My Professional Inquiry Project has been about engaging in Blackfoot ways of knowing.

Both John
Chief Calf and Kenny Fuglerud played a key role in providing me with guidance and strengthening my
understanding of Blackfoot ways of knowing throughout this PIP. Through multiple conversations with Kenny
and John I was able to listen to their advice and learn about the process of setting up of a tipi which played a
key role in working toward my PIP.
When it came to the teaching the process of setting up a tipi, it was shaped by the conversations I had
with John and Kenny. One aspect of these conversations was realized in my teaching was I did not give out any
written instructions to my students. Rather I taught using both visual and verbal communication as our medium
of education when explaining the process of setting up a tipi and the values and beliefs embedded in this
process. The third aspect in which my teaching reflected Blackfoot ways of knowing was by providing the
opportunity for my students to experience Blackfoot values in a hands-on manner. By practicing the process of
setting up the tipi on a miniature model first then by physically setting up the full tipi outside, this gave the
students a physical and hands on way of engaging in Blackfoot ways of knowing. This hands-on approach was
explicitly appreciated within the student’s post-activity reflections by stating “this was an awesome learning
experience”.
Just as much as the setting up of the tipi was a learning opportunity for the students it was also an
opportunity for myself. Kenny joined the class during the day we setup the tipi, and helped provide guidance
(which was much appreciated, since at that point I have never set up a tipi before). With the first group, Kenny
took a strong role in directing and assisting the students in setting up the tipi. When the second group went, the
boys, I took the main role in directing and assisting the students. I was able to take the lead with this second
group since at that point I had already been able to experience the process once before. And you only truly learn
this process by doing rather than discussing it, which allowed me to know what to expect and how to assist.
The last part of my reflection I want to highlight is the importance of cooperation within the process of
setting up a tipi, and the ability to value this cooperation. When the first group went through the process of
setting up the tipi they reflected on the process with these quotes, “At the start we were all pretty quiet but we all
gradually talked to each other and took our time to set the tipi up. I feel it helped us all trust each other”, “We
worked pretty well as a team we weren’t perfect but we were able to work together to identify problems and figure out how to fix
them. We set it up as a team and took it down as a team”. Within these reflections we see the students understanding
the value in cooperation, and how you can build and strengthen cooperation with this process. By valuing
cooperation and working on their cooperation, the activity went well. In regard to the other group their ability to
understand and value cooperation was drastically weaker. With the student’s reflections on their ability to work
as a team being disconnected with their actually actions, their reflections can be summed up as “good”. In
reality this groups cooperation was much weaker, seen with them going too fast, disregarding team members,
and not valuing the importance of communication. Which resulted in the group not being able to wrap around
the tipi skin correctly and running out of time. As a teacher being able to witness both groups complete this
activity, I was able to better understand the values inherent with this process as a I saw just how crucial these
values are in being able to set up the tipi correctly.