As Long as the Grass Grows 2015 on YouTube

I am happy to share "As Long as the Grass Grows: A Treaty Song from Saskatchewan" on YouTube as our community prepares to host the 29th Annual Treaty Four Gathering in Fort Qu'Appelle, September 14-20, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ2qI2SKzpA&feature=youtu.be

With special thanks to my friends, Keitha Brass and Charlene Tupone, as well as my husband, Michael Koops.

A special thank you to Elder Alma Poitras and her sister Delma for help with translation, and Alma's vocals, too.

Thank you to Felicity Sweet Nokusis and Doug Song for vocals and bass, respectively.

Thank you to Gord Barnes and Jim Hutchings for having us on Amnesty International Regina Human Rights Radio.

Happiness Is

Happiness is walking to work in the sunshine, cool  air on my legs, breeze in my hair. Happiness is picking chokecherries that hang like grapes along the road, eating the plump berries for breakfast, spitting the seeds into the aspen woods. Happiness is seeing new student faces in the hallway, getting a few hugs from old students, starting a new school year in a good way. Happiness is new responsibility like the roles of teacher librarian, grade nine English, and Native Studies. Happiness is a new blog for my class www.bertfoxnativestudies10.blogspot.ca Happiness is seeing my youngest daughter in the hallways with her little grade eight buddies. Happiness is playing table tennis in my high heels at noon. Happiness is walking home and driving Arwen into the city for some mother daughter time. Happiness is being a teacher who is thankful for this land, this livelihood, these relationships.

 

 

Music in Their Voices

 

 



Elder Alma Poitras is waiting for me at the Squire, sitting in the booth, looking at the menu. She smiles as I come in. "Sorry I'm late," I say.

"I just got here, too," she says.

When I wrote "As Long as the Grass Grows: A Treaty Song from Saskatchewan" I used three Cree words: Miyowicehtowin, Pimacihowin, and Witaskewin. I had written into my journal beside the song draft, "Call Alma. Bring tobacco and ask her how to pronounce the words." I wrote the song in January and now it's June.

I give Elder Alma the tobacco pouch and tell her that I always appreciate her wisdom and any teachings she can share with me.

We order breakfast and Alma and I visit about our families, Alma's recent school trip to Cypress Hills, and our beautiful valley. A little later, Dalma, Alma's sister, joins us. The sisters tease each other and there is a lot of giggling and laughing, and they often speak to each other in Cree. I wish my sister, Andrea was with us.

After we have finished our eggs and toast, I pull out a copy of the song and read it out loud. The ladies listen, nodding their heads. Then, I come to the last verse with the three Cree words.

The teaching begins.

The ladies explain in detail how the Treaties are not only for "us" as humans, but also the animals, medicines, and plants, all living elements, all my relations are included in the concept of Miyowicehtowin in a caring relationship, giving back good things for the future, to even make sacrifices as we are "getting along with others".

The conversation between the sisters is animated as they discuss Pimacihowin. "Pi-ma means going about," says Alma. "Going about, living, at that time, there were no boundaries. Going from place to place; it must have been when they followed the buffalo. They weren't sedentary people. They made a living from season to season, moving to different areas."

"So the spirit of that today, is that we should all be able to make a living as we are going about, in our different ways," I say.

Dalma uses the image of birds flying here and there for the concept of Pimacihowin.

Soon we are talking about Witaskewin -- coming together on the land, being one with the land. My heart is filling up with so much teaching going on. I'm glad I am recording on my phone.

"There is always a story behind it," says Dalma.

Alma and Dalma repeat the three words over and over into my recorder. They speak in unison.

I repeate back, but I am having trouble saying the words.

We are now finished our breakfast.

"Let's go outside and I'll sing the song for you," I say.

These lovely sisters sit on the tailgate of my truck and I sing. The wind is blowing, trucks and cars are driving by on the highway, someone is weed whacking in the yard across the parking lot. The women nod as the verses go by and they join in on the chorus, "As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines, as long as the river flows, through this heart of mine..."

