
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Teaching about acceptance (replace acceptance for tolerance)
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Mental Health/Belonging/”You are not alone”
A variation of this activity would be for students to anonymously write down the sentence, “if you really knew me…” and then finished it with something they are struggling with. Teacher collects all slips and reads aloud to debrief responses. Students are able to learn about and/or relate to some of the things other students are going through creating a sense of community within the classroom.
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