Resting Lightly on Mother Earth

In this book, the voices of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants are heard as they chronicle their survival in mainstream school systems. The authors describe and analyze the experiences of Aboriginal students, teachers, and pre-service teachers struggling to find a place in urban society. Some voices are resistant, others angry, many questioning, as they enter into tentative coalitions with other urban teachers who pursue social justice for Indigenous peoples. The editors open the book with a wide-ranging look at the contexts of urban Aboriginal education, and explore the themes of the book — identity, disconnection from the land, spirituality, the effects of a colonial legacy — from their own Aboriginal and mainstream perspectives.

A strength of the book is the diversity of backgrounds and experiences the authors bring. The writers are Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, from Canada, the United States and Australia. They have taught and worked in elementary and secondary schools, universities and teacher education programs. All have direct experience working in urban educational settings, and all bring passionate advocacy to their writing. Resting Lightly on Mother Earth is intended for both Indigenous and mainstream educators; it is particularly suitable for teachers and administrators in urban systems, teacher educators, and graduate and undergraduate education students.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Angela Ward and Rita Bouvier
Section I: Intercultural Perspectives
1. “Magpie” babies: Urban Aboriginal students, identity, and inequality in education, Carol Reid
2. Changing perspectives on intercultural classrooms, Angela Ward
Section II: Surviving the City: Stories of Identity Lost and Regained
3. Good community schools are sites of community activism, Rita Bouvier
4. On the margins of the middle: Aboriginal girls in an urban middle school, Heather Blair
5. “No friends, barely”: A voice from the edge of Indian identity, Carol Leroy
6. “Getting to know us”, Linda Watson-Ellam
7. Coyote: Experiences as a district consultant, Shauneen Pete-Willett
Section III: Rebuilding Culture: Teacher Education with Urban Aboriginal Peoples
8. To teach from the soul, Bente Huntley
9. Voices given to us: Contextual theatre in an urban Native teacher education program, Lon Borgerson with pre-service teachers
Section IV: Touching Earth in the City
10. Stories of the people: Success in urban settings, the inner strength of “Indianness”, Dottie King, Bill Walters, and Sharon Wells
Closing reflections, Rita Bouvier and Angela Ward