Don’t just write what you know. Write what you wish to know. What you reveal to yourself, you reveal to the reader. Storytelling is about discovery. – Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations
The culminating activity for Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island will be handed out to students at the beginning of the first unit so that students are aware of where this curriculum will be going. As students flow through this curriculum they will document their work in a portfolio or a journal, as these will aid them when it is time to begin their culminating activity.
The purpose of the stories in Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island is for students and teachers to understand that Indigenous Nations across Turtle Island used and continue to use storytelling for passing on traditional knowledge, culture, family history, values, beliefs, land history, and more.
The culminating task is for students to engage in a journey of researching who they are, where they are from, and what their story is in relation to Turtle Island. Each student will write a short story based on themself as the main character. Stories will then become parts of a story cycle that will be a collection of narratives from the group. The collection will highlight the students’ experiences and the interconnectedness of their stories.
Students may choose to explore one of the main themes, based on the eight chapters:
Chapter 1 The Truth about Stories Is ... Stories Are All That We Are
Chapter 2 Land, Homeland, Territory
Chapter 3 Reinventing the Enemy’s Language
Chapter 4 Cree Knowledge Embedded in Stories
Chapter 5 Each Word Has a Story of Its Own: Story Arcs and Story Cycles
Chapter 6 Community, Self, Transformation
Chapter 7 Shifting Perspectives
Chapter 8 Indigenous Fantasy and SF
GUIDING QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS
• Who are you? • Where are you from? • Where are your parents/guardians from? • What is the history of your family/ancestors in settling in Canada? • What nation/clan are you from? • In the story add the Four Domains from Ontario’s Well-Being Strategy for Education: Cognitive, Emotional, Social, Physical, and at the centre the self/spirit NOTE: Success criteria for the culminating activity should be determined by the students.