9.Glossary

Glossary

C

• Canadian Council on Learning

  The Canadian Council on Learning was a channel for lifelong learning, encouraging and supporting data-based decisions about learning during all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.

• Community Dialogues on First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning: Learning as a Community for Renewal and Growth

  In 2008, a series of meetings with First Nations communities were held to explore how the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model could help address their learning needs. The outcome of these meetings was reported in the document Community Dialogues on First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning: Learning as a Community for Renewal and Growth. The report articulated and reinforced the importance of using this holistic approach for community and strategic planning and provides examples of community case studies.

E

• Elders

  A man or woman whose wisdom about spirituality, culture and/or life is recognized by the community. Elders can be any age although they generally have many years of experience. The First Nations community and individuals will normally seek the advice and assistance of elders in various traditional and contemporary areas.

• Experimental

  Increasing one’s knowledge by having experiences. Usually this involves multiple senses – hearing, seeing, feeling, touching, tasting.

F

• First Nations

  First Nations is not a legal term but came into common use in the 1970s to replace Indian, which some people found offensive. Many communities have also replaced “band” with “First Nation” in their names.

  In 1980, hundreds of chiefs met in Ottawa and used “First Nations” for the first time in their Declaration of the First Nations. Symbolically, the term elevates First Nations to the status of “first among equals” alongside the English and French founding nations of Canada. It also reflects the sovereign nature of many communities, and the ongoing quest for self-determination and self-government.

  First Nations people may live on or off reserve, they may or may not have legal status under the Indian Act, and they may or may not be registered members of a community or nation.

  “First Nations” should be used exclusively as a general term as community members are more likely to define themselves as members of specific nations or communities within those nations. For example, a Mohawk (Kanienkehaka) person from Akwesasne who is a member of the Bear clan may choose any of those identifiers. Others may identify themselves as members of one of the many other Nations in Canada – Innu, Cree, Salteaux, Ojibwe, Haida, Dene, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Blood, Secwepmec, etc., each with its own tribal history, culture, and traditions.

• First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model

  A model developed in 2007 to articulate the recognition that the world of First Nations learners is one of interconnectedness, in which experiences and relationships are circular, cumulative and holistic.

G

• Governance

  The process of interaction and decision-making by a group (government, organization, family, etc) that lead to policy, rules, and regulations to guide that group.

H

• Holistic

  An all-encompassing view based on the interconnectedness of all things to one another in the circle of life. This perspective affirms the balance between the natural world and the spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual self.

I

• Indigenous

  There is no official definition of Indigenous peoples. In part, Indigenous communities, peoples and nations can be described as those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories. Other terms include Aboriginal Peoples, Natives Peoples, Original Peoples, or First Peoples. It is often used to refer to Indigenous peoples in Canada and internationally.

• Indigenous Ways of Knowing

  Also called Traditional Knowledge, this incorporates a traditional world view into understanding both historical and contemporary concepts and systems, often related to environment and ecology, based on detailed personal observation and experience, and informed by generations of elders. It demonstrates the unique holistic perspective of the world and the interconnectedness to one another in the circle of life. It is recognized and used around the world as an important environmental assessment tool.

• Intelligence

  First Nations peoples understand that intelligence is a holistic concept. Being an intelligent person means accessing all the levels of our intelligence capacity—i.e., the intelligence of the body, mind, heart and spirit.

• Inuit

  Inuit are the Indigenous People of Arctic Canada. The word Inuit means “the people” in Inuktitut and is the term by which Inuit refer to themselves. The Inuit in Canada are known collectively as Inuit Nunangat which includes land, water and ice.

  The Inuit consider the land, water and ice of their homeland to be integral to their culture and way of life.There are four Inuit comprehensive land claims regions covering one-third of Canada: Nunavut, Inuvialuit(Northwest Territories), Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and Nunatsiavut(Labrador).

