New modules on the history, resilience and continuance of the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy are now available on Moodle
Image of Wampum belt: Nativemedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Common.
A new series of primer modules on the history, resilience and continuance of the Rotinonhsión:ni (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy is now available on Moodle for all Concordia faculty, staff and students.
Concordia is located on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka, one of the six nations that comprise the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy. The series invites learners to engage with the enduring knowledge, strength and resilience of the Kanien’kehá:ka and other Rotinonhsión:ni peoples through modules on four topics:
- The cosmology and epistemology of the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy
- Rotinonhsión:ni history in the colonial era
- Efforts to colonize the Rotinonhsión:ni
- Resilience and perseverance of the Rotinonhsión:ni
Through these modules, learners can explore the food systems and ecological knowledge of the Rotinonhsión:ni, resistance to colonial policies and practices, treaties, residential and boarding schools, language revitalization and decolonizing methodologies.
For example, in a section of one module, learners are given a brief overview of the founding of the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy. The five original member nations are the:
- Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk)
- Onenio’te’á:ka (Oneida)
- Ononta’kehá:ka (Onondaga)
- Kaion’kehá:ka (Cayuga)
- Shotinontowane’á:ka (Seneca)
This part of the module tells the story of the Peacemaker and his efforts to unite the five warring nations under one law, the Kaianere’kó:wa (Great Law of Peace). The Tehatiskaró:ros (Tuscarora) later became the sixth nation to join the confederacy, in 1722.
Historical and contemporary context
The modules were developed by Kanien’kehá:ka educators Donna Kahérakwas Goodleaf, director of decolonizing curriculum and pedagogy at the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and lead project manager, and Kanentokon Hemlock, researcher and writer for the content of the modules. They worked in close collaboration with members of the eConcordia production team to design the modules. Other members of the CTL as well as Instructional and Information Technology Services (IITS) also contributed significantly to the project.
As Goodleaf explains, the objective of the modules is to inform Concordians about who the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy are from a historical and contemporary context.
“These modules serve as educational primers for the university community to access information and learn about the Rotinonhsión:ni peoples at their own pace. Sharing the modules on Moodle, Concordia’s primary learning platform, contributes to and enriches the university’s different platforms of learning,” she says.
“On a university-wide level, this online educational tool will create the institutional space for learners to access and develop knowledge and understanding about Rotinonhsión:ni history, knowledge and contemporary worldviews at their own speed.”
Sandra Gabriele, vice-provost of innovation in teaching and learning, recognizes the importance of the modules as a valuable teaching and learning tool.
“The primer modules provide a concrete path for Concordia faculty, students and staff to take it upon themselves to begin their own journey of learning about the history, resilience and continuance of the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy,” she says.
‘An integral step in the learning journey’
The primer modules provide faculty, students and staff with in-depth resources to conduct further research on a particular topic. Each module includes slide animations for viewing and provides lists of relevant videos, audio and readings to support learners who wish to gain a deeper understanding of a topic.
Students can integrate the information into their critical thinking, draw from the content to expand their knowledge and self-learning and include the results of their research in their course assignments.
Instructors can use the module content across different academic disciplines as a supplement to their teaching resources and to support and strengthen their academic content. Faculty can integrate aspects of the modules into their curriculum design and pedagogical practices.
The modules can ground Concordia staff in the historical and contemporary contexts of the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy. As employees experience the modules, they can integrate the information as part of their own self-education process and professional development.
The primer modules were created based on two recommended actions from Concordia’s Indigenous Directions Action Plan related to advancing the recognition and integration of Indigenous knowledges in curriculum and pedagogy.
The recommended actions aim to help faculty decolonize and Indigenize curriculum content across all academic departments. They also provide teaching and learning opportunities for students to understand Indigenous peoples and their histories, cultures and contemporary issues.
“The history, resilience and continuance of the Rotinonhsión:ni Confederacy course on Moodle is part of Concordia’s ongoing commitment to positioning Indigenous knowledge systems and voices within academic spaces,” Goodleaf notes.
“There is still much work ahead on the path toward decolonizing and Indigenizing curriculum and pedagogy at Concordia. But the collaborative effort to create greater awareness of the Rotinonhsión:ni peoples and understand their knowledge and histories through the modules is an integral step in the learning journey.”
The primer modules can be accessed on Moodle with these links:
For more information about Indigenous decolonization of curriculum and pedagogical practices visit the Indigenous Decolonization Hub web page on the Centre for Teaching and Learning website.
On February 20 from 10 to 11:15 a.m., a workshop for faculty will introduce the four primer modules and explore approaches instructors can use to integrate the materials into their curriculum and pedagogical practices.
