Stepping toward a culture: Mi’kmaq music in settler instrumental music classrooms and rehearsals
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
Nova Scotia music educators have a curricular imperative to engage with the recommendations of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Framed in Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) and the Mi’kmaq concept of Etuaptmumk, or Two-Eyed-Seeing (E/TES), in this research I aimed to examine how the recommendations of the TRC can be facilitated within a settler praxial instrumental ensemble classroom or rehearsal. Additionally, in this research I sought to investigate how Mi’kmaq music may be presented in the context of traditional Mi’kmaq ways of teaching and learning. The research question was: How can the recommendations of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission be facilitated in a praxial settler instrumental rehearsal or classroom? The study involved an artist-in-residence program with a Mi’kmaw musician and an orchestra with students between the ages of 15 and 18. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and journaling. The Mi’kmaw musician taught two traditional Mi’kmaq songs to the orchestra aurally rather than through Western notation. The orchestra learned to sing the songs, play the songs, and finally collectively created arrangements of the songs, all without the direction of a conductor. The orchestra and the Mi’kmaw musician performed all their sessions in a circle in an attempt to decolonize the top-down structures of the traditional Western ensemble set-up and process. The Mi’kmaw musician also provided traditional teachings on Truth and Reconciliation and Mi’kmaq culture and history. The results of the study indicated that removing the colonial elements of the ensemble, such as notated arrangements, specific seating plans, and conductor, as well as the consistent presence of a culture bearer like the Mi’kmaw musician in the classroom, allowed for a deeper understanding of Truth and Reconciliation. Recommendations include four methods of engagement with Indigenous music, each designed to foster a deeper connection to and knowledge of Truth and Reconciliation.
Description
2025
License
Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International