Indigenous Studies Chapter 1

Module 1

What are the umbrella terms for the people?

• Indian

• Native

• Aboriginal

• Indigenous

What was Indian Status?

• Registered as Indians under the Indian Act

• If name is on the register then certain programs and services can be accessed.

• Determined by the status of their parents as well

What is a Treaty

Agreements made between the Government of Canada and Indigenous groups.

• These agreements set out treaty rights and benefits for each group.

• Can be treaty or non-treaty

• Not all first nation groups have treaties

Within the Act, both female and male people’s get equal treatment

Who were the Inuit people?

Indigenous people from the Canada North

• Legally distinct from Indians

• Not acknowledged by Canadian Government until 1920s

• Not covered by the Indian Act

Who were the Metis people?

• Indigenous + European

• Was either distinction of Cree, Anishabe, or Dene Women

• French or British

• They formed their own community post contact to trading

Who were the Sioux People?

Made up of three separate groups:

• Assiniboine (Nakota)

• Dakota

• Lakota

What are the Cree people and their distinctions?

Divided according to dialect

• Plains Cree

• Swampy Cree

• Woods Cree

Why is Space and Land important?

• Land is of central importance to indigenous people

• Creation is primary source of identity

• Years of close interaction

• Stories and songs, moral teachings that help shape their identity and our world.

• Thinking of people as life cycles “Order of existence” (Life cycle)

What are the key ideas of Constant motion and flux?

Now, western culture wants our world to stay the same

• Ongoing interaction with creation

• Humans are at natures will

• Watching patterns overtime - adapting to patterns

• Trickster tales show nature of change - how things are created

• Moral guidance against things such as greed

What is the belief of all things being animate and imbued with spirit?

• Creation is alive

• Animals, plants, and rocks are sentiment beings

• All are my relations and my responsibility

• Relationships must be forged and maintained

• Ex: sacred rock

What includes the “Aboriginal people’s of Canada?”

• Indian

• Inuit

• Métis