Unit 3 Background Notes

Below are some topics that could be developed as project options for Unit 3.  This list is not meant to be prescriptive and is certainly not exhaustive.  Instructors will be adding to this list, as the possibilities for topics in social sciences are as limitless and varied as the learners in the program.

Any of the activities listed in Units 1 and 2 that were not developed during the units could also be considered.  Alternatively, instructors and/or learners may wish to develop their own topics for exploration or modify one of the listed activities below.

Aboriginal Content and Perspectives/Culture and Identity

• Explore the significance of the Tipi for the Cree Nation, discussing such things as Poles Representation and Circularity.

• Discuss the symbolism and history of the pipe in First Nations cultures.

• Discuss Aboriginal medicine and the Aboriginal concept of holistic health care.

• Discuss the pros and cons of the child welfare policy of apprehension and cite examples of situations where Aboriginal peoples are regaining control of their own children and future.

• Select a module or topic of interest from the GDI/DTI Métis Studies Adult 10 course and complete or modify the assignments accordingly.

• Discuss Métis identity, Métis cultural development, and the rise of Métis nationalism.

• Research how the Métis Nation emerged from the marriages between First Nations women and European explorers.

• Research how the fur trade affected First Nations families.

• Explore and analyze the goals of Métis education and the unique features of Métis educational programs such as Gabriel Dumont Institute, SUNTEP and the Dumont Technical Institute.

• Explain the unique ways in which Aboriginal peoples live, including traditional marriage and child-rearing customs, ways of celebrating the coming of age, and other traditional customs.

• Discuss Trickster Stories and the role they played and continue to play in First Nations cultures.

• Discuss the importance of music and dance as a means of spiritual and cultural expression in Métis and/or First Nations cultures.

• Define what the “Apple Syndrome” means and discuss the problems it creates for Aboriginal youth.

Geography/Land/Sense of Place/Economic Activities

• Discuss a contemporary issue such as land claims, hunting and fishing rights or social justice concerns of present day First Nations or Métis people, from a Euro-centric viewpoint as well as a First Nations or Métis-centered viewpoint.

• Explain the importance of a land base to Métis economic well being, discuss the ways in which they used the land and its resources, and infer what might happen if the Métis do not gain control of their resources.

• Discuss how humans’ relationships with their environments shape their culture, social institutions, and history; and how the interaction between societies and environments results in change for both.

• Research the Métis Diaspora following the two historic Métis resistance movements in Canada.

• Examine the geographical features of your local community or region.  Discuss the connections between the land and the effects on the people who live there and on the local economy.

• Research Métis land claims in Saskatchewan.

• Analyze the factors that disrupted traditional Aboriginal economies (e.g., technologies, developments, Government Acts, diseases, the fur trade, the dwindling herds of buffalo) and discuss the impediments that still exist to traditional Aboriginal economic pursuits.

• Research and identify successful Aboriginal business enterprises in contemporary society.

• Realize some of the historic and systemic barriers to employment and other forms of economic activity for First Nations people on and off reserve.

Government

• Discuss Federalism in Canada, the Political Parties, and the Parliamentary System.

• Compare the distribution of power, authority, and participation of a different system of governance such as fascism, communism, or socialism to democracy.

• Research Métis patterns of political and social organization around the historic buffalo hunt and connect the organization of the hunt to the organization of historic Métis resistance. 

• Discuss the evolution of self-government models.

• Describe how the British North American Act, by which Canada was formally recognized as a nation-state in 1867, established a social contract that reflected the ideas, beliefs and values of the day, defined roles and allocated responsibility and organized the decision making processes.

• Research services and resources available in your community (e.g., healthcare, addictions, counselling, garbage disposal, water and sewer, childcare, legal, housing, education) and determine how such services are funded, levels of government involvement, availability and reliability of services, and who benefits from the services.

Multicultural Perspectives

• Investigate the challenges faced by immigrants to Canada; for example, Slavic and Eastern Europeans, Asian, or Indian immigrants.  Consider historical and contemporary situations.

• Examine the factors related to the internment of Ukrainian or Japanese Canadians and current government responses.

