Indigenous Territories, Treaties, Residential Schools, Forced Relocations, and Indigenous Studies Ap

Introduction on Indigenous Territories

1.Where are you from and where do you live?

 Recall in the first class I introduced myself to you by way of the Indigenous territories in which I have lived. I also introduced who I was in relation to my parents and my son, and the territories in which they were born and have lived. We spent the rest of the term talking about settler colonialism as a land-based endeavour – a structure premised on the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous peoples from land. We talked about how power relations are inscribed into place to produce maps, names, and borders that reflect dominant ways of knowing and erase Indigenous beinghood. With this in mind, please:

Introduce yourself to me by situating yourself on the Indigenous territories where you were born and have lived and what these places are now most dominantly known as. Please introduce yourself in relation to your family in whatever way fits for you and your sense of identity and self. I chose my parents and son. How you link yourself to others is entirely up to you.
Reflect on what the significance is to you of doing so (acknowledging both Indigenous territory and dominant naming) as an act of decolonization in settler colonial Canada?

2. Treaties and the Indian Act 

a.  What were the main goals of the Numbered Treaties:

For European newcomer governments?

?For the Indigenous groups that signed them?

b.  What was the main goal of the Indian Act when it came into law in 1876?


c.  In paragraph form, discuss why it is important to understand the Numbered Treaties AND the Indian Act together.  How did/do they work together as strategies in the colonial government’s goal of “Dealing with the Indian Problem”?  Please use specific examples from each (Treaties and Indian Act) as you discuss how these technologies work(ed) to “Deal with the Indian Problem” and accomplish the goals of the Indian Act 

3. Residential Schools

a.  Please select a passage from The Education of Augie Merasty that struck you. This passage can be long or short. Please start by sharing the whole passage with me (including the page #) and then I invite to share what struck you about it, drawing at least one connection between the passage and something that we have talked about throughout the course. The idea here is to honour and thank Augie for his courage and generosity in sharing his story.


b.  Having read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s “Calls to Action” in response to the Residential School System, reflect on what you can do to actualize lived reconciliation in Canada by:
Select (at least) one of the Calls to Action to forth by the TRC. Identify which one you have selected.
In paragraph form, tell me what you will do in response to this particular call to action.
5.  Forced Relocations

a.Reflecting on the film Broken Promises, what is something that stood out for you about this story of forced relocation?

b.The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples grouped the relocation activities of government into two types; administrative and development. With these justifications for forced relocations in mind, in paragraph form please offer an example of a forced relocation of an Indigenous community in Canada (other than the ones discussed in Broken Promises or Night Spirits).   Feel free to use whatever resources you have available to research another story of relocation. Please tell me about the community, the justification given by the government, and the implications. The goal here is to keep learning about the things that we are never taught. Be curious and open – in the spirit of that act of remembrance. There are so many examples of communities like Ila’s. Tell me about one of them.

c.Given everything that we have talked about all term, why do you think there is so much silence around the issue of the forced relocations of indigenous peoples in Canada?

7.  Night Spirits


In paragraph form answer one of the following questions:

a.Discuss the title of the book Night Sprits.  Select and discuss 3 points that speak to the significance of the title.

OR

b. Select 3 main themes from the course and discuss how they figure in the book Night Sprits. (This can be any three from the entire term)



8.  Your Indigenous Studies

In paragraph form, reflecting on what you have learned throughout this course, how might an indigenous studies approach shape or inform your practice in your chosen field of specialization? In other words, how can you apply what you have learned to your practice (professional or personal) in a way that contributes to changing the way we move forward in this place now called Canada?