I get to the final verse which uses the three Cree words and we stop, mid-song, and begin workshopping the words. Sitting on the tailgate, singing, we laugh a lot, call ourselves Rock Stars.

 

 

 

When I go back to school on Monday, I play the song in my guitar class during our circle time. I have written the words phonetically onto the white board. All week long I practice singing the last verse. On Saturday Elder Alma, Dalma and I plan to meet and practice singing again. They also promised to correct my pronunciation again, once my confidence is up.

 

When I listen back to the recordings, I smile every time I say, "We should write more songs together."

 

And the sisters say in unison, "Sure," with such music in their voices.

 



 

15 Unsettling Things in 2015

How can I "unsettle" myself in 2015 by working toward decolonizing and indigenizing my way of being reflecting the territory in which I live and work? (Adapted from http://www.mfnerc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Section6_Decolonizing-Our-Practice-Indigenizing-Our-Teaching.pdf)

Would you consider 15 Unsettling Things in 2015? Here's some choices from a list of over 150: http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2015/02/over-150-unsettling-things-unwieldy-and.html 

                          Or, build an Unsettling community:
                 
                          3 friends each do 5 Unsettling Things which equals 15 in 2015.

                          5 friends each do 3 Unsettling Things which equals 15 in 2015.


Here's my list of 15 Unsettling Things in 2015:

1. Write a Treaty song.
2. Start an Unsettling Reading Club. http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2015/02/who-wants-to-read-decolonizing-our.html
3. Provoke my Living Curriculum at the Provoking Curriculum conference in Vancouver.
4. Practice rest and play to ensure body and emotion balance with my often overcharged spirit and mind as I lean into Medicine Wheel teachings.
5. Contact Chief Acoose to see if I can help with fundraising regarding bringing the Treaty 4 Medallion home to Treaty 4 territory.
6. Begin dream and team toward the 150th anniversary of Treaty 4, September 2024.
7. Revisit my letter to the Honorable Justice Murray Sinclair of Truth and Reconciliation, specifically my pledge to support memorials for children at the sight of Residential Schools. Consider how we might begin this in Lebret. http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/05/sun-was-hot-on-my-bare-arms-as-i-walked.html
8. Propose flying the Treaty 4 flag at my high school.
9. Learn how to pronounce these three Cree words: Miyowicehtowin, Pimacihowin, Witaskewin.
10. Host a Fort Qu'Appelle Idle No More Community Circle barbeque or campfire this summer.
11. Indigenize my "Journalism Boot Camp" unit package.
12. Make a poster for my classroom, "How do I create courses which reflect the territory in which I life and work?" -- Dr. Kathleen O'Reilly, Professor Emerita, University of Regina.
13. Study University of Regina Decolonization and Indigenization Process.
14. Consider how I can facilitate Indigenization at the Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation for Research into Teaching.
15. Read Chauntel Baudu's Anti-Oppressive Education Through English Language Arts: A Recollecting Journey and Tamara Smith's An Unsettling Journey: White Settler Women Teaching Treaty in Saskatchewan.

Two framing questions to consider:

What do I need to do to begin to accept the gifts that First Nations and Metis people offer me? (Adapted from Pete and Cappello, 2014 SAFE Conference, UofR)

How will I let these gifts change my assumptions about anti-racism work? (Adapted from Pete and Cappello, 2014 SAFE Conference, UofR)


Part 4 of 4 at "Treaty Walks: My Unsettling Journey from Bully to Benevolence and White Back Again" at Provoking Curriculum, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

www.treatywalks.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @treatywalks

Provoking my Living Curriculum

So here I am in Vancouver at the Provoking Curriculum Studies Conference sponsored by the Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies and the Faculty of Education at UBC.

