"The best way to help us is just to listen..." - Eddy Robinson

I am a teacher here at GRCI and have been for around 16 years. I have also been fortunate enough to teach grade 11 English over the last two school years with a complete focus on the voices of Indigenous people. As part of that course, students read nonfiction, poetry, short stories, and novels all by Indigenous authors who live in Canada. By reading and teaching the stories of Indigenous people, I feel like I've learned a great deal but I still have so much to learn.

I'm a non-Indigenous person running a course completely focused on what Indigenous people have to say which is in some ways a flawed set-up. So, I've tried to include as many Indigenous voices as possible about all of the issues that come up in the class. One voice that really sticks with me as I read and teach and learn myself comes from a short video clip in which educator and speaker Eddy Robinson (Anishinaabe/Mushkegowuk Cree) says that the best way for non-Indigenous people to help Indigenous people "is to just listen." I included the link here so anyone can check it out. What he says in the video is more meaningful than anything I can say here.

Thank you,

Ben Riche.