Birch Bark Canoe: Navigating Multidisciplinary Writing Inquiries
|
On November 20, 2014, the Passions, Pedagogies, and Publics research cluster hosted the second in a series of public events that aim to give participants an opportunity to see how writing is being taught and used as a tool for learning in various disciplines, to explore connections to their own teaching contexts, and to generate strategies and recommendations for understanding and teaching writing in the province—from Kindergarten through post-secondary education. This second conversation focused on the transdisciplinary film and curriculum celebrating Aboriginal ways of knowing based on the art and science of the birch bark canoe.
|
Randy Herrmann, Engineering Access Project.
Randy Herrmann is the director of the Engineering Access Program (ENGAP) at the University of Manitoba. He is dedicated to increasing the number of Aboriginal students pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers, particularly to increasing the number of Aboriginal students graduating from engineering programs.
The inspiration for the development of a film and curriculum about the birch bark canoe began for Herrmann at a used book sale. In the stacks of previously loved books, Herrmann discovered a book that explored the history of North and South American Aboriginal contributions to science. As he read, he began to think about how our current Western culture is more representative of pre- than post-colonization culture—what we wear, the crops we grow, how we grow them, many of our medicines and some forms of our transportation all come from Aboriginal knowledge [or, are all gifts of Aboriginal peoples]. During the first 100 years of colonization, ten colonies were abandoned because the colonists could not adapt and survive. It was not until the colonists began to partner with Aboriginal people that they had any success thriving in this new place. Aboriginal people shared their knowledge and means of survival to colonists as gifts, yet our educational systems are still largely silent about the foundational contributions of North and South American Aboriginal knowledge.
Herrmann began to think about how the many contributions of North and South American Aboriginals to science, engineering, art, and culture could and should be shared with school-aged children in Manitoba schools. He shared his ideas with partners from Engineers Canada, Manitoba Aerospace, the Engineering Access Program and the Faculty of Engineering and soon there was momentum to begin a series of curricular materials focusing on different Aboriginal contributions to science and technology. They limited the scope of the first project to centre on the artifact of the birch bark canoe because it is a beautiful object, but also because it exemplifies beautiful engineering. Herrmann began to secure funding, put a team together, and work with Peter Jordan to develop a film for this first project. He sees the potential to develop more curricula focusing on other Aboriginal contributions to art, science, and culture.
The inspiration for the development of a film and curriculum about the birch bark canoe began for Herrmann at a used book sale. In the stacks of previously loved books, Herrmann discovered a book that explored the history of North and South American Aboriginal contributions to science. As he read, he began to think about how our current Western culture is more representative of pre- than post-colonization culture—what we wear, the crops we grow, how we grow them, many of our medicines and some forms of our transportation all come from Aboriginal knowledge [or, are all gifts of Aboriginal peoples]. During the first 100 years of colonization, ten colonies were abandoned because the colonists could not adapt and survive. It was not until the colonists began to partner with Aboriginal people that they had any success thriving in this new place. Aboriginal people shared their knowledge and means of survival to colonists as gifts, yet our educational systems are still largely silent about the foundational contributions of North and South American Aboriginal knowledge.
Herrmann began to think about how the many contributions of North and South American Aboriginals to science, engineering, art, and culture could and should be shared with school-aged children in Manitoba schools. He shared his ideas with partners from Engineers Canada, Manitoba Aerospace, the Engineering Access Program and the Faculty of Engineering and soon there was momentum to begin a series of curricular materials focusing on different Aboriginal contributions to science and technology. They limited the scope of the first project to centre on the artifact of the birch bark canoe because it is a beautiful object, but also because it exemplifies beautiful engineering. Herrmann began to secure funding, put a team together, and work with Peter Jordan to develop a film for this first project. He sees the potential to develop more curricula focusing on other Aboriginal contributions to art, science, and culture.
Peter Jordan, Filmmaker
Peter Jordan is a filmmaker and self-proclaimed “canoe nut.” He felt personally connected to the project of making a film about the birch bark canoe because of how he feels freedom and experiences obstacles turning into opportunities when he is in his canoe. When talking to Herrmann about the project, Jordan believed the birch bark canoe would make a strong starting point for this curricular project. He described the birch bark canoe as being integral to the development of our country, a beautiful work of art that is made from the earth to live in the water, and an obvious metaphor for a powerful story to be told through film: of journeying from innocence to experience to wisdom.
Jordan began the filmmaking process through research, largely seeking people who have built birch bark canoes using Indigenous knowledge passed through storytelling and hands-on experience. Herrmann and Jordan traveled to the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario to talk to canoe builder and curator Jeremy Ward and to Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay to talk to master canoe builder Dave Brown. They were then introduced to elder Marcel Labelle who tells about his experiences building birch bark canoes to go moose hunting. He now teaches this idea to school-age students, telling them that he “goes shopping in the woods, but there is some assembly required.” In the film, Labelle shares how the design of the canoe is based on the anatomy of the human body. Jordan then learned of a birch bark canoe builder much closer to home. Kevin Brownlee is the Curator of Archaeology at The Manitoba Museum. In the film, he is interviewed about his experiences making a birch bark canoe and how imperative the canoe was for opening travel and removing obstacles in Canada. |
|
Jordan also wanted to include a sense of the future for birch bark canoes in his film. Are these canoes now relegated to become pieces of art, artifacts in museums, or cottage toys? Herrmann connected Jordan with a successful graduate of the Engineering Access Program, Carly Delavau who was a PhD candidate at the time of filming. For this section of the film, Carly demonstrates a variety of experiments comparing the birch bark canoe to the more modern river barge. In every one of these experiments, Carly clearly demonstrated that the canoe out-performs the barge. The birch bark canoe exemplifies what all modern engineers are striving for, because it is environmentally perfect (it has a neutral impact on the earth), it is effective and efficient, and it is beautiful.
Jordan wanted the film to be one that could be interesting for everyone. Although the target audience is school-aged children, the film does not talk down to anyone or rely on high speed editing. Instead, Jordan’s film slows learning down through archival footage and allows space for each contributor to tell his or her full story.
Jordan wanted the film to be one that could be interesting for everyone. Although the target audience is school-aged children, the film does not talk down to anyone or rely on high speed editing. Instead, Jordan’s film slows learning down through archival footage and allows space for each contributor to tell his or her full story.
Pauline Broderick, Faculty of Education
Pauline Broderick is an instructor at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Education, curriculum designer, and arts-based researcher. She was invited into the project to bring pedagogical perspectives and develop a multidisciplinary curriculum that would explore the art and science of the birch bark canoe.
Through Herrmann and Jordan’s vision, Broderick inherited the vibrant significance of the artifact, but it then became her task to design curriculum that would position the birch bark canoe within a 21st century classroom. Drawing upon her lived experiences of teaching and pedagogical knowledge, she began to design curriculum that would encourage active engagement and provoke curiosity through inquiry-driven learning experiences. Broderick approached this curriculum design task as an art-based researcher, which she describes as “a way to broaden the palette for exploring educational phenomena.” She did so to generate “What if…” questions about how to engage learning about and through the birch bark canoe. Through her own “what if” questions, she began to conceptualize the birch bark canoe story as a curriculum catalyst—something that promotes and provokes change. She wondered what might happen if Aboriginal perspectives became integrated not just as content, but instead became an active “verbing” process. She designed the curriculum as a circle with the birch bark catalyst in the centre. The circle represents an ongoing way of looking at life and it inspires connections. She purposely designed the curriculum to make spaces for students to generate wonder. |
|
For a digital copy of the DVD and curriculum guide please go to www.birchbarkcanoe.ca