I've just listened to Lisa Taylor of Bishop's University and Mario di Paolantonio of York University address "Hope, Optimism, and Neoliberal structures of Feeling in Education Under Late Capitalism". I'm looking forward to hearing Lesley Tait of the University of Calgary consider "Older Adults Provoking the World: Life Writing, Life Reading, Life Weaving" followed by Kym Stewart of Simon Fraser University and Capilano University muse "Metissage, Mouse Woman, and Media Education".

I think I'm the only practicing classroom teacher presenting at the conference, and I'm struggling with the question, what do I hope to add to this distinguished discussion? What do I really know?

I know I'm happy to share my song, my pictures, my Treaty Walks story. I'm happy to be in a safe place where it's okay to say I'm "provoking my living curriculum" and not have my colleagues look at me with there-she-goes-again eyes. At the same time, I'm proud that I'm "in the classroom" everyday. I'm proud of my school, my students, my colleagues, my community.

I titled this session way back in the fall of 2014, having just bonded with the Decolonizing/Indigenizing buzz word "Unsettling", so I've had five months to consider just what I might have meant in the title: "Treaty Walks: An "Unsettling" Journey From Bully to Benevolence and White Back Again".

I am finally coming to grips with my Treaty Walks experience and the ambiguity of it all. Treaty Walks has been both Decolonizing/Indigenizing and Disturbing/Destabilizing.

I have been committed and thankful to Treaty Walks in the various incarnations for the last three and a half years; however, I'm realizing Treaty Walks has also been a very upsetting experience for me. I stopped blogging for over a year, nearly burnt out, needing to learn to relax. I have struggled with my unsettled identity; a colleague told me I was a bully, my students often demonstrate frustration "resistance" to the topic of Treaty Education (which, in Saskatchewan, has been mandated since 2008 in every subject) and at the same time I was always have to be on alert for my temptation to act as Lady Bountiful, seeing myself as a hero. I know this navel gazing is part of my privilege, my whiteness, making the quest for social justice all about me.

But, I know I am on to something with Treaty Walks. I trust my teacher's heart.

Treaty Walks has been an informal Action Research project,  looping and looping through questioning, acting, and reflecting. My work as an ally is just as real as my identity angst. The victories are just as true as the navel gazing. I may be perceived as a bully, as Lady Bountiful, as self-white-tious; I may be tempted to lean into those identities or accept others' perceptions of me. I may be humble, infuriating, ruffling and kind all at the same time.

I am happy to be in this "third space" where I am not at home, but I'm also no stranger. I'm happy to be estranged from what is familiar and everyday. (Pinar, 2011). I am happy to practice my discourse as I learn to be useful.

What's important to me is that I keep walking with Treaty, sometimes sitting with Treaty, sometimes meditating, singing, crying, laughing... I keep provoking. I keep "learning how to live well and wisely in the world".


Part 3 of 4 at "Treaty Walks: My Unsettling Journey from Bully to Benevolence and White Back Again" at Provoking Curriculum, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

www.treatywalks.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @treatywalks

Picture Show Script for Provoking Curriculum Conference in Vancouver

 

In the spring of 2011, I wrote in my morning pages...

I want to get into better shape. I should walk to school... and my walks should have a theme.

I should think about the Treaties.

All summer, I told nobody because I was afraid.

Afraid I would flake out. Afraid I was a busy body. Afraid it would complicate our family life.

Finally, I told my husband, Michael. He said, "Go for it."

And then I told Keitha and Char. They didn't think I was weird or a do-gooder. "Sure, why not?" they told me.

And then I told the rest of my family.

But I was still afraid. Afraid I'd sleep in, and that would be the end of that.

But I didn't sleep in. I woke up and off we went. My youngest girl riding along on her bike the first morning.

I kept walking to and from school every day the busses ran for 200 days, blogging and posting pictures along the way..

And the first thing that happened? I fell in love with the land.

And started watching for signs: slow down, children playing.

I started believing in impossible things.

