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Science 4-10, Biology 11

Facilitator’s Guide of 3

Group Activity (Provocation)

Introduction to

Indigenous Medicine Wheels Overview

Students explore various Indigenous Medicine Wheels as an introduction to First Peoples perspectives, knowledge, and ways of knowing. As noted by Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass, “To truly understand a thing we need to understand it with all four aspects of our being; mind, body, emotion, and spirit”. When we reflect on our learning with reference to a Medicine Wheel, we can often deepen our understanding and make more meaning for ourselves.

This activity can be used to an introduction to facilitate students using “Reflection Wheels” to organize their learning in future activities and it can be further linked to a variety of grade-appropriate provocation and development activities and units (see links below). Together, the provocation and development activities allow students to explore broad questions such as:

• How is life interconnected? o ADD LINKS HERE

• How have First Peoples perspectives, practices, and knowledge influenced the world? o ADD LINKS HERE

• Does a Eurocentric or any "-centric" view of science limit our knowledge and success as a society?

o ADD LINKS HERE

Objectives

Content Curricular Core

Student scan explain at a grade-appropriate and unit-relevant manner:

o aspects of First Peoples perspectives, practices, and knowledge

Students can:

• see that they can make their classroom, school, community, or natural world a better place

• can analyze complex social and/or environmental issues from multiple perspectives and take thoughtful actions to influence positive, sustainable change

Students can:

• contribute to group activities, do their fair share

• summarize key ideas and recognize commonalities

• recognize there are different points of views and disagree respectively

• take action to support diversity and defend human rights, and can identify how diversity is beneficial for their community

• tell what is important to them and explain what their values and beliefs are


Facilitator’s Guide Page 2 of 3

Required Supplies and/or Preparation

Recommended Background Resources for Facilitators

• Elder in Residence or Local Elders

• Blog Post: What is an Aboriginal Medicine Wheel (brief introduction) o from Joseph, Bob, What Is an Aboriginal Medicine Wheel?, Indigenous Corporate

Training, Inc., 16 Apr. 2013, www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-is-an-aboriginal-medicine-wheel

• Article: The Medicine Wheel (an in-depth, personal perspective) o from Whiskeyjack, Francis The Medicine Wheel, Windspeaker.com a division of

Aboriginal Multi-Media Society, accessed 8 June 2019, https://windspeaker.com/teachings/the-medicine-wheel

• Article: The Medicine Wheel (an in-depth, personal perspective) o from Laframbroise, Sandra and Sherbina, Karen, The Medicine Wheel, Dancing To

Eagle Spirit Society, accessed 8 June 2019, http://www.dancingtoeaglespiritsociety.org/medwheel.php

Student Handouts

• Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels: PARNTER Exploration and Reflection (handout, below) – 1 copy per group of 2

• Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels: GROUP Reflection and Creation (handout, below) – 1 copy per group of 4

• OPTIONAL Assessment for Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels

Other materials

• colouring supplies

• OPTION: glue and scissors if groups of 4 want to literally divide and conquer while creating their medicine wheel

Activity Description

Total Time 60 minutes

Part 1 (~20 min)

• students work in groups of 2 to complete their copy of the Introduction to Medicine Wheels: PARTNER Exploration and Reflection handout

• one partner reads the instructions and brief background aloud to the other partner (5 min)

http://www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-is-an-aboriginal-medicine-wheel

https://windspeaker.com/teachings/the-medicine-wheel

http://www.dancingtoeaglespiritsociety.org/medwheel.php


Facilitator’s Guide Page 3 of 3

Activity Description

Total Time 60 minutes

• partners inspect, compare and discuss the various Medicine Wheels (5 min)

o they do not write anything down yet as their focus is on listening to each other and thinking

• partners discuss some of their own beliefs and values and how they may relate to and be

represented with a Medicine Wheel (5 min)

o again, they do not write anything down yet as their focus is on listening to each other and thinking

• partners record their comparisons, reflections, and ideas on their Introduction to Medicine

Wheels: PARTNER Exploration and Reflection handout (5 min)

Part 2 (~10 min)

• encourage 2 sets of partners to pair up to form a group of 4

• each group of 4 exchanges their completed handouts from Part 1 with another group of 4

• handout the Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels: GROUP Reflection and Creation handout to each group of 4

o one partner reads the instructions for the Group Reflection section aloud to the other group members

o group members work together, using the handouts that they received from the other group, along with their recollection of their own ideas during Part 1, to complete the Group Reflection section of the Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels: GROUP

Reflection and Creation handout (10 min)

▪ Note: this approach may seem redundant to some but it is intended to encourage ALL students to express their voice as well as to facilitate students' active listening skills and abilities to build off of others' ideas, hence they begin in groups of 2 before moving to groups of 4

Part 3 (~30 min)

• one partner reads instructions for the Group Creation section aloud to the other group members

• group members work together to complete the guided brainstorm (~5-10 min)

• group members work together to create their unique vision and version of a Medicine Wheel that relates to their experiences within their school community (~20 minutes) o OPTION: students can cut out the 4 quadrants of the blank Medicine Wheel and have each

group member work on one quadrant of their proposed Medicine Wheel, according to the groups agreed up design, they can then glue the finished quadrants back together as a completed wheel

Note: if you choose to offer or encourage this option you need to copy the Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels: Group Reflection and Creation handout as a single-sided hand out (i.e., DO NOT DOUBLE SIDE)


Partner Handout Page 1 of 2

Partner 1's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 2's Name: _____________________________________

Date: _____________________________________

Class: _____________________________________

Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels:

