Since at least 2018, I have been using a course handout on the “4Rs” of First Nations Education with my students at UWGB to introduce them to widely shared indigenous values when we study First Nations history. After several iterations, I am now sharing the document publicly. I created this document based on many years of working with Dr. Rosemary Christensen and other colleagues in the First Nations Studies program at UWGB.
I’d like to draw attention to the acknowledgments included with this document. I am grateful for teachings that I have received from a number of First Nations elders, in addition to Rosemary Christensen (Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), over the years, including: Napos (David Turney, Menominee Nation) and Carol Cornelius (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican), as well as several elders who have walked on: Dorothy Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican), Loretta Metoxen (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), David Courchene, Jr. (Sagkeeng Ojibwe First Nation, Manitoba, Canada), and Joe Rose, Sr. (Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa). Their teachings and perspectives have shaped and informed my views in many ways, though I do not claim that these elders would endorse all of my positions. Several colleagues in First Nations Studies at UWGB, including Professors Lisa Poupart, Forrest Brooks, and J P Leary, have been trusted advisors and friends for many years, as I worked (and continue to work) on integrating First Nations history, culture, and sovereignty into my courses.
I have also shared a personal Acknowledgment of Wisconsin’s First Nations People and Land.
I share this online teaching handout freely via a Creative Commons license, as noted on the document.
