Abstract
Indigenous communities in Canada are faced with a disproportionate risk of disasters and climate change (CIER, 2008). Indigenous communities in Canada are also at the forefront of climate change adaptation and resilience solutions. One program in Canada that aids in decolonizing curriculum for reclaiming resilience in Indigenous communities is Preparing Our Home (POH). Drawing on three POH case studies, this article seeks to answer the following question: How can community-led decolonial educational processes help reclaim Indigenous youth and community resilience? The three communities that held POH workshops, which this article draws upon, include: The Líľwat Nation, where Canada’s first youth-led community-based POH Home curriculum was developed at the Xet̓ólacw Community School; The Siksika Nation, where the workshop engaged youth with experienced instructors and Elders to enhance culturally informed community preparedness through actionable outcomes by developing a curriculum that focused on hazard identification, First Aid, and traditional food preservation; and Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, where political leaders, community members, and community emergency personnel gathered together to discuss emergency preparedness, hazard awareness and ways to rediscover resilience. The participants shared their lived experiences, stories, and knowledge to explore community strengths and weaknesses and community reaction and resilience. The article concludes with a discussion section, key lessons learned in these communities, and recommendations for developing Indigenous community-led curricula. These recommendations include the importance of Indigenous Knowledge, intergenerational learning, land-based learning, participatory methodologies, and the role of traditional language for community resilience. We contribute to the Indigenous education literature by providing specific examples of community-owned curricula that move beyond decolonial education to Indigenous knowledges and experiences sharing, owned by the people and led by the community.
Highlights
Indigenous communities in Canada are faced with disproportionate risk of disasters and climate change (Canning, 2018; CIER, 2008; Turner and Clifton, 2009)
Written by community and youth leaders, with support from academic colleagues, this article draws on Preparing Our Home (POH) workshops in three communities: Líľwat Nation, Siksika Nation, and Akwesasne Mohawk Nation
Key learning principles Key learning principles identified through this program included the following: (1) the importance of Elders as Knowledge Keepers; (2) learning as intergenerational and a community activity; (3) Learning is holistic, relational, and solution-focused, and (5) learning is carried in language
Summary
Indigenous communities in Canada are faced with disproportionate risk of disasters and climate change (Canning, 2018; CIER, 2008; Turner and Clifton, 2009). Indigenous communities in Canada are at the forefront of climate change adaptation and resilience solutions. The article draws on three case studies of decolonizing curriculum for reclaiming community resilience in Indigenous communities in Canada. The article seeks to answer the following question: How can community- and youth-led learning processes reclaim Indigenous community resilience?. We use the following definition of reclaiming: Reclaiming is a strategy in decolonial education projects that involves recovering who people are (their cultural identities), their practices, and their relation to place (land, cosmos). In the context of this article, reclaiming resilience refers to reclaiming skills, spaces, language, and a sense of togetherness that has been and is required to face a disaster. Written by community and youth leaders, with support from academic colleagues, this article draws on Preparing Our Home (POH) workshops in three communities: Líľwat Nation, Siksika Nation, and Akwesasne Mohawk Nation
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