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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Indigenous Canada by University of Alberta

4.8
stars
22,688 ratings

About the Course

Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores the different histories and contemporary perspectives of Indigenous peoples living in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores complex experiences Indigenous peoples face today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. Topics for the 12 lessons include the fur trade and other exchange relationships, land claims and environmental impacts, legal systems and rights, political conflicts and alliances, Indigenous political activism, and contemporary Indigenous life, art and its expressions....

Top reviews

JB

Oct 10, 2021

This is a must for anyone, non-indigenous to Indigenous to complete. Should also be a part of the process to become a Canadian citizen. Very well done. I thank you for opening my eyes, mind and heart.

DN

Aug 30, 2020

This is a great survey course about Indigenous Canada. As a participant, I have learned and unlearned so much about Indigenous Canadians, and more important, this course has inspired me to learn more.

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651 - 675 of 7,815 Reviews for Indigenous Canada

By Danielle J

Oct 4, 2020

Every single person in Canada should have to take this course! It has been so informative, I loved the artwork depicting and referencing the different themes of the course and all the archival footage. Thank you so much for offering this course and I will continue learning about and exploring many of the themes, politics, cultures and stories covered in the course. An excellent course for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of issues and the 'narrative' around First Nations in Canada. Seriously, I really enjoyed it.

By Kayleigh K

Aug 22, 2020

Thank you so much for offering this course for free. The course was thorough while still being introductory, and the modules are easily organized and accessible, allowing all levels of learners to complete at their own pace and preference. The instructors and guest interviews were very informative and engaging. This course offers an enjoyable and meaningful online learning experience that every Canadian should participate in, as this is information that should be taught to all from a young age but is not. Highly recommended!

By Galina W

Feb 7, 2021

This course is eyeopening and fills the knowledge gap about the struggles the First Nations, Inuit and Metis have to face even today. The original artwork is not just an illustration but also speaks for itself. I would recommend it not just to every Canadian but to people around the globe who are interested in indigenous perspectives. It is a good starting point to deepening understanding of native thought, different and better suited to protect the land we live on, which we are just borrowing from the future generations.

By Michelle H

Dec 13, 2020

Thank-you for creating a rich overview on key themes in "Indigenous Canada". I really enjoyed the inclusion of 'experts' in the indigenous community. Hearing more from indigenous youth would have been an asset; I have a bias because I teach High School. Including more images/photos in the videos alongside the moderators would also be an asset. I learn by seeing; when maps etc were provided, I felt my learning was deeper.

A couple of times, I do feel the answers may have been 'wrong' in the quiz. I may also be incorrect.

By Judy C

Nov 25, 2020

This was a great course, I enjoyed every minute of it and learned so much. I have bragged about your course and regret not getting the paying to get the certificate to add to my many great accomplishments. I would suggest that you could at the end to have the option to buy the certificate of your accomplishment. Keep up the great work, hope I can continue my learning with the Indigenous learning, it is a great way to understand and move forward with reconciliation. Thank you again for putting this great course together.

By Denise J W

Nov 8, 2020

I have always been proud to be ,native, aboriginal, indigenous, cree all the names we have been. My mom was the strongest woman I ever knew and I follow her strength. I loved this course I learned so much. I cried with Tracy Bear on the you tube discussions and I laughed with all of them. Kim Tallbear and Chris Andersen just blew me away with their strength and wisdom! I was mesmerized. If I was ever around them I would be smitten with their presence. Thank you Faculty of Native Studies, Tracy, Paul and Dan you guys rock!

By Les K

Mar 22, 2023

Wonderful sharing of the history of the aboriginal peoples of Turtle Island that I had heard little of in all my years of education. As a settler, I loved the challenge to my view of the history of Canada. I grew up in Northern Ontario, and had played hockey with the local Indian Residential School and formed varied views of aboriginal peoples, some good, some bad through my interactions in my town. Reconciliation in Canada will happen through education as in this course. This course opened my heart. Thank you very much.

By HB

Jul 27, 2021

I really enjoyed the course and learned alot about Indigenous culture that I never knew. It wasn't until my own children learned about residential schools when they were in high school a few years ago that I found out about it. I grew up in the 70's and 80's and am appalled that it was happening right before my own eyes, in my own country and I never knew about it. As an educator now, I will certainly use what I have learned in this course in creating more diverse learning environments for my own students. Thank you!