  The Indian Act does not cover Inuit. However, in 1939, the Supreme Court of Canada interpreted the federal government’s power to make laws affecting “Indians, and lands reserved for Indians” as extending to Inuit. Inuit live in communities and settlements, not reserves, therefore the terms on-reserve or off-reserve do not apply to them.Many Inuit also live in southern Canadian cities.

M

• Medicine Wheel

  This is used by many First Nations in different ways as symbolic representation of First Nations worldview. It is circular and sectioned into 4 colours (red, yellow, white and blue or black.) It has many teachings and can represent many things, including: the four directions, elements, seasons, human races, spirit animals, stages of life, and dimensions of personal development (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual).

• Métis

  In Canada, the Métis, as defined by the Constitution Act 1982, are an Aboriginal people. They are descendants of specific mixed First Nations and European ancestry who self-identify as Métis, and are accepted into their current community.

  The Métis people are the modern descendants of Indigenous women in Canada and the colonial-era French, Scottish and English trappers and fur traders they married.

  The descendants of these unions formed communities, first around hunting, trapping and fur trading, that to this day have a unique and specific culture. The term “Métis” does not mean any white person who believes they also have some Native ancestry. It refers to specific, intact communities of Aboriginal people and their culture. The majority of Métis people are of mixed Algonquian and French ancestry.

R

• Redefining How Success is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning

  In 2007, the Canadian Council on Learning collaborated with First Nations, Inuit and Métis learning professionals and researchers to explore and articulate the recognition that the world of First Nations learners is one of interconnectedness, in which experiences and relationships are circular, cumulative and holistic.

  This groundbreaking research was reported in a document titled Redefining How Success is Measured in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Learning, and included the First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model. The First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model is a “living draft” that will evolve and undergo revision and adaptation depending upon the circumstances.

• Restorative justice

  An approach to justice that focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the involved community. This models traditional Indigenous forms of community justice approaches. This contrasts to more punitive approaches where the main aim is to punish the offender, or satisfy abstract legal principles.

S

• Storytelling

  First Nations peoples have traditionally been an oral society. Storytelling connects individuals to their past, their legends, their history, their identity, and their culture. Every First Nation has its own stories that reflect and reinforce the society and its values.

• Sun Dance

  The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some First Nations inCanada. It usually involves the community gathering together to pray for healing. Individuals make personal sacrifices on behalf of the community. Although it originated in the Plains, the Sun Dance is expanding across Canada.

• Sweat Lodge

  A Sweat Lodge is usually a dome-shaped structure made of tree saplings and covered with tarps and blankets. This is a place for spiritual, mental and physical renewal. People enter a Sweat Lodge according to certain rituals and customs. Inside, water is poured on hot rocks to produce steam and high temperatures, and additional prayers and rituals are performed for purification and cleansing.

T

• Theory of Multiple Intelligences

  This theory, developed by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner in 1983, revolutionized the field of research in intelligence by proposing that intelligence is not dominated by a single general ability, but rather by specific modalities. It fits well with First Nations theories of intelligence that also recognize a wide range of capacities or ways of knowing.

• Totem Pole

  Totem poles are monuments created by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest to represent, document, and commemorate ancestry, histories, people, or events. These could be specific to community, family, or clan members.

  Most totem poles display beings, or crest animals that convey a family’s lineage and validating the rights and privileges that the family held. Totem poles are typically created out of red cedar wood and would be erected to be visible within a community.

• Traditional Justice

  An approach to justice that is community based and usually focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the involved community. Approaches will vary by community and many involve matriarchal traditions. This contrasts to more punitive approaches where the main aim is to punish the offender, or satisfy abstract legal principles.

• Treaty Rights

  Treaty Rights are special rights to lands and entitlements that Indian people legally have as a result of treaties entered into with the Crown. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms, the “existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal people of Canada.”

  Generally, historic treaties are in writing. Courts have found that oral promises can also form part of a treaty and give rise to treaty rights. Some of the rights that treaties often speak to include reserve lands,money payments,the right of First Nations communities to continue to hunt, fish and trap subject to the terms of the treaty.