SFU Indigenous Curriculum Resource Centre
Salish Weave Box Sets: Art & Storytelling Project
Activities by discipline
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General
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​Write a reflection on the recorded conversation you watched. What stood out to you? What surprised you? What is one thing from the video that you will share with others?
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Identify a passage from your chosen conversation’s transcript and reflect on what you’ve learned from this.
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Before viewing the recorded conversation, choose one artist from the Salish Weave Box Sets: Art & Storytelling Project and browse their pieces on https://salishweave.com/. Pick one piece that stands out to you and reflect on what this image tells you. Then view the recorded conversation of that artist. Reflect on how you see the piece differently after viewing the artist’s recorded conversation.
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All artists in the Salish Weave Collection Box Sets: Art & Storytelling Project discuss the importance of storytelling through art. Try to draw a visual representation of a story you want to tell. This can be in comic form, sketch, paint, digital, or any other way you might want.
Activities for teachers
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Maynard Johnny Jr. discusses the reciprocity of mentorship, and how he has learned things from his mentees as much as he has taught them. At the end of term, reflect and honour what you have learned from your students. Have one cue card for each student with one thing you learned from them over the course of the class. Give each student a cue card and have them write one thing they learned from you anonymously or signed depending on their preference.
Indigenous Studies
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Elements required for positionality statements include heritage or lineage, your occupation, paying respects to the lands which you occupy and… After listening to the artists share their positionalities, draft your own statement.
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Identify the benefits of oral languages which Dylan Thomas describes. Can you think of others?
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lessLIE discusses Coast Salish ownership and appropriation of Indigenous cultures. What is cultural appropriation? Reflect on how lessLIE’s piece tHEIRS examines cultural appropriation.
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How does lessLIE describe reconciliation? Reflect on your previous understanding of reconciliation, and how it has changed after viewing this video.
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What does lessLIE say about the written language? How does this relate to the language in historic treaties?
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What does Maynard Johnny Jr. have to say about the oppression of Indigenous peoples? Write a reflection on what you have learned from his conversation in relation to things learned in the course so far.
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Dylan Thomas mentions using museum archives as a source of inspiration, while also reflecting on their history of stealing Indigenous artifacts. Write or draw a reflection of what this makes you feel/think.
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Maynard Johnny Jr. discusses the importance of kinship ties, and how land is one of these ties. As a practice to engage in recognizing land as a relation, identify the Indigenous territories you currently occupy, and the Indigenous territories of where you are from if they are different.
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Maynard Johnny Jr. discusses art markets and the boundaries of not selling traditional pieces or commodifying Coast Salish culture. What is the best way to determine these boundaries?
English
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Identify the benefits of oral languages which Dylan Thomas describes. Can you think of others?
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In what ways does lessLIE describe art as literacy?
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In what ways do the artists in the conversations describe art as literacy within their work?
Sociology & Anthropology
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Based on your chosen recorded conversation, which sociological concepts best describe some of the topics shared by the artist?
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Choose which recorded conversation you would like to view based on their descriptions, and then compare two sociological theories in relation to the topics they mention.
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All artists describe residential schools and the effects they have had on Indigenous peoples. Choose one recorded conversation and reflect on what elements of total institutions they mention.
Visual Arts
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Reflect on what lessLIE describes when discussing art as a commodity, but also an educational piece. What are your thoughts on this?
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Reflect on what Maynard Johnny Jr. describes when discussing art markets and the concern about selling your culture. What do you think of this?
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Maynard Johnny Jr. explains that art allows people to feel comfortable enough to have an uncomfortable conversation. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
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What elements indicate Coast Salish art, as described by the artists in their conversations? Choose one or more to draw from.
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What is a fractal, as described by Dylan Thomas? How does this alter your perception of his piece Night and Day mentioned in the recorded conversation?
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Dylan Thomas mentions using museum archives as a source of inspiration, while also reflecting on their history of stealing Indigenous artifacts. Write or draw a reflection of what this makes you feel/think.
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Maynard Johnny Jr. explains how he uses his art as a way to teach people about Coast Salish culture. What are 2-3 things you learned from his pieces shown in the recorded conversation?
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lessLIE explains how he uses his art as a way to teach people about Coast Salish culture. What are 2-3 things you learned from his pieces shown in the recorded conversation?
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What does Maynard Johnny Jr. mean when he discusses the Coast Salish art renaissance? What does this mean to you?
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Dylan Thomas discusses the differences between Coast Salish art and Northern Indigenous art. What are 2-3 things that stood out to you?
Mathematics
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What is the aesthetics of geometry, as mentioned by Dylan Thomas? Create an image using rotation symmetry, multi-axis symmetry or radial symmetry.
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What is a fractal, as described by Dylan Thomas? How does this alter your perception of his piece Night and Day mentioned in the recorded conversation?
