Running head: PHOTO ESSAY 1

Photo Essay
Katarina Harbich
EDUC 525
13 October 2017
Submitted to
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Figure 1 Grotto Canyon

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Figure 2 Inukshuk you can see after turning a corner

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Figure 3 Canyon walls. Perhaps the pictograph is somewhere here

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This summer I went hiking in Grotto Canyon near Exshaw, Alberta. This hike snakes

through a narrow canyon to a sparkling waterfall. If you keep going you will arrive at a cave and

hoodoos. Between the waterfall and the cave there is a segment where you turn a corner and

come into hundreds of Inukshuk. I am unsure as to who left these Inukshuk. They could have

been made by hikers with good intentions without realizing that they are contributing to the

appropriation of Indigenous culture. The Inukshuk is an Inuit landmark so to have them made by

the hundreds in Alberta is a little strange. Hikers may have been inspired to make these Inukshuk

because Grotto Canyon is home to an Aboriginal pictograph. In 2001, a high-tech photograph

captured a Kokapelli (the flute player) in the pictograph (Walton, 2001). The Kokapelli

symbolizes the traveler by the Hopi people of Arizona. When this pictograph was researched it

confirmed the legends that this tribe traveled as far north as Alberta (Walton, 2001). You should

be able to find the pictograph before the waterfall on the canyon wall. Unfortunately, I was not

able to find it since the oils from the fingertips of many prior hikers have faded the pictograph.

Grotto Canyon is a popular trail and while it is not bad that hikers want to visit the pictograph

and enjoy the Inukshuk, they are disrespecting this site by not preserving it or taking the time to

learn about where these icons came from.

Since starting this course, I have begun to appreciate Indigenous cultures more and I have

also realized how much I have ignored it. Similar to how I ignored the pictograph after a few

minutes of not being able to find it. I never saw myself as the kind of person to ignore culture. I

have traveled to many different countries and I have studied five different languages. I think

there is a lot you can learn about yourself as well as the world when appreciating other cultures.

However, since elementary school I have seen Indigenous cultures as boring. I attended private
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and Catholic schools which presented Aboriginal cultures dryly. There were no Indigenous

teachers or students present at my schools because they were primarily white and middleclass

dominated. Therefore, there was no one there who could authentically share Aboriginal cultures.

It is also very likely that my teachers simply did not know any better. The Truth and

Reconciliation Commission was not established until 2008. I was already a high school student

then, so my teachers probably had not had anyone to teach them about Indigenous cultures yet.

Consequently, they did not have the knowledge or resources to teach me (or other students)

about Aboriginal cultures. This would be comparable to how the Grotto Canyon hikers did not

know that it is was inappropriate to touch the pictograph or make Inukshuk. It is important for

teachers today to learn about and respect Aboriginal cultures due to the rough and ongoing

history of Aboriginal people in Canada. The reason this course is important is so that us future

teachers can know better. With this knowledge we can educate our students to be respectful of

and informed about Aboriginal cultures. We can also represent Indigenous cultures in schools by

educating more Indigenous teachers. Our students will hopefully grow up to be Canadians who

do know better than our predecessors. This will help move Canada closer towards

Reconciliation.

During one of my group’s weekly discussion we talked about how important language is

to identity. One of the corner stones of culture is language. When you can speak a language, it

brings you closer to its ideals and people. As said by St. Denis (2007) “the ability to speak one's

language has become an important sign of one's cultural authenticity,” (p.1077). If one cannot

speak their own language, they will not feel authentic to that culture and consequently will have

lost a part of their identity. During Residential Schools, Indigenous children were not allowed to
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speak their language. Today we can still see this influence as many Indigenous people believe

that for their children to be successful they should learn English instead of their own language.

(St. Denis, 2007).

Indigenous cultures carry their stories orally and ideographically. One of the ways

symbolic literacy is expressed is through pictographs (Carter, 2010). Language revitalization has

become an important part of Indigenous people reclaiming their cultures but because many

languages are dying it is very difficult. If we do not act quickly to put supports in place such as

language education. Then as the pictograph slowly fades, the languages will as well. When I first

went to Grotto Canyon, it never occurred to me that the pictographs are a part of the Hopi

symbolic literacy. Now I see it as an important historical icon to preserve as a part of their

language and culture.