In the second week of walking, the Treaty Four Gathering began with one tipi set up on the Treaty Four Grounds across from the Governance Centre and the All Nations Healing Hospital.

And then there were four tipis.

And then there were more.

At the Treaty 4 Gathering September 15th, 2011, on the 137th Anniversary of the 1874 signing,

I dedicated my Treaty Walks to Keitha Brass, friend and mentor, whose Great, Great Grandfather, Chief Ben Pasqua was one of the original signators to Treaty Four.

Second, I dedicated my Treaty Walks to my Outreach family.

Every day I walked, I learned.

Treaty is Health Care, All Nations Style.

Treaty is Education for All.

As teachers, my colleagues and I are honouring Treaty.

Treaty is brother to brother; and brother to sister, too.

Treaty is yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Treaty is getting along, living together on this land, making a living.

Treaty is honouring our leaders.

Treaty is not... "settling" the land.

Treaty is not... "getting tough on crime".

Treaty is not...violence against women.

Treaty is relationships.

Treaty is self-governance.

Treaty is sharing the land.

Treaty is doing things "in a good way".

Treaty invites us to look into the mirror.

Treaty is as intricate as the first frost.

Treaty casts a long shadow.

Treaty is sacred.

Treaty will survive the changing seasons.

Honouring Treaty is on the right track.

In Saskatchewan, we are all Treaty people.

In the fall, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

In the winter, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

In the spring, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

In the summer, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

What will I continue learning?

It Matters to Me (Truth and Reconciliation)

I will burn settler guilt like fuel to create light, to create heat. (Buffy Sainte Marie)

My children will be my teachers.

Not all those who wander are lost. (Tolkien)

Listen with your heart.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace. (Hendrix)

Because Love conquers all.

When humility lifts us on wings.

As long as the grass grows, the sun shines, and the river flows.


READ AGAIN WITH LINKS to BLOG.

In the spring of 2011, I wrote in my morning pages...

I want to get into better shape. I should walk to school... and my walks should have a theme.

I should think about the Treaties.

All summer, I told nobody because I was afraid.

Afraid I would flake out. Afraid I was a busy body. Afraid it would complicate our family life. http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/08/afraid-im-going-to-flake-out.html

Finally, I told my husband, Michael. He said, "Go for it."

And then I told Keitha and Char. They didn't think I was weird or a do-gooder. "Sure, why not?" they told me.

And then I told the rest of my family.

But I was still afraid. Afraid I'd sleep in, and that would be the end of that.

But I didn't sleep in. I woke up and off we went. My youngest girl riding along on her bike the first morning. http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/08/day-one-pictures.html

I kept walking to and from school every day the busses ran for 200 days, blogging and posting pictures along the way..

And the first thing that happened? I fell in love with the land.

And started watching for signs: slow down, children playing.

I started believing in impossible things.

In the second week of walking, the Treaty Four Gathering began with one tipi set up on the Treaty Four Grounds across from the Governance Centre and the All Nations Healing Hospital.

And then there were four tipis.

And then there were more.

At the Treaty 4 Gathering September 15th, 2011, on the 137th Anniversary of the 1874 signing,

I dedicated my Treaty Walks to Keitha Brass, friend and mentor, whose Great, Great Grandfather, Chief Ben Pasqua was one of the original signators to Treaty Four. http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/day-eleven-dedication.html

Second, I dedicated my Treaty Walks to my Outreach family.

Every day I walked, I learned.

Treaty is Health Care, All Nations Style.

Treaty is Education for All.

As teachers, my colleagues and I are honouring Treaty.

Treaty is brother to brother; and brother to sister, too.

Treaty is yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Treaty is getting along, living together on this land, making a living.

Treaty is honouring our leaders. http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/05/day-one-hundred-seventy-two-may-23rd.html  and http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/05/day-one-hundred-seventy-two-magazine.html

Treaty is not... "settling" the land. http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/day-nineteen-settling-land.html

Treaty is not... "getting tough on crime". http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/10/day-thirty-five-tough-on-crime.html

Treaty is not...violence against women. http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/10/day-twenty-four-waking.html

Treaty is relationships.

