Instructions:
- Students engage in a beading activity as laid out in Learning Activity 9: The Two-Row Wampum introduced in the QUILLS Indigenous Knowledge Bundle.
- As students’ bead, they listen to the 7 Fires Prophecy told by Grandfather William Commanda & Elder Claudette Commanda: https://rb.gy/e9vjb
- Students can also read about the 7 Fires Prophecy in the 7 Fires Prophecy- Mishomis Book.pdf and 7 Fires Prophecy- Toronto Zoo.pdf
- Teacher discusses the moral of the story with teachers ie: that different cultures need to learn to work together for the good of all.
- Next teacher reads students Coyote’s Eyes found in Jo-ann Archibald’s Indigenous Storywork (pgs. 8 –11).
- Students discuss and look at how the teachings overlap and/or relate to those informing the Two-Row Wampum and the 7 Fire Prophecy.
- Students reflect on the potential of Indigenous ways of knowing and being to compliment and guide the tools of Western science in our efforts to address complex global issues such as global climate change, invasive species, loss of biodiversity, and contaminants in the environment.
- Students can look at the 3 sisters garden as a metaphor for how different ways of knowing and being can be brought together in a good way ie: humans are the 4th sister and have responsibilities to the earth and to ensure that difference ways of knowing and being are balanced. To learn more about this review Learning Activity 9: Relational Gardening in the QUILLS Food and Climate Change Learning Bundle.
- Students reflect on how they can apply the lesson of the 4th Sister to how they conduct themselves in their daily lives.
Optional extension project:
- Students spend time tending to a 3 Sisters Garden. A list of local Indigenous lead and operated gardens in the Katarokwi region can be found in the Local Indigenous Gardens.pdf.
