Section 62 i of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada:
Make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.

Though I am not Aboriginal, I live and thrive upon the traditional and unceded land of the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc people, and I hope that I remain here for a long time after I complete my journey in education at TRU. To me, the commitment of implementing Indigenous curriculum into my classroom means that I will be actively seeking out reconciliation through the exploration of education. The TRC is a reparation commitment to help Canadians acknowledge the wrong done to the First Peoples of Canada, and by creating this age-appreciate curriculum we are acknowledging that though it is not the fault of our future students that these wrongs occurred, it is upon them (and us) to educate ourselves so we might recognise how to better treat one another going into the future.  

As an active reader and a lover of literature, one of the ways I hope to include curriculum on Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada is by storytelling. Oral storytelling is one of the very roots of Aboriginal history, and by introducing their stories into the classroom we are giving the students a chance to hear the voices of these histories. We will get to hear their happiness and their pain, and I hope that when appropriate, I would be able to invite an Aboriginal elder or storyteller into the classroom to explain their histories themselves, giving students a first-hand account of these histories and why they are important.  

I would like to read aloud to my class as well. Some of my favourite indigenous stories are The Elders Are Watching, by David Bouchard, and Coyote Tales, by Thomas King. Both books are written by Canadian authors and are appropriate for grades 2-4. They showcase the meaning behind storytelling in Aboriginal culture as well as create their beautiful narrative of how lessons and land are valued by the Indigenous.  

Through these two resources (and many more) I hope to show my class in beautiful and creative ways that these histories are our responsibility to acknowledge and take precious care of. We are not at fault for the past, but we are in charge of the future.  This commitment is something I can wholly control within my own future classroom and it is a call to action that directly falls upon me, one which I am willing to commit myself to up-keeping.