- Definition
A Knowledge Keeper is someone in an Indigenous community who is respected for their deep understanding of their culture's traditions, stories, and ways of life, and who shares this wisdom to guide their people.
A Knowledge Keeper might be an Elder who is invited to a school to share a traditional story about the land.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: A Knowledge Keeper is like a grandparent for a whole community, holding all their important stories and teachings.
Ask your child: Who in our family knows the most stories?
Common mix-up: Kids might think a Knowledge Keeper is just like a school teacher. A Knowledge Keeper is a special person chosen by their community to protect and share its unique traditions and stories.
Examples
- Teaching community members how to find and use traditional medicines from plants.
- Sharing traditional songs and language with the younger generation.
Knowledge Keeper is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
- Grade 5 Health and Physical Education
- Grade 1 Social Studies / History / Geography
- Grade 2 Social Studies / History / Geography
- Grade 3 Social Studies / History / Geography
- Grade 4 Social Studies / History / Geography
- Grade 5 Social Studies / History / Geography
+3 more mentions across the curriculum
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
