The study of effective teaching for Aboriginal students needs to be situated in the com­plexities of sociohistorical realities. In addition to cultural differences, the analysisneeds to include the impact of colonization and poiver relationships in which educa­tion takes place. In this article, the stories of two teachers are presented to illustratehow in practice these teachers attend to both culture and colonization. Each teacher indifferent ways integrates language and cultural knowledge and uses cultural normsand values. In doing so, they develop more equitable power relationships and dealwith the impact of colonization.