We know that through teaching and learning in our schools, we can move towards a Canada where the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians is founded on mutual respect.
As part of our support of the Calls to Action of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), school boards are recognizing the second annual Treaties Recognition Week, from November 5 to 11, 2017. The goal of this week is to promote public education and awareness about the history and importance of treaties and treaty relationships.
The week provides a recurring opportunity for teachers to plan curriculum-linked learning activities about treaties during the school year and will help promote awareness of treaties in the broader public.
Grand Erie DSB is just one OPSBA member board taking part in an initiative being led by the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA), in partnership with the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, called “Living Libraries.” The OSLA is hosting a series of Living Library events in school libraries around the province (in Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Toronto, Brantford and Newcastle, Ontario) where local Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers are invited to be “talking books” in the libraries, teaching students and teachers about treaties for Treaties Recognition Week. Events will be held at Brantford Collegiate Institute on November 3 and 14.
A number of curriculum-linked resources have been created to encourage dialogue and discussion in Ontario classrooms. These resources, as well as additional information, can be found at the following links:
- The First Nations and Treaties Map
- The First Nations and Treaties Map of Ontario: Information for Educators
- Backgrounder on Treaties in Ontario
- The Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation
Quick Facts
- Ontario is covered by 46 treaties and other agreements, such as land purchases by the Crown signed between 1781 and 1930.
- Treaties are the legally binding agreements that set out the rights, responsibilities and relationships of First Nations and the federal and provincial governments.
- OPSBA is working, through its Indigenous Trustees’ Council and in partnership with the Ministry of Education, to enhance the provincial education curriculum in order to support mandatory learning about residential schools, the legacy of colonialism and the rights and responsibilities we all have to each other as treaty people.
- A Political Accord was signed with the Chiefs of Ontario in August 2015 to guide the relationship between First Nations and the province.
