Takwiya

(time 9:55)

Big Ideas:

Educators are encouraged to focus on four dominant themes throughout their planning and study of the story Takwiya. The themes integral to the story are 1) storytelling as a story within a story; 2) informed decision-making; 3) loyalty and friendship; and 4) childhood: responsibilities, fun, and safety. The following are suggestions and information that will assist educators in meeting their learning objectives for their students.

Backgrounder:

Teachers are encouraged to read the summaries and reflections found in the book Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way that reference and relate to this story. Several important topics and concepts are mentioned, such as:

• Storytelling, teaching and supporting appropriate behaviour, life skills;

• Mob mentality;

• Learning: paying attention, listening, being respectful, questioning;

• Existence of evil in the world;

• Maintaining integrity when challenging others;

• Evolution as a process of moving through existence;

• Western scientific model – colonial framework, evidence-based;

• Relevant artwork.

Language:
Sinixt: slaqs (se-lux) – mosquito;

whuplak’n (whup-lock-en) – the law of the land, first cultural law

smum iem (smum-eem) – live a life of service, second cultural law

English: An introduction to some of the following words and phrases may be needed for younger students prior to, or after, listening to the story:

Village folk, dusk, story running through mind, brush him off, hideous, giddy, a distance away, panic, jostle, a clearing, scanning around, stakes, a doubting moment, enraged, veer off.

The Story:

The story of Takwiya involves some audience participation, particularly for younger students, in the use of expressive actions for Takwiya’s long hair, gnarly fingers, gnarly teeth, and bad breath. Stories help pass along information on many levels. The Takwiya story can be used to demonstrate this transference of information. Some examples:

• Sinixt villages were located next to rivers, creeks, or lakes. (When giving possible reasons such as food source, transportation, and hydration, be sure to include the recreational factor as well as the importance of, and dependence on, water.)

• Storytelling is important within Sinixt communities.

• Storytelling can save lives.

• Adults worked really hard during the day.

• Children enjoyed playing during the day.

• Children probably had chores to finish before being allowed to play at the river. (Common sense would infer this information.)

• Loyalty is important for survival.

• Life lessons are sometimes learned the hard way.

• Leadership qualities start to develop at a young age.

• Not everyone is at the same level of development or consciousness.

• Nature provides materials and tools for the Sinixt. Cedar for baskets; shells for cutting; cooking pit with wooden stakes; firewood for cooking; herbs gathered to season foods.

• Skill development and experience can affect the quality of a product. (reference: tightly-woven basket is difficult to cut)

• The Sinixt had to deal with slaqs (mosquitoes) at their village. (Be sure to reference the moral of the story during your discussion.)

Childhood – fun, games, responsibilities

Adults worked hard during the day while the children played by the river.

The above statement is an over-simplified summary of daily life in a Sinixt village. Help the students examine the main ideas implied by this statement.

• For balance and survival to occur in the Sinixt community, the members of the village had many responsibilities and needed to commit to sharing and helping each other with important tasks. Because the transference of knowledge from one generation to the next was critical for survival, the adults must pass along the teachings and skills to the children. Name some of the tasks they may have been working on during the day. (i.e. fishing, hunting, berry-picking, gathering bark for basket-making or tule mats, medicine gathering, root digging, wood gathering, preparing shelters for winter, preparing caches for food storage, etc.)

• What role would the children play in helping their community? Think of age-related chores and responsibilities that might be undertaken in a village situation, i.e. gathering sticks for the fire; being a good audience member during storytelling; taking care of younger siblings; observing, learning, and developing new skills; showing respect and patience during ceremony and ritual; assisting with controlled burns; practising cultivation and caretaking protocols within one’s homeland; assisting with preparation of meat and fish for storage; gathering foods such as berries and nuts; welcoming visitors and helping them feel comfortable, and so on.

• Plainly put, it was the responsibility of the children to learn. In what ways do you think the children in a Sinixt community learned? The teachings or cultural laws, whuplak’n and smum iem, were not learned sitting at a desk or within strict authoritarian and controlled environments. They were exampled by mature members of the group. As far as children were concerned, their ‘inclusion’ in daily village life was of utmost importance. Children were mentored in a most natural way by living within whuplak’n and smum iem, the cultural laws. They learned through experience, by doing, by observing, through storytelling, and through ritual, ceremony, and spiritual practise. ‘Inclusion’ was the key. Discuss what students have learned, have developed, or are learning, through ‘inclusion’.

