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Mini Lesson for our Maternal Home and Stories in Our Bones

Secondary, Middle

Description

This NFB mini-lesson invites students (ages 15–17) to explore themes of Indigenous identity, connection to land, kinship, intergenerational learning, reciprocity, and wellbeing through two short films by Janine Windolph (Stories Are in Our Bones and Our Maternal Home). Students begin by reflecting on how spending time with Elders and Knowledge Holders on the land supports learning and identity formation. They engage in guided visualization and sharing about traditional land-based learning, then participate in structured group work that explores land as medicine, sustainable harvesting, and holistic health. Finally, they reflect personally on how strengthening ties to ancestry, homeland, and cultural practices influences their sense of belonging, identity, wellbeing, and future aspirations. Activities include partner sharing, visual thinking maps, group poster rotation, and creative personal expression (video, art, essay, etc.) to respond to the overarching question: How can connection to land, ancestors, and acts of reciprocity influence who you are and who you want to be?

In Stories Are in Our Bones, Janine Windolph follows her two young, city-raised sons as they connect with their kokum (grandmother), a residential school survivor with deep knowledge of the land. Through activities like fishing together, the boys begin to rebuild cultural and familial connections that were interrupted by displacement from their ancestral homeland. The film emphasizes how ancestral stories, land-based practices, and shared experiences help shape identity and resist cultural disconnection.

In Our Maternal Home,  Windolph continues the theme of returning to the land by journeying with her children and sister to the Cree Nation of Waswanipi to confront the impacts of cultural disconnection across generations. The film highlights the healing power of kinship, cultural practices, and land-based knowledge. By reconnecting with family, community, and traditional territory, they cultivate a “maternal home” — a source of nourishment, identity, and resiliency rooted in relationships with people and with Mother Earth.

General Assessment

Recommendation of how and where to use it

This resource can be used as a reflection activity that supports learning about Indigenous perspectives, identity, land, and well being. Teachers can use the films as a discussion starter or case study to explore how connection to land, family, and ancestry shapes identity and resilience. Across grade levels, the resource supports curriculum goals related to reconciliation, citizenship, sustainability, and holistic well being, while fostering empathy, critical thinking, and meaningful engagement with Indigenous voices and lived experiences.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

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        • B.C. First Peoples: Cultural expressions convey the richness, diversity, and resiliency of B.C. First Peoples.
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        • B.C. First Peoples: The impact of contact and colonialism continues to affect the political, social, and economic lives of B.C. First Peoples
        • B.C. First Peoples: Through self-governance, leadership, and self-determination, B.C. First Peoples challenge and resist Canada's ongoing colonialism
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: Indigenous peoples are reclaiming mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being despite the continuing effects of colonialism
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: Indigenous peoples continue to advocate and assert rights to self-determination
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: Reconciliation requires all colonial societies to work together to foster healing and address injustices
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: The identities, worldviews, and languages of indigenous peoples are renewed, sustained, and transformed through their connection to the land.
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        • Contemporary Indigenous Issues and Perspectives in a Global Context, (Univ./College prep.): Global Trends and Cultural Survival
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        • Geography of Canada 421A: Cultural Connections
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        • Native Studies 30: Land Claims and Treaty Land Entitlements
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        • Social Studies 10 -Canada and the World: 1914 to the Present : The development of political institutions is influenced by economic, social, ideological, and geographic factors.
        • Social Studies 10 -Canada and the World: 1914 to the Present: Historical and contemporary injustices challenge the narrative and identity of Canada as an inclusive, multicultural society
    • Grade 11
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Explorations in Social Studies 11: Indigenous peoples are reclaiming mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being despite the continuing effects of colonialism
    • Grade 12
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • B.C. First Peoples: Cultural expressions convey the richness, diversity, and resiliency of B.C. First Peoples.
        • B.C. First Peoples: The identities, worldviews, and languages of B.C. First Peoples are renewed, sustained, and transformed through their connection to the land
        • B.C. First Peoples: The impact of contact and colonialism continues to affect the political, social, and economic lives of B.C. First Peoples
        • B.C. First Peoples: Through self-governance, leadership, and self-determination, B.C. First Peoples challenge and resist Canada's ongoing colonialism
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: Indigenous peoples are reclaiming mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being despite the continuing effects of colonialism
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: Indigenous peoples continue to advocate and assert rights to self-determination
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: Reconciliation requires all colonial societies to work together to foster healing and address injustices
        • Contemporary Indigenous Studies: The identities, worldviews, and languages of indigenous peoples are renewed, sustained, and transformed through their connection to the land.

Themes Addressed

Citizenship (1)

  • Community-Building and Participation

Human Health & Environment (1)

  • Quality of Life

Indigenous Knowledge (2)

  • Rituals, Spirituality and Worldviews
  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge

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