I say “powerful,” because that is what it truly was for me.

On Monday, I had the opportunity to participate in a Pipe Ceremony, facilitated by Elder Alma. I honestly was not sure what to expect. I usually cannot be around a room filled with smoke, as it irritates my eyes and throat. However, this was different. I wasn’t bothered by the smell of the tobacco burning. I felt calm; the whole room felt calm. There was so much peace and faith all around me. When the pipe was being passed around, it reminded me of my church in a way (going up to get the Holy bread). This connection that I made to my own faith and identity encouraged me to think about how important this ceremony is to Indigenous peoples. In the past, Indigenous peoples’ identities were stolen and they were forced to learn new ways of life and throw away their old celebrations, ceremonies, etc.

I thought about my own faith and my own way of celebrating. I could not imagine having that being taken away from me. Elder Alma was so inviting as she allowed every one of us to experience a beautiful healing and prayerful ceremony. I could tell that the smoke from the pipe meant so much more than just physical smoke. Alma mentioned that the pipe is the connection from the earth to the sky. The prayers that we say and think are the smoke which rises up into the sky so that our prayers can be answered. Again, this made me form a connection to my own beliefs and faith. It fascinated me to think about.

I participated, not knowing how I’d feel afterwards. I came out of it feeling like I learned about prayer, respect, love, healing, tradition, connection, and ceremony. My hope is that if more people (of any race, culture, age) participated in pipe ceremonies like the one I did, that more people would feel the same way as I do.

 

  This picture that I found on Google, reminds me of what I saw at the pipe ceremony that I experienced with our class and Alma.

 

Today, I participated in my first blanket exercise. It was a very eye-opening experience. As embarrassing as it is to say this, I had no idea what the blanket exercise even meant. Did I have to speak? What did I have to do? Do I need to memorize facts? What did this whole thing consist of? I started to feel a bit of anxiety when I first stepped on to the blanket. As the “scroll person” started handing out scrolls, and people started walking around kicking the blankets back and throwing dolls away from people, I had so many emotions rush through me. It was an amazing way for those who are visual learners, and even those who are not, to participate and engage in learning about what has happened and what continues to happen to Indigenous peoples and their land. It shows the real history of Canada; even stuff that can be emotionally challenging and hard to think about. However, this is something that I am so grateful to have done.

I feel like when I am asked to describe my “identity,” I don’t really know what to say, other than “I am a women. I am 22 years old. I live in Regina. I am Canadian.” However, I feel like there is a lot more to it than just that. Especially after participating in the blanket exercise, I feel like there is more to who I am and where I came from. I feel like there is so much more to think about than just the basic answer. Looking back on the last part of the blanket exercise (when there were just a few people left standing on tiny pieces of “land,”) was truly saddening, in my opinion. I then think to myself, what can I do to help? What can I do to change this? The first thing is education. I am so thankful to be able to learn about this, and have the opportunity to participate in activities like this, so that I can then educate those who I teach (not just my future students, but my family and friends as well).

For the choice assignment that we will be doing, I think it would be very interesting to go to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, and focus on the “We Are All Treaty People and Trades, Treaties and Today” exhibits. I have been there before, and I have even taken my grade one class there to observe. However, it will be interesting for me to look at it in a different perspective. I want to challenge myself to think critically, ask critical questions, and take notes on my observations and ideas.

I live on Treaty 4 land; that is where my home is.
I did not consider my elementary school to be my “home.” To me, a home is a safe place. It is a place where you should feel loved and be surrounded by people who care about you. I was bullied in elementary school and I did not feel comfortable being there. My goal is to be able to turn my future classroom into a safe “home” for my students. One where they can feel free to speak, learn, and feel loved.

I consider “home” to be where my family is. To me, family is the most important thing. I would describe my home as warm, loving, fun and also a little crazy at times. I have a family of five; my mom, dad, myself, my sister and my brother. My mom’s grandparents came to Canada from Ireland and my dad’s side of the family is from Germany and the Ukraine. My name is a combination of Irish and German (Erin= “peace” in Gaelic, and Schmidt = a very common German last name).  My family is Canadian, and we were all born here in Canada. However, we still consider ourselves as “settlers.” In Chelsea Vowel’s book, Indigenous Writes, she talks about how she refers to the “non-indigenous peoples living in Canada who form the European-descended sociopolitical majority” as settlers (16). Although my immediate family did not physically move to Canada; my European ancestors did. We are still apart of history and cannot erase that. Therefore, we are settlers, too.