Resources
8th Fire: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada and the Way Forward
8th Fire is a CBC mini-series focusing on issues facing First Nations in Canada today. The episodes also highlight the success First Nations have had in overcoming the challenges they have faced for centuries.
Episodes:
Indigenous in the City.
It’s Time.
Whose Land is it Anyway?
At the Crossroads.
Why the 8th Fire? “8TH Fire draws from an Anishinaabe prophecy that declares now is the time for Aboriginal
peoples and the settler community to come together and build the '8TH Fire' of justice and harmony” (CBC, 2012).
8th Fire: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada and the Way Forward
8th Fire is a CBC mini-series focusing on issues facing First Nations in Canada today. The episodes also highlight the success First Nations have had in overcoming the challenges they have faced for centuries.
Episodes:
Indigenous in the City.
It’s Time.
Whose Land is it Anyway?
At the Crossroads.
Why the 8th Fire? “8TH Fire draws from an Anishinaabe prophecy that declares now is the time for Aboriginal
peoples and the settler community to come together and build the '8TH Fire' of justice and harmony” (CBC, 2012).
For Angela
For Angela is a short, but powerful demonstration of the devastating effects stereotypes can have. This National Film Board video by Nancy Trites and Daniel Prouty, is the story of a young First Nations girl, Angela, and her mother whom are harassed on a transit bus by a group of teenaged boys slinging harsh First Nations stereotypes. Viewers can see the demoralizing effects negative stereotypes can have.
MediaSmarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy
MediaSmarts focuses on media literacy for Canadian youth. It has a multitude of great features. It contains information on topics ranging from gambling to television, religion to cyber bullying. MediaSmarts provides materials (resources, policy information, lesson plans) for teachers to help them tackle the topic of media literacy and digital citizenship within their classroom.
Lesson Ideas
Image Analysis
Artistic recreations of early contact with First Nations are full of hidden messages. Students can examine many elements of paintings: placement of First Nations in paintings compared to their European counterparts, lighting, symbolism.
Here are a few places to look for images:
Paul Kane:
An Irish- Canadian artist that travelled into the west with the fur trade for two and a half years. “Upon his return to Toronto, Kane turned his field sketches into a popular series of romantic oil paintings, and in doing so, influenced domestic and international perceptions of North American Aboriginal people for the next 150 years” (The Art of Paul Kane).
George Catlin:
An American artist that “set out to record the appearance and customs of America's native people” of the old west (George Catlin: The Complete Works).
New France, New Horizons:
Asite containing a collection of artifacts from New France society, including: maps, manuscripts, plans, and photos.
For Angela is a short, but powerful demonstration of the devastating effects stereotypes can have. This National Film Board video by Nancy Trites and Daniel Prouty, is the story of a young First Nations girl, Angela, and her mother whom are harassed on a transit bus by a group of teenaged boys slinging harsh First Nations stereotypes. Viewers can see the demoralizing effects negative stereotypes can have.
MediaSmarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy
MediaSmarts focuses on media literacy for Canadian youth. It has a multitude of great features. It contains information on topics ranging from gambling to television, religion to cyber bullying. MediaSmarts provides materials (resources, policy information, lesson plans) for teachers to help them tackle the topic of media literacy and digital citizenship within their classroom.
Lesson Ideas
Image Analysis
Artistic recreations of early contact with First Nations are full of hidden messages. Students can examine many elements of paintings: placement of First Nations in paintings compared to their European counterparts, lighting, symbolism.
Here are a few places to look for images:
Paul Kane:
An Irish- Canadian artist that travelled into the west with the fur trade for two and a half years. “Upon his return to Toronto, Kane turned his field sketches into a popular series of romantic oil paintings, and in doing so, influenced domestic and international perceptions of North American Aboriginal people for the next 150 years” (The Art of Paul Kane).
George Catlin:
An American artist that “set out to record the appearance and customs of America's native people” of the old west (George Catlin: The Complete Works).
New France, New Horizons:
Asite containing a collection of artifacts from New France society, including: maps, manuscripts, plans, and photos.
Case Study: Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis in 1990 was a crucial moment in the relationship between Canada’s First Nations and the Canadian government. It was one of the most highly publicized disputes between the two parties in Canada’s history. The way the First Nations were depicted to Canada and the world through media, specifically the news media, is a topic rich in stereotyping.
Oka links:
CBC
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
The Oka Crisis in 1990 was a crucial moment in the relationship between Canada’s First Nations and the Canadian government. It was one of the most highly publicized disputes between the two parties in Canada’s history. The way the First Nations were depicted to Canada and the world through media, specifically the news media, is a topic rich in stereotyping.
Oka links:
CBC
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
“One of the most notorious examples of
journalistic bias in reporting on Native issues remains the Oka Crisis. In the
summer of 1990, Mohawks in the town of Oka formed a barricade to protest the
expansion of a golf course onto Native lands and burial grounds. Over a period
of 78 days, mainstream press coverage was dominated by images of fierce Native
warriors, with stories focusing on the threat of present and future violence from
angry, lawless young men.”- MediaSmarts, Aboriginal
People in the News
Current Events: The Northern Gateway Pipeline
The Northern Gateway Pipeline is currently a heated issue in the news. Enbridge is proposing a massive pipeline project that will carry bituman from the oil sands of Alberta to the coast of British Columbia through multiple First Nations reserves. At the heart of this issue is First Nations land rights. It is also interesting that Enbridge believes they know what is best for the First Nations groups impacted by the potential project.
Links:
Enbridge
Pipe Up
Students’ Interests
Disney, Bugs Bunny, Twilight, Sports Teams…
Looking back on my childhood, I was exposed to negative, stereotypical images of First Nations early on.
Some examples include:
Disney's Pocahontas.
Disney's Peter Pan.
Bugs Bunny.
Blazing Saddles.
The Northern Gateway Pipeline is currently a heated issue in the news. Enbridge is proposing a massive pipeline project that will carry bituman from the oil sands of Alberta to the coast of British Columbia through multiple First Nations reserves. At the heart of this issue is First Nations land rights. It is also interesting that Enbridge believes they know what is best for the First Nations groups impacted by the potential project.
Links:
Enbridge
Pipe Up
Students’ Interests
Disney, Bugs Bunny, Twilight, Sports Teams…
Looking back on my childhood, I was exposed to negative, stereotypical images of First Nations early on.
Some examples include:
Disney's Pocahontas.
Disney's Peter Pan.
Bugs Bunny.
Blazing Saddles.
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The students we have today in our classrooms may not watch the same “classic” Disney movies or Bug Bunny episodes I did as a child, but that does not mean they have not come in contact with the same negative, stereotypical images of First Nations. Have any of your young female students watched or read any of the installments of the Twilight Saga? Do the young men in your classes watch and organized sports that have teams with questionable logos? The young people of Canada are still being exposed to negative representations of First Nations.