• Research current Canadian immigration policies.

• Research an immigrant culture in Canada and discuss reasons for immigrating, experiences in Canada, and how things have changed over time.

• In the context of multiculturalism in Canada, one often encounters the term “tolerance.”  Analyze critically what tolerance means in this context and how it might be related to notions of assimilation.  

History

• Discuss the transcontinental expansion of the railways in the history of Saskatchewan.

• Choose a significant event in Canadian or Saskatchewan history, describe what led up to it, what happened, and the impact it had on the people affected.

• Discuss the Pre-Confederation era, the struggle for Responsible Government, and the events leading up to Confederation.

• Compare a segment of Canadian history when written by a Euro-centred writer and a Métis or First Nations-centred writer.

• Discuss the coming of the Europeans and the history of imperialism and colonization in Canada and the effects of these phenomena today.

• Discuss the Red River Resistance (1869-70) and the Resistance of 1885 from a Métis perspective.  Consider the significance of these events for the Métis Nation.

• Discuss the role of missionaries and the RCMP in Western Canada before 1900.

• Discuss the involvement of First Nations in the 1885 resistance in and around Batoche.

• Discuss the formation of the province of Saskatchewan and the benefits to Saskatchewan of becoming a province. 

Social Justice

• Discuss the following facts about Aboriginal incarceration, applying critical reflection and analysis skills: in provincial jails, 11 times that of other Canadians; in federal penitentiaries, 5 times that of other Canadians.

• Explain the causes, impacts, and effects of poverty on family life, education, and health. 

• Examine several newspapers, including those from your local community, from around the province, and national newspapers.  Read a number of letters to the editor and formulate your opinion of the purpose of these letters.  Research about a social justice issue that appears in a newspaper and write your own letter to the editor in response to that issue.

• Research Métis resistance movements in Red River and Batoche and resistance movements in another part of the world to find parallels between the two situations.

• Identify issues that trigger social activism.  Identify an issue of local concern that you believe requires attention and develop a plan of social action and a persuasive argument for it.

• Discuss the First Nations Governance Act proposed by the Canadian government in 2001 and relate this Act to the history of oppression and discrimination faced by First Nations at the hands of the Canadian government and their policies.

• Discuss how people often have different access to resources because of their gender, race, age, education level, physical abilities, or country of origin.

• Conduct a media study in which you critically analyze the presence (subtle or overt) of racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, or ageism.

• Discuss the following quotation: “For a person to be healthy they must be adequately fed, be educated, have access to medical facilities, have access to spiritual comfort, live in a warm and comfortable house with clean water and safe sewage disposal, be secure in cultural identity, have an opportunity to excel in a meaningful endeavour, and so on.  These are not separate needs; they are all aspects of a whole.”  Henry Zoe, Dogrib Treaty 11 Council.  (Source:  People to People, National to Nation:  Highlights from the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996.)

Gender Issues

• Explore why the vast majority of great leaders in Canadian history are men.  Examine the social and economic factors contributing to the construction of the great male leader and the near exclusion of women from the official history.

• Research the role of women in the fur trade era and discuss the exploitation of women’s labour and sexuality as they might relate to this topic. 

• Conduct a study of trends in the portrayal of women in the media and determine if current portrayals represent a backlash to feminism.

• Research the suffrage movement in the Canadian West.

• Research a leader in the Canadian suffrage movement and write a biography about that person.

Leadership

• Learn about the life of Louis Riel and examine his particular leadership qualities and how they served the Métis.

• Research a leader, past or present, from your region or community and write a biography about that person.

• Research an historical leader in Saskatchewan.

• Discuss your personal leadership characteristics and those of a recognized leader (contemporary or historical) and consider ways you are similar and different. 

• Discuss how your leadership style and perspective on leadership has changed over time.  Is what you admired and believed in 10 or 15 years ago the same as today?

• Research leaders in the Canadian West, past and present, and develop your “top 10” list of leaders complete with a rationale for each.  Analyze your list critically for gender bias, racial bias, and other forms of bias and reflect on what you discover.