Braided Learning: Illuminating Indigenous Presence through Art and Story
By Susan D. Dion
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Indigenous activism have made many Canadians uncomfortably aware of how little they know about First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. In Braided Learning, Lenape-Potawatomi scholar and educator Susan Dion shares her approach to learning and teaching about Indigenous histories and perspectives.
Métis leader Louis Riel illuminated the connection between creativity and identity in his declaration, “My people will sleep for a hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirits back.” Using the power of stories and artwork, Dion offers respectful ways to address challenging topics including treaties, the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, land claims, resurgence, the drive for self-determination, and government policies that undermine language, culture, and traditional knowledge systems.
Braided Learning draws on Indigenous knowledge and world views to explain perspectives that are often missing from the national narrative. This generous work is an invaluable resource for Canadians trying to make sense of a difficult past, decode unjust conditions in the present, and work toward a more equitable future.
Susan D. Dion is a Lenape-Potawatomi scholar with Irish-Quebecois ancestry and associate vice-president of Indigenous initiatives at York University. She is widely consulted by community groups, workplaces, and institutions on methods for building more equitable, respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. She is the author of Braiding Histories: Learning from Aboriginal People’s Experiences and Perspectives.