PARTNER Exploration and Reflection

Instructions

❑ please work with a partner (groups of 2) ❑ one partner should read these instructions aloud to the other partner ❑ read the background section and together, look at and consider the simplified Medicine Wheels below

❑ then, turn over the page and compare and discuss the Medicine Wheels found in Quadrants 1, 2, and 3 (5 min)

❑ do not write anything down yet as your focus is on thinking, sharing your ideas, and listening to each other

❑ next, discuss some of your own beliefs and values and how they may relate to and be represented with a Medicine Wheel (5 min)

▪ again, do not write anything down yet ❑ once you have thought about it, shared your ideas, and listened to each other, you should record your comparisons, reflections, and

ideas, for each quadrant, in the space provided (5-10 min)

Background

As noted by Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass, “To truly understand a thing we need to understand it with all four aspects of our being; mind, body, emotion, and spirit”. When we reflect on our learning with reference to a medicine wheel, we can often deepen our understanding and make more meaning for ourselves. However, to do this, most of us need to learn more about medicine wheels in general. This activity allows you to begin exploring medicine wheels to gain a bit more understanding of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and in preparation for activities that will allow you to use a medicine wheel as a framework for reflecting upon your learning. Medicine wheels are physical representations of many Indigenous cultures' teachings. Thus, medicine wheels tend to be as diverse as the Indigenous cultures that use them. Despite their diversity, most medicine wheels represent and facilitate teachings related to the interconnectivity and continuity of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual nature of being. Below are some different representations of Indigenous medicine wheels as an introduction to how some of the teachings relate and may be symbolized. Please explore them carefully and with consideration.

a. b.

Figure 1. Examples of Medicine Wheels that focus on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of Indigenous teachings. a. Medicine Wheel from ConnectAbility.ca that represents the simplistic yet powerful concepts behind many medicine wheels. b. Medicine Wheel from Vancouver Native Health Society that references some important quotes that highlight and remind us of how the various teachings of the Medicine Wheel can help promote overall health and well-being of individuals and communities.


Partner Handout Page 2 of 2

PARTNER Comparison of, and Reflection on, Medicine Wheels

Quadrant 2: An Example of a Cree Medicine Wheel Influenced by Cree Peoples Teachings (by Francis Whiskeyjack)

Quadrant 1: Example of a Medicine Wheel Influenced by Anishinaabe Peoples Teachings

Quadrant 3: Example of a Medicine Wheel Influenced by West Coast First Peoples Teachings

Quadrant 4: How some of our personal beliefs and values may relate to, or be represented by, Medicine Wheels

Spiritual Physical

Mental Emotional

Concepts and Themes that are Common

To All Three Examples of Medicine Wheels


Group Handout Page 1 of 3

Partner 1's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 2's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 3's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 4's Name: _____________________________________

Date: _____________________________________

Class: _____________________________________

Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels:

GROUP Reflection and Creation

Instructions for Group Reflection

❑ join up with another group of 2 to form a group of 4 for this activity ❑ one partner should read these instructions aloud to the other group members ❑ collect your group's 2 completed copies of the Introduction to the Medicine Wheel: Partner Exploration and Reflection from the previous

activity and exchange them with another group ❑ now, using the Partner Exploration and Reflections that you received from the other group, and recalling your previous discussions,

complete Table 1 below ( 10 min)

▪ you may nominate a single group member as a recorder, or you make take turns recording ❑ when you have completed the Table 1 (below), move on to Table 2. Creating a Medicine Wheel that Reflects Our School Community

Table 1. Medicine Wheel Group Reflection. Comparing and contrasting Medicine Wheels influenced by Anishinaabe Peoples Teachings, Cree Peoples Teaching and West Coast Peoples Teachings.

Medicine Wheel Influenced by Anishinaabe Peoples Teachings

(Eastern First Nations whose traditional territories include, but are not limited to:

Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba)

Medicine Wheel Influenced by Cree Peoples Teachings

(First Nations whose traditional territories include, but are not limited to: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta)

Medicine Wheel Influenced by West Coast Peoples Teachings

(Western First Nations whose traditional

territories include, but are not limited to: BC)

Unique or Slightly Different Features:



Common Features:


Group Handout Page 2 of 3 (Intentionally blank for purposes of easy referencing when using double-sided copying)


Group Handout Page 3 of 3

Partner 1's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 2's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 3's Name: _____________________________________

Partner 4's Name: _____________________________________

Date: _____________________________________

Class: _____________________________________

TEMPLATE: Creating a Medicine Wheel

that Reflects Our School Community

LOVE

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OPTIONAL : Assessment Page 1 of 1

Assessment for Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Wheels

Evidence

Please pick one assessment area from above and provide specific evidence from this activity that supports your assessment.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Acquiring

1

Developing

2

Refining

3

Mastering

4

Extending

4+

Competency Area

Competency Statement

The student can...

or

I can…

1

2 3 4 4+

Core

- act as an active listener and support and encourage the person speaking

- recognize that there are different points of view and, if necessary, disagree respectfully

- present information clearly and in an organized way

- work to achieve a common goal and contribute fairly to do the work

- get new ideas or build on others' ideas, to create new things within the constraints of a form, a problem, or materials

- persevere over time, ambiguity, failure, and setbacks, to develop knowledge, skills, and ideas

- be consistently kind to others, work and play cooperatively, and build positive relationships with diverse people

Content - understand aspects of First Peoples perspectives, practices, and knowledge (in this case, the basic organization and principles of medicine wheels)

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