Faculty of Education Education News Spring / Summer 2012 Page 7
Photo credit : Kurt Schindler of this continent have significance and applicability that span the centuries and are adaptable to modern leadership and organizations . I wanted to bring this point forward and explore and elaborate upon First Nations leadership as it was meant to be . Leaders have to be part of their people . They should not elevate themselves about others . That is not natural . The closer they are physically , spiritually , emotionally , and mentally , the stronger the connections will be for the entire organization . Creating and sustaining relationships is important . The closer a leader walks to moral and ethical ways , the better they are as leaders . Relying on others for help is an important lesson . Humility is important . No one has all the answers or can claim all the knowledge . Our humble and gentle Elders share that all the time . Education is about people : Creating and sustaining relationships within educational systems is essential . We can learn the tenets of Cree and Saulteaux people from the Elders and the leadership and that will make our connections stronger for the betterment of all of society .
An Excerpt from Sandy ’ s Thesis
At the beginning of each chapter , Sandy included a personal narrative from her life . The stories follow the tradition of oral storytelling , which honoured the Indigenous research paradigm , but they also helped her to bridge the Indigenous and Western methods of research by making meaning of the process in relation to her worldview . The following extracts include a portion of her opening narrative and a summary from her final chapter about the significance of First Nations leadership .
Opening Narrative
In the dry hills of Piapot First Nation , my Cree ancestors rest in a beautiful hillside cemetery . My memories of Piapot are few , and have dimmed over the years . How far back do memories go ? What is the earliest memory a child can have ? I remember the touch of my Grandma Crowe ’ s hands on my face . I remember seeing her face and wondering how a person could have so many soft wrinkles and such bright eyes . I clearly see her little gray house nestled in a coulee on the south side of the valley and I recall climbing the front steps to visit her . The rolling , velvety hills of the beautiful Qu ’ Appelle valley were “ Grandma ’ s Hills .” They were hers , I was sure , because she lived there and they were part of her . They were mystical and magical and the hills were connected to her . The feelings and memories she evokes today are inherently good . My mother said that my grandmother would give anyone the shirt off her back . She was a true helper of people and her generosity was endless …
My Respected Leaders and Their Sense of Place
It is important to acknowledge experiences and stories , especially for First Nations leaders , whose experiences in becoming a leader in a world that did not value the Indigenous worldview for so long needed to be told . Through my conversations with the leaders who were so gracious in their sharing , I learned that we , as First Nations people , have to rediscover our leadership . This means going back and finding oneself and one ’ s roots among the collective . First Nations leadership is all about people and a person ’ s place among the people . Locating oneself within a collective is a natural process . Servant leadership and serving people is truly an integral part of the leadership journey . Moral and ethical leadership is a given . The Elders are our strength and guidance . We must listen to them . There is no other way for a person to be true to themselves and lead people in a good way . Staying close to one ’ s heart and close to people is vital .
The participants in my journey acknowledged their spirituality , their emotions , their physical locations , and their mental growth within their leadership . They recognized that they were not above their people or any other living thing . They were humble . Humility had nothing to do with humiliation . Humility was recognizing that there is only so much a person can do on her own . The strength and the courage to ask for help is part of being humble . How we humbly situate ourselves and our generosity to others is an emotional and spiritual place . Place took on another dimension when the leaders centred themselves and found their small , quiet voice , their miskâsowin . The leaders looked for and found spiritual and emotional quietness and centring throughout their leadership journeys . It could be through
Sandy Pinay Schindler
ceremonies , through consultation with Elders , and through relationships to and with others , or a combination of all of these processes .
Relying upon other people and relatives to sustain you is very important . The relational web that binds Indigenous people to their spaces and communities is elastic and strong . It can sustain everyone as they contribute to the collective web of connectivity to make us even stronger .
By far , the greatest learning for me was the cultural affirmation and cultural familiarity that I experienced while talking with these respected people . We shared a colonial and grievous past , but there was no shame in it and no judgment . I did not feel a need to gloss over facts or make excuses . I heard no pity or the sad murmurings that I hear when others listen to the restrictive policies forced upon First Nations people in Canada . I felt loss , yes . Loss for what our people could have been , and what our world would have looked like had we the opportunity to keep our families intact and our communities whole , healthy , and strong . The effects of residential schools and the Indian Act affected us all as First Nations people in Saskatchewan . What I saw was the leaders ’ incredible strength to rise above this pain and create a better world for their communities and their people . They are resilient , admirable people who work morally and ethically every day to help their people find their rightful place . They lead with their hearts .
Defended August 2011 Co-Supervisors : Drs . Linda Goulet , FNUC ; and Dr . Larry Steeves ( U of R ). Committee : Dr . Marc Spooner . External Examiner : Dr . Jolee Blackbear