Indigenous Relationality in Education

Indigenous relationality has recently become more important to me. As I write this, I am listening to the text by Margret Kovach about her doctoral dissertation work from a Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) perspective. Kovach also relays research with Indigenous communities and is all about relationality. The relationship between the researcher and communities, elders, knowledge keepers. This connected to me on a deeper level, much of community and self understanding as a Nêhiyaw Iskwew (Cree woman) is how I see myself in relation to everything and everyone I surround myself with. While on my own academic journey I haven’t had as difficult of a time with navigating western academia with Indigenous ways of knowing. I am in the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP), and have been fortunate enough to have Indigenous based classes within the education framework as I prepare to become a teacher.

A former professor, Dr. Dale Ripley, a non-Indigenous, resonated deeply with me when he said “teaching is all about relationships, students are not going to learn as good from a teacher they don’t like versus a teacher they do.” This applies to most of education, and what it takes to become a good teacher. This emphasized the importance of relationality as a Nêhiyaw Iskwew. Studying with the ATEP program has allowed me to engage in a form of community-based research. In our first year, our cohorts begin spending time with the communities we intended to teach in and making connections to Elders from those communities. We build those relationships and connections long before working in the community, engaging in ceremonies and gatherings. My ongoing community involvement has allowed me, as a preservice teacher, to understand how best to support my future students and is a way I give back to my community.