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The speaker discusses the importance of learning about Indigenous people and their history. They talk about the origin of terms used to address Indigenous people and how some of these terms can be harmful or inaccurate. They also emphasize the need for proper representation of Indigenous people in media and the negative impact of stereotypes. The speaker mentions the view of some Indigenous people on the apology made by the Crown for residential schools, stating that monetary compensation is not enough to address the long-term impacts of this trauma. They conclude by highlighting the importance of education in order to have a voice and support the needs of Indigenous people in the future. Hi, my name is Esther. Welcome to my podcast. I'm sure if you're in grade 11, you wondered what was the point of us having to take grade 11 English around Indigenous people, or perhaps you were a future grade 11 student picking your courses, and you're annoyed that you have to spend much time learning about Indigenous people. To be honest, I can relate, because at the beginning of this course, I thought I knew everything there was to learn about Indigenous people, which of course, now that I look back, that statement was very ignorant because there is a lot to learn. Throughout this course, I learned many new things about Indigenous people and history that I was uneducated about. For example, I never really knew the origin of terms we use for Indigenous people, how linguistically, terms that may seem harmful like Aboriginal, their meaning was different. Chelsea Balwell, a Métis writer, helped me understand the concept through her writing, Don't Call Us Late for Supper, that we read in this course. She talks how there are many words used to address Indigenous people, and how many of those words can be harmful. Indigenous people have been addressed on many terms that have evolved and changed with how Indigenous people want to identify themselves. Indigenous people were once referred to as Indians by a misunderstanding with Christopher Columbus, a European explorer, thinking that he had landed in India. We no longer use this term because of how it doesn't connect to Indigenous people, and overall, it is just inaccurate. Other words evolved, such as Aboriginal, which seems harmless, but when we look at the origin of the words in Latin, it means not original, so it was prefixed about ab and not, and original. That can be misleading when referring to Indigenous people because they are originally from Canada, their land. Other words such as Native, First Nation, also tend to generalize and not accurately address the diversity among Indigenous people because of the many subgroups such as Métis, Inuit, Anishinaabe, Cree, etc. That's why it's important to be open and aware about learning and addressing the proper terms when talking to Indigenous people. You may think, what's the point of knowing this? When would I ever use this knowledge? To put it to perspective, think about if you were to call a Chinese person a Japanese person. They'd probably look at you weird and feel a bit offended because despite both being East Asian, they have their own distinct and different cultures. That also applies to Indigenous people because even though they are all Indigenous, they have their own separate cultures, and there are many Indigenous groups within Canada. So if you were ever to come across an Indigenous person, talk to them. It's important to address them properly or even ask if you don't know. I learned also because I assumed that Indigenous was the only term used to call Indigenous people, but I learned about the many different terms that can be used when talking about a specific Indigenous group. So thank you, Chelsea Bowell, for educating me on the proper way to use Indigenous people to address Indigenous people. In this course, I also learned about the view that Indigenous people had on the apology made by the Crown for residential schools. We have all watched the apology and may think it was genuine and has helped move towards reconciliation. As to that, but many Indigenous people, like Dr. Silicon Michael Doctator, I apologize if I pronounced his name wrong, had a different view on this apology. To Dr. Doctator, he viewed the apology as somewhat performative and that it didn't address the more long-term impacts that Indigenous people suffer today from either being in residential schools or having families that were in residential schools. He believed that monetary compensation doesn't change the years of trauma people in his family had experienced. He addressed this with irony in his response when he was recalling how when his cousins came over for supper, they told him how they were receiving residential school settlement money that was $35,000 to buy a new car. He asked if they were healed and they both laughed, showing that to move towards reconciliation, actual change needs to happen. Thank you to Dr. Doctator for helping me understand another perspective on the apology. I also learned the importance of Indigenous representation. Like most kids, I grew up watching movies from Disney and other TV shows on a Saturday morning. I would see Indigenous people on TV, not having much knowledge about them as I was a kid, and they were depicted as quote-unquote savages, being the villains that the cowboys had to stop and would show them in clothes that weren't accurate to who Indigenous people were. I didn't understand how these depictions were harmful and stereotypical, which no child really does, showing the importance of good representation, because a lot of media that we consume creates a narrative to us of how certain groups are. Now that I've grown and looked back, I've seen how offensive these cartoons were. But until this course, I wasn't aware of how even movies where representation was supposed to have a positive impact were romanticized stories that were inaccurate or created this white savior complex that the white man saves the day and they live happily ever after. One movie we all know is Pocahontas. Most of us grew up watching Pocahontas and loved this movie. So did I, loving Pocahontas, the story around John Smith. But in this course, I learned through listening to Telling More Twisted Stories, a podcast by Indigenous people who talk about their own experiences, this story is far from true and was heavily romanticized by Disney. The true story behind Pocahontas is that Pocahontas wasn't even her real name. Her real name was Matoaka. She was an Indigenous girl around 10 to 12 years old. Unlike the Disney movie, there was no love story between her and John Smith because Pocahontas was a child, not even a woman, like depicted in the film that heavily sexualized her. The actual story was that she was kidnapped by European settlers like John Smith and taken to Britain and forced to marry him, a 50-year-old man. She later died from illness, showing how tragic this story is. Not only was this story inaccurate, it led to it being used in a discriminatory way of people dressing up as Pocahontas for Halloween, catcalling Indigenous women by calling them Pocahontas. This shows the importance of good representation and educating yourself when you watch movies and learn what they were based on, just because by doing that you help pave the way for better representation of Indigenous people through media. Thank you to Telling More Twisted Stories podcast for helping me understand the need for good representation. Now you may be wondering with all this knowledge, why do we need this? Because maybe you think that you don't have an impact on Indigenous people in Canada and it's pointless. Knowing about Indigenous people by taking this course is important because despite us being teenagers right now, one day we will grow up and we will be able to vote and have a voice in political matters. By being educated now, by the time we are casting our voting ballots, we can vote for representatives to be a voice for Indigenous people and support the needs of Indigenous people. I hope you learned something new from this podcast episode and that you start to question what you are uneducated about. Thank you. Bye. See you next time.