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This article highlights the longstanding neglect of Aboriginal literacy in Euro-Canadian schools, which do not acknowledge the uniqueness of Aboriginal people, through an overview of the history of Aboriginal education in the Maritimes up to Confederation and across Canada from 1867 to the present. The attitudes of educators and their adopted classroom practices in the Maritimes are applicable to Aboriginal education in general. If Aboriginal society had been literate before contact with Europeans then, although heavily influenced by Eurocanadian literacy as revealed in this article, Aboriginal students bring something uniquely different to the learning environment that is worthy of respect. This article discusses other ways to look at literacy that could enable teachers like me to feel privileged to have diverse literacies in the classroom.
I have been listening, but have I heard? It has taken me a long time to understand the primacy of Aboriginal literacy and its significance to culturally appropriate education for Aboriginal students. Indeed literacy is at the heart of Aboriginal education and its history. For the purpose of this article, literacy means the ability to use reading, writing, reasoning, listening, and speaking to make meaning from contemporary visual symbols that communicate ideas, values, and traditions in society. This definition embodies the notion that literacy is a dynamic process; and it develops according to the abilities, needs, and interests of individuals in a given community because, as Leroy (1995) states, "how we read and write cannot be separated from who we think we are, and what we think counts as meaning" (p. 6). Similarly, Street (1994) suggests that how we read and write is "connected with much deeper cultural values about identity, personhood, and relationships" (p. 20). A definition of literacy must consider who people are, or perceive themselves to be, rather than how well they learn a system of symbols. Therefore, the importance of Aboriginal literacy is inherent in who Aboriginal people are.
Literacy of Aboriginal People
Where do I turn to discover how crucial Aboriginal literacy is to Aboriginal people? I choose to listen to Aboriginal educators and to study their history. This choice is beset with difficulties. First, history does not respect or explicate Aboriginal literacy. Second, Aboriginal literacy has not been understood and accepted as...