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Allyship Presentation - Final Project Fundamental Indigenous principle - share knowledge (Elder Casey Eagle Speaker - " it is not knowledge if you don't share it"). Directions Imagine you are working in your career (e.g. Social Worker, Police Officer, Corrections Officer, Child and Youth Care, Early Childhood Educator, Educational Assistant, etc.) and you are in a position to teach others what you learned about Indigenous history and culture, and about reconciliation. This assignment will offer you the chance to consider what it means to be an ally in your future workplace, and to share knowledge respectfully. Choose one of the following scenarios: Option 1: Imagine you are working as a child and youth care worker and a co-worker makes a comment regarding Indigenous People (i.e., common stereotype) that you know is wrong. Your supervisor gives you the task with educating your co-workers as they know you completed a course on Indigenous Studies, whereas others have not. Option 2: Imagine you are in your first year of law enforcement and someone makes the comment that Indigenous people are all thieves, addicts, and/or homeless. Option 3: You are an educator and someone makes the comment that learning about Indigenous history and culture, or about reconciliation is a waste of time and has no value. Options 4-7 are scenarios in the addiction field, but please consider them an option for all, regardless of what program you're in Option 4: You are an addictions counselor at a community rehabilitation center, and you overhear a colleague making a comment about Indigenous people not being serious about their recovery or "not committed" to treatment. This perpetuates the harmful stereotype that Indigenous people are inherently less likely to succeed in addiction recovery. Option 5: You are an addictions counselor working in a treatment facility. A new client with Indigenous ancestry expresses difficulty in connecting with the program because it doesn't feel culturally relevant to their experience. The client has experienced discrimination within mainstream systems and feels disconnected from both their heritage and their recovery process. Option 6: You work as an addictions counselor at a government-funded addiction treatment center and are tasked with developing an outreach program for Indigenous clients. However, there is resistance within your workplace, with some colleagues arguing that the focus should be on general treatment methods that apply to everyone, not specific culturally tailored programs. Option 7: You are working as an addictions counselor and an Indigenous client shares their experiences with addiction, explaining how they use substances to cope with the trauma passed down from their ancestors, stemming from residential schools and forced assimilation policies. Some of your coworkers seem uncomfortable with the idea of "blaming the past" for present-day substance use. Option 8: If you have another scenario in mind that will allow you to talk about your learning this term, and your understanding of allyship, please propose it to your instructor for approval. Your task is to put together a presentation where you educate your co-workers on the topic that you are addressing. For instance, if the comment was, "First Nations parents don't seem like they know how to parent," your objective is to lay out the history, policies, attitudes and chain of events that led to this complex issue. You must demonstrate your ability to make connections on what you learned throughout the course, in particular embedded structures, policies and/or attitudes. These are the required elements for your response to the scenario: Positionality The presentation will also be personal. You must include an element of your positionality near the start of your paper or presentation. You can share about your life, where you come from, your main influences, your prior attitudes/beliefs/understanding on the issue(s), and use your introduction as a way to make connections and encourage relatability to the audience. You might start off with a short story of yourself or a personal reflection as a way to relate and utilize the important Indigenous principles of relationship-building, reciprocity, and understanding where we come from. Research and analyze structures - 4 references minimum After you introduce yourself and share your positionality, you will then draw upon credible sources from our course or outside the course that help you explain the history, structures, embedded attitudes, and key events that led to the issue you are addressing. You are demonstrating your understanding of ongoing colonization and the historic and and systemic factors that prevent full reconciliation. Personalize the presentation Include your own way of thinking throughout (personalize it) including sharing the key learnings, perspectives, stories, and/or teachings that stood out to you and helped you understand. For instance, you may refer to a key reading, documentary, the lived experiences of someone who visited the class, an Elder teaching or any impactful content from the modules . This is meant to demonstrate what content stood out to you and to help you frame how you can help others broaden their perspectives. Indigenous Worldviews and Teachings You will draw up key understandings of Indigenous worldview, value and/or cultural teachings that you learned as a way to share the positive benefits of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. This is to demonstrate an understanding of Indigenous worldview and to apply it in a real-world setting. Call to Action Conclude your presentation by recommending further action (using the TRC, UNDRIP or MMIWG Calls to Justice as a framework) that all can do to contribute to positive change and to dispel harmful stereotypes. add. 4 references