Without first decolonizing, there can be no true indigenizing. That was the biggest lesson that I took away from today’s virtual Indigenous Professional Development Day. Until we identify the ways that colonization and white supremacy shape our every day thoughts and the mentalities of children as early as age 5, there won’t be room for indigenous knowledge to take root and grow. In music, there is an inherent, underlying belief that western music is “better.” In class, I would need to address that it is not better just because its roots are most prevalent in modern music today, but that it is merely “different” than indigenous music. As such, taking a class to talk about different types of music, what makes them different and not superior or inferior, would be crucial to bring a new light and understanding to indigenous music in schools.

During the retelling of a story between a boy and the raven, we were led to learn about a core value of indigenous people. “We lift up those around us.” Giving a gift is not a true gift unless it hurts to give it up. We often preach that “sharing is caring” to children, but not to the extent, I feel, that the indigenous do. Teaching children to help others and their community is an important lessons for children. One way to build this into a lesson could be to have children break up into groups and listen to each other play the music one at a time, so they can listen and give suggestions for improvement. This would build the sense of community in the classroom as they work to “lift each other up.”