Like the pictograph disappearing, my previous indifference to Indigenous cultures is

partly due to the attempted erasure of them by the legacy of Residential Schools. St. Denis

(2007) states that “among the many devastating effects was the alienation of Aboriginal family

members from one another, and the widespread, deliberate, and for the most part, successful

erasure and slaying of Aboriginal languages,” (p.1073). The erasure of Indigenous cultures has

had devastating and long-lasting effects for the Indigenous peoples of Canada. Resulting in

intergenerational trauma that is still present today. Indigenous children were ripped from their

homes and they never had the opportunity to learn about their own culture or live in a caring

home environment. Due to this, Indigenous cultures could not be shared, appreciated, or

practiced. Children also never learned how to be caring adults themselves and this has continued

for generations. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to this in Canada’s National
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Apology “we now recognize that in separating children from their families, we undermined the

ability of many to adequately parent their own children and sowed the seeds for generations to

follow, and we apologize for having done this,” (Prime Minister Harper, Assembly of First

Nations Chief P. Fontaine, Inuit Leader Mary Simon, 2008). This apology is not perfect because

it does not give full justice to the reality of Residential Schools. However, by recognizing that

the effects of Residential Schools are still lasting today, we can begin to work towards

Reconciliation.

To me Reconciliation means not only apologizing but doing something tangible. Many

people learn best through experience and action. Aboriginal people would also be able to see this

action. In Grotto Canyon, one way to do this could be to make the pictographs into a historic site

and have Aboriginal interpreters there (preferably from the Hopi Nation or local groups). As

hikers go through the canyon, they would become more knowledgeable about the significance of

this site. They would learn that they must respect it and it would protect the pictograph from the

adverse effects of cultural tourism. As a result, the hikers would also come out of the canyon

with a better understanding of Aboriginal cultures.

As a future physical education teacher, I would like to take my students on a hike through

Grotto Canyon to find the disappearing pictograph. When this proves to be difficult, they would

be able to experience firsthand the effects of colonialism and cultural tourism. I also think that it

would be interesting to investigate how the Hopi tribe influenced the Indigenous people of

Alberta. The pictograph was left about 500 to 1,300 years ago (Walton, 2001) and Grotto

Canyon is near the Stoney Nakoda Nation. It is probable that these groups met and orally

exchanged ideas. However, when I attempted to research this, I could not find any information.
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The fact that there is little evidence of the Hopi in Canada, further proves the colonial effects of

the erasure of Indigenous languages and cultures. It will take all of us to reconcile our collective

past, and this will be difficult. However, it is necessary to create a newer, better course for the

future (Lefebvre & Elliott, 2017). One way this can be done is by educating Canadians about

Indigenous cultures and affirming that Indigenous knowledges are an essential part of Canada’s

history and culture today (Batistte, 2013).

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References
Batisste, M. (2013). Decolonizing Education: Nourishing the Learning Spirit (pp. 170).
Saskatoon: Purich Publishing Limited.
Carter, B. (2010). Indigenous Knowledge through Oral Narratives. Retrieved October 27, 2017,
from http://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540sept10/2010/10/03/orality-%E2%80%93-indigenous-
knowledge-through-oral-narratives/
Lefebvre, M., & Elliott, A. (2017, October 4). Naming Ourselves: Who Defines Indigenous
Identity? Retrieved October 09, 2017, from https://thewalrus.ca/we-didnt-choose-to-be-
called-indigenous/
Prime Minister Harper, Assembly of First Nations Chief P. Fontaine, Inuit Leader Mary Simon
(2008). [YouTube video] Canada’s National Apology: http://www.aadnc-
aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100015677/1100100015680
St. Denis, V. (2007). Aboriginal education and anti‐racist education: Building alliances across
cultural and racial identity. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(4), 1068-1092.
Walton, D. (2001, June 29). Alberta drawings support ancient myth. Retrieved October 23, 2017,
from https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/alberta-drawings-support-
ancient-myth/article534019/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&