Treaty Education

Last week, I began discussing the concept of promises with the Kiddos. When questioned about the meaning, lots of the Kiddos could give examples of promises, but to actually define what a promise is, they found to be quite difficult. We learned that promises have three distinct qualities. First, they need to be between at least two or more people, second, they need to have a definitive time outlined and finally, they must be about what one will do.

To illustrate the concept of a promise, we read the story by Robert Munsch entitled, "A Promise Is A Promise".

The story perfectly complemented our discussion as it talked what a promise is, why promises are important and what can happen if promises are not kept. Upon finishing the story, it was our turn to make some promises. We decided to make promises to the classroom and each other. Our promises reflected our commitment to making our room the best place it can be. We held a talking circle where each Kiddo promised (to the room and each other) that this year (time line) they would .........Once the circle was completed, I asked the Kiddos if they were going to be able to remember all the promises! It was decided that perhaps, just like Ms. S., our memories were not one of our "gifts". Thus, we figured we should write them down.

Once our promises were completed, I challenged the Kiddos thinking and asked, "What happens if you don't keep your promise?" There were quite a few funny and interesting suggestions made, but in the end, I introduced the word "Treaty". A treaty is a super special promise which can never be broken.

Using a map of the world, I reviewed with the Kiddos were many of our ancestors may have lived before coming to Canada. We discussed how newcomers came to what we now call Canada, and how the First Nations People who were the original inhabitants of our land, helped the settlers to survive in the new world. I explained that treaties (super special promises that included two entities, had a time frame, were written down and signed) were created between the First Nations People and the settlers enabling all people to reside on the same land. The treaty signed in our area was treaty #4, so this made us treaty people. The Kiddos learned that treaties were promises which could never be broken as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow.

After learning this new information, our class decided to turn our promises into treaties so they could never be broken. We had an elaborate signing ceremony where each Kiddoe came up and signed his/her promise and turned it into a treaty to our room.

This lesson was for many Kiddos in the room, their first introduction to the term, “treaty”. We will be revisiting this topic over the course of the year.