Treaty is self-governance.  http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2013/01/self-governance-is-getting-closer-and.html

Treaty is sharing the land.  http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2013/03/thank-you-for-sharing-land-this-frosty.html

Treaty is doing things "in a good way". 

Treaty invites us to look into the mirror.

Treaty is as intricate as the first frost.

Treaty casts a long shadow.

Treaty is sacred.

Treaty will survive the changing seasons.

Honouring Treaty is on the right track.

In Saskatchewan, we are all Treaty people. http://treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2012/10/we-are-all-treaty-people-by-jack-lee.html

In the fall, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.  http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/sunday-ride-in-country.html

In the winter, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

In the spring, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

In the summer, I will say, Thank you for sharing the land.

What will I continue learning?

It Matters to Me (Truth and Reconciliation)

I will burn settler guilt like fuel to create light, to create heat. (Buffy Sainte Marie)

My children will be my teachers.

Not all those who wander are lost. (Tolkien)

Listen with your heart.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace. (Hendrix)

Because Love conquers all.

When humility lifts us on wings.

As long as the grass grows, the sun shines, and the river flows. http://www.treatywalks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/day-nine-grass-sun-river.html

 

Part 2 of 4 at "Treaty Walks: My Unsettling Journey from Bully to Benevolence and White Back Again" at Provoking Curriculum, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

www.treatywalks.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @treatywalks

As Long as the Grass Grows: A Treaty Song from Saskatchewan

As I begin, I am thankful to acknowledge that we are standing and studying in traditional Musqueam territory land and space. I bring greetings from Treaty Four territory in Saskatchewan where Treaty Commissioner Morris made a promise on behalf of the Government that the Treaties would be honoured "as long as the grass grows, the sun shines, the river flows." I am happy to bring my Treaty song to you today and dedicate it to the "People of the River Grass", the Musqueam. I wish you progress as you fulfil your responsibilities to Treaty, Land and Resources.

http://www.musqueam.bc.ca/treaty-lands-and-resources 
http://www.bctreaty.net/nations/musqueam.php

As Long as the Grass Grows: A Treaty Song from Saskatchewan

by Sheena Koops, Settler Descendant

As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this heart of mine
As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this land of mine

They are living documents, First Peoples' and the Crowns'
Building blocks of Canada, to which we are bound
Sacred agreements, the pipe and the pen
Brother to brother; peace, good-order to men

As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this heart of mine
As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this land of mine

My Indian Brothers of the plains, I shake hands with you today
I shake hands in my heart, God has given us a good day
I trust his eye is upon us, and all that we do
Will be for the benefit of our children, Lieutenant Governor Morris told this to...

Chief Ben Pasqua, he was there, September 1874
On the Pasqua Pictograph, he documented Treaty 4
Now his Great, Great Granddaughter, honours me as her friend
We shake hands in our hearts -- Witaskewan

But the Indian Act came along, Treaty broken across the land
Residential School stole the children, Systemic Racism played its hand
And the Settlers, we closed our eyes, with worries of our own
And the Treaties were forgotten, as history has shown

Well it's time we opened up our eyes, Promise Breakers be no more
This land we call Canada, from shore to shore to shore
Is calling us to honour, our word, our law, our truth
We are the Seventh Generation; if not us, then who?

As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this heart of mine
As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this land of mine... of ours...

Getting along with others, Miyowicehtowin
Making a living, Pimacihowin
Living together on the land, Witaskewin
We are the people of Turtle Island; the Treaty makes us kin

As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this heart of mine
As long as the grass grows, as long as the sun shines
As long as the river flows, through this land of ours...


Part 1 of 4 "Treaty Walks: My Unsettling Journey from Bully to Benevolence and White Back Again" at Provoking Curriculum, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

www.treatywalks.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @treatywalks