This introductory course offers only an overview of the many aspects of First Nations studies.  Hopefully, students will be motivated by this course to learn more about the First Nations of Canada.

Course Pre-requisites
Students must complete English 11 or English 12 Prep.

Course Breakdown

Module 1: First Nations Gifts to the World

In this module, students will learn about the contributions that the First Nations have made to the development of the modern world.

Module 2: Contact and Conquest

This module surveys the European conquest of the Americas.

Module 3: Studying Traditional Cultures

The first part of this module discusses different ways of describing and thinking about culture.  The second part introduces the major concepts used by anthropologists to describe a specific culture.  The final section of the module applies these concepts to the study of a particular culture - the Kwakwakawakw people of Vancouver Island.

Module 4: Looking at Other Traditional Cultures

In this module, students continue their study of traditional cultures and also  focus on aboriginal people of the Subarctic.

Module 5: Aboriginal Rights and the Law

This module will help students understand how Canadian laws have affected the First Nations.  The module begins by looking at the history of aboriginal rights.  In the second part of the module, students look at how the Indian Act has regulated the lives of Canada's First Nations.

Module 6: Enforced Assimilation

After Confederation, the official policy of the Canadian government was to promote assimilation of First Nations people.  This module examines two ways the government tried to achieve this: requiring children to attend residential schools, and banning the potlatch.  Both these policies became Canadian law because they were written into the Indian Act.  In this module, students will examine the purpose of these policies, their effect on First Nations cultures, and First Nations resistance to them.

Assignments

Students will complete section assignments after finishing the lessons and lesson activities in each module.  The section assignments are designed to test a student's knowledge of each module.  After completing the section assignments, students will submit them for marking.

In order to pass this course, students must complete all section assignments, and pass the final exam with a mark of at least 50%.

Textbooks and Course Materials

Maps and Dreams by Hugh Brody

Videotapes & audiocassettes will be used by students on a sign-out basis.