How does LGBTA fit in with Treaty Education?

From Mending the Rainbow: Working with LGBT/Two- Spirit Communities by Elton Naswood (2010) talks about  how many First Nations cultures believe that transgenders, gay, lesbian, or bisexuals are two-spirits. They are thought to be very spiritual beings that should be honored. They get experience life being man and woman and their soul is separated in two. When teaching Treaty and First Nations education this would lesson would enlighten many people. Two-Spirits in the past have been held to such a high position but with all the constant fear of being harassed many people hide their identity.

In the Treaty Outcomes and Indicators the Kindergarten requirements would be a great place to incorporate LGBTA lessons. Even though this is Kindergarten I believe that many grade 8 classrooms would still be at this stage in learning about Treaty Education. The Kindergarten theme is “Getting to Know My Community” the outcome TK1 examines “the diversity of First Nations peoples living in Saskatchewan starting with the classrooms and communities in which they live”.  Some Indicators that you can relate to GLBTA teachings are:

·      Share, in a variety of ways, the languages and traditions that exist within their families, classrooms and communities.

  • Recognize that people come from a variety of cultures with commonalities and differences.

Describe the diversity of First Nations cultures that exist within communities

  • Compare similarities across and among First Nations and other cultures.

You can also use the Outcome SIK2 which covers “Expressing personal connectedness to nature and one another” and Indicators:

  • Recognize that all people are connected to each other and to nature.

  • Recognize that according to First Nation traditional beliefs children are sacred gifts to the world.

  • Represent how we are part of an interconnected web (e.g., a family member, a community member, a human interconnected to all life).

  • Share examples of how we experience nature in our lives (e.g., day and night, wood grain, scales on a fish, heartbeats).

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