Module 4 | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5

The Circle

The Métis infinity symbol, the joining of two circles, illustrates the joining of two cultures and the unending existence of a people.

OOSTF/FEESO (2012) Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, Inuit Ways of Knowing, Introduction, p.3

The circle is a symbol for life and can represent the circle of self-awareness and knowledge. It is a reminder that everything flows in a circle. It denotes wholeness, inclusion, and eternity. It can represent femaleness (womb), connect to the sun and to the moon.

Etuaptmumk: Two-Eyed Seeing

Poetry can give a voice to the voiceless. Poetry can make a powerless person feel powerful. This is why I speak.

Rebecca Thomas

Rebecca Thomas (she/her) is a spoken word artists, Halifax Slam Master, Poet Laureate, and Activist. She writes and speaks about her Mi’kmaq identity, sharing her cultural voice through poetry in public discussions.

In her TEDx Talk above, she speaks about the power of language as it is woven into who we are as people and how it impacts our worldview. She extends this idea in her discussion of “peoplehood” in relation to identity:

Peoplehood… differs from identity in that it extends beyond individual identity… to four things: territory, sacred history, ceremonial cycle, and language – each thread informs the other… the best part is it is tremendously flexible.

Rebecca Thomas (2016) TEDx Talk

To learn more about Etuaptmumk, Two-Eyed Seeing, check out the video from Cape Breton University featuring Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall below and the information from the Institute for Integrative Science & Health.

Discussion #11: STWC Etuaptmumk

Rebecca Thomas ends her TEDx Talk above with a performance of her spoken word poem “Etuaptmumk” which begins with an allusion to Rita Joe’s poem “I Lost My Talk”. In the discussion board below you will see the text from both poems.

Watch this music video, The Voices I Gained, created by students at the Helen Betty Osborne Education Centre in Norway House, Manitoba as part of the National Arts Centre Rita Joe National Song Project which takes on Rita Joe’s challenge to Indigenous youth to find their voices, share their stories, and celebrate their talents.

• Open the discussion board below
• Use the See – Think – Wonder – Connect Routine to closely observe, question, draw conclusions, and make connections between the two poems (and the music video) and what you’ve learned about Two-Eyed Seeing.
• Highlight, circle, and draw lines to specific lines and words of the poems and attach sticky-notes to illustrate your ideas to make your thinking visible

References

Barlett, Cheryl. (2012, Nov8). Two Eyed Seeing [Video]. Cape Breton University. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_CY-iGduw5c

Joe, R. (2007). I Lost My Talk, from Song of Eskasoni. Poetry in Voice. https://www.poetryinvoice.com/poems/i-lost-my-talk

National Arts Centre. (2016, Jan 8). Rita Joe Song Project – The Voices I Gained. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PukcSRJkpcc

OOSTF/FEESO. (2012). Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, Inuit Ways of Knowing. https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/deepeningknowledge/UserFiles/File/UploadedAmina_/full-circle-first-nations-metis-and-inuit-ways-of-knowing.pdf

Thomas, R. (2016). Etuaptmumk. Understory Magazine. (8) https://understoreymagazine.ca/article/etuaptmumk/

Thomas, R. (2016). Etuaptmumk: Two-Eyed Seeing. TEDxNSCCWaterfront. YouTube. https://youtu.be/bA9EwcFbVfg