• Research topic: Childhood is a recent invention, i.e. within the last 120 years or so. Older students may find it interesting to compare and contrast the demands on a ‘child’ from the 1800s (i.e. a 4 a.m. wake-up call for a 10 year old to go down in the mines to work) to their own childhoods. Introduce the concept of debating pros and cons.

Problem-solving

Introduce the students to the concept of critical thinking. For students to mature into independent thinkers with the ability to present arguments in a thorough and logical manner, well developed critical thinking skills are a must. When critical thinking skills are fostered within an educational process, students have far more potential to consider perspectives beyond their comfort zones.

Examine the story to identify incidents and situations where critical thinking or reading clues is involved in solving a problem or making a decision. Several potential problems arise in the story:

• Problem: The children are playing unsupervised at the river.
  They were supposed to be watching one another. They felt so safe they even fell asleep.

• Problem: The temperature started cooling down while they were sleeping.
  Why does this fact need to be considered in decision-making? Night is approaching – should we head home and get inside? There are possible dangers at nighttime when no adults are around.

• Problem: Some trust issues arise regarding the Takwiya story that was told to the children.
  Not all the children initially trust the story. Not all the children trust their parents are telling them the truth and are just trying to scare them. Trust your senses to help you gather information. (bad smell, hearing twigs snap, feeling cooler air)

• Problem: The children may be in danger if they stay on the beach.
  Why does the boy feel so strongly that he has to get the other children off beach? This could lead to some consideration of leadership qualities.

• Problem: The adults who could help them are far from the river.
  The boy decides on two different occasions that he cannot run to get help. What is stopping him? 1) too far and would take too long; 2) he’s not fast enough and so keeps running around the fire. If he veers off he will be caught by Takwiya.

• Problem: The little boy wonders about his abilities and asks himself many questions as he begins to doubt himself.
  What am I going to do? How am I going to do this? How am I going to beat her? Am I fast enough? She’s obviously really fast. And she’s really strong. There’s no way I’m going to be able to save my friends. If they’re going to die, then I’m going to die trying to save them.

• Problem: The older boy is set free by the younger boy but feels some guilt while running away?
  Consider the range of emotions felt by the young boy as he moved through his problem-solving dilemma, i.e. happy he could free his friends, sad or disappointed they didn’t stay around to help him, scared he would be killed by Takwiya, relieved the older boy showed some loyalty, and gratitude that the older boy decided to return to help.

• Debate topic for older students re: critical thinking:
  Raising children to be independent thinkers and to use well developed critical thinking skills may be democratically dangerous.
  
  

Safety: Rules/ Behaviour/code of conduct

Playing in or near a water source is a fun activity particularly on a hot day.

• What advice, warnings, or directions might be given to the children before they were allowed to play at the river.

• Review the need for rules, regulations, and codes of conduct. Are your classroom rules working or do they need to be revisited.

• Give some consideration to the fact that the Sinixt children in the village would have no access, as we know it today, to doctors, x-rays, tetanus shots, medical facilities, hospitals, etc. Consider what or who they would turn to for help if someone were to get hurt or fall ill? How would that impact the family’s ability to fulfil its responsibilities to the tribe, particularly where travel was required?

Emotions/senses

The real benefit of emotion is tied to their power to guide the decisions we make about what to do next. Educators could use this section as a springboard into role-playing or posturing exercises related to a unit on emotion (See also the plan for Coyote and Chickadee.). A range of emotions is mentioned or alleged in the story of Takwiya. The list includes fear, panic, anger/rage, excitement, sadness, happiness, fatigue, indifference, giddiness, loyalty, and more.

• There are many games and exercises educators may use to illicit ‘emotion’ signals from students. Senses give clues or signals regarding safety concerns …twig snaps, smells something funny, air getting colder.

• Reading body language, particularly the STOP signals, can be a helpful tool for children to avoid challenging or harmful situations.

• Consider the statement: Emotion is the enemy of reason.

Curricular Competency: (developed by the teacher creating the lesson plan in collaboration with the student(s) receiving the knowledge)

Communication:

Creative Thinking:

Critical Thinking:

Positive Personal & Cultural Identity:

Personal Awareness & Responsibility:

Social Responsibility: