Day 8 - Visit to Musqueam

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit Musqueam and learn about their culture, history and traditions. 

Musqueam Cultural Centre

Fortunately, a Grade 8 class was doing an educational tour the same time as our group was supposed to do the self-guided tour and their leader, Audrey Siegl, warmly invited us to join them. It was a good omen as to how the rest of the day would go; Audrey was open, honest, brave, and welcoming to us all. She shared her deep knowledge and personal experiences to tell us the story of the Musqueam people.

As an Indigenous student Sara Louie, from Musqueam First Nations in the Teacher Education Program at UBC; the importance of place-based learning is integral to the First People Principles of Learning and Indigenous pedagogy. I have lived in Musqueam my whole life. A visit to my community through an educators perspective awakens my sense of being and future goals within education.

The various opportunities and resources that teachers can make with connections to the curriculum are open to ones creativity in their own pedagogical approach to teaching. Learning about the land and what it means to my community really grounds my connections to my identity. 

Walking through the Cultural centre The City before the City Exhibit and as well as specific points of interest to the community provided excellent learning opportunities to bring back to the classroom.

 I was able to explore all kinds of ways to connect subject/content: i.e History, Social Studies and Art with story-telling and place, Math and weaving with cedar and wool, Science with natural medicines and native plant species, and Language Arts with the Language. I realize that one would need to understand or learn about each of these teaching points first to be able to make connections in the classroom. The tour is an excellent way to begin to learn and it's also a way to gather knowledge of how to teach the local First Nations within the curriculum. 

By the Fraser River in Musqueam