Understanding Witaskewin
Summary:
The project “Understanding Witaskewin” is a research journey where students will examine their own family’s journey and connection to this land as well as the meaning of treaty. Some of the “big” questions they may ask themselves may be: How does my own history on this land connect me to treaty? How am I a treaty person? What do treaties mean for me? How is the history of treaty the history of all of us? How do I understand the concept of Witaskewin, which is the Cree word for living together on the land? What does this mean for the future? How do I envision the future of treaty? Students may think of this project as being broken into 4 sections: A) Their own journey to this land and their understanding of this history. B) What have students learned about treaties and the land. C) How do students connect treaties to their own history/journey. D) How they understand the future of Witaskewin-living together on the land. This project may take any form. It could be a photobook, it could be a scrapbook, it could be a series of high quality photos accompanied by writing. It could be a musical album with songs that depicts this journey that students are undertaking. It could be an essay!
General Tasks:
Part 1: Students research their own family history and collect primary documents about it.
Part 2: Students research about treaties between Europeans and First Nations peoples, evaluate their connection with them and their impact on the history of the area.
Part 3: Students travel to the sites of Treaty 4 territory and if possible, hear first-hand accounts of the history of the treaty land on which they live.
Part 4: Students compile the information they have gathered from multiple sources to create a document that indicates their understanding of the “big questions”.
Evaluation Criteria:
Knowledge and understanding of content; use of creative/critical thinking processes; Expression and organization of idea and information in oral, written and visual forms; Connections made within and between contexts.