By Christine

Nov 21, 2021

I enjoyed this course very much, I can admit I was not very well knowledgible in many areas . I was surprised how much they (Indigenous people) went through , in cause of new settlers , how much was learnt created and passed on through the years, the many time having to stand up for themselves , protect what was rightfully theirs , the new friendships that were created the old one remain some gone, the ongoing of rights and humanrights, and the protection of a beautiful culture , that shared, as a family and community.

By Cynthia K S

Jul 1, 2020

Informative and Eye Opening

I took this course years after I completed a minor of Native American anthropology from the U of A (2002). Years have passed so it was nice to actually have the course taught by Indigenous people, instead of white anthropologists. I also had a stroke between the two times and the course was designed in such a way that I could re-learn the information and still manage to take the quizzes. It was good, up to date, hopeful, and makes me want to learn even more about Indigenous cultures. Thank you!

By Ann E S

Aug 20, 2020

So good! Every settler Canadian should have to take this course. As a new Canadian this was far more informative on the history of this land, pre- and post-contact, than any university course in Canadian history or government guide for the citizenship exam I've taken or read! Thank you so much for giving us such an excellent overview and I can't wait to take the opportunity to delve deeper into the intricacies touched on in the course and into the history and culture of the Mi'kmaq in the area of Canada I've settled in!

By Althea M L

Jul 5, 2021

With this course, I got the chance to know the history of indigenous people. I learned all the important facts and details as well as the events that happened in the past which shaped the society today. Knowing the history of indigenous people made me well informed and really helped me become aware of the past happenings. I enjoyed watching the videos and reading the articles because it fed my curiosity. The paintings on each end of every module served as a refresher to me and helped me understand the learnings better.

By Hannah E

May 10, 2021

I think that this course is a starting place to begin learning about Indigenous peoples in Canada, in the past, present and future. There are many great resources provided to continue your learning when the course is done, and it helps to contextualize the relationship between Canada's first peoples and the colonizers who swooped in thinking that they new best. I loved learning about contemporary Indigenous people and how people are connecting with their histories in myriad ways, through art, language, food, and more.

By Georgina L

Jan 11, 2021

A very informative course. I am very happy that I chose to take it, and believe that it should be a standard course for all Canadians. There is a lot of ignorance out there, and it is important to approach this course with an open mind. This course is simply a starting point, and will point me in a direction to learn even more about the Indigenous culture within Canada. I think it is shameful how little we learn about the Indigenous culture in general, especially within our school system. This has helped with my overa

By Dawn D

Nov 8, 2020

Every Canadian should take this course, young and old! I hope this becomes part of mandatory courses for school age children also. We all missed out on so much by not being taught true history and not having the chance to celebrate Indigenous culture with our classmates and community and learn about the riches of this culture. In turn so much more bias, systemic racism and prejudice continued from our settler ignorance and caused so much harm. I only hope we can all strive to help heal together and learn together.

By Sam K

Apr 3, 2022

I truly enjoyed this program. I found both the factual and the spritual review of our Indigenous Peoples' journey prior to and post contact to be of great value for but all but more so for a none born Canadian.

I thank you for sharing your history with new canadians who were not exposed to this information growing in other parts of the world.

I am in a much better position now to converse and reply to ill informed views and hope to be able to make a difference to support indeginous rights for Truth and Reconceliation..

By Rebecca C

Nov 16, 2020

Thank you to everyone involved in making this course possible and available to me. This course was very enlightening, and I learned so much. This course has encouraged me to be supportive and an advocate for the indigenous people. I hope there will be other courses like this one that I can take to learn more about the Indigenous people. I truly appreciated the instructors time and effort in making this a great learning experience for me. I’m saddened that it’s over and will miss learning about these wonderful people.

By Taryn C

Jul 27, 2024

I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to take this course free of charge. When I was in school, we were not taught of the horrific treatment of Indigenous People, nor were we taught of their history and culture. As an adult who has been graduated for over 10 years, it is so nice to be able to learn again, and to learn properly this time around. There is so much we should have been taught throughout grade school about Indigenous People that we weren't. So to have this information now feels so important.

By Alison G

Oct 5, 2021

Eye-opening, engaging, and at times deeply moving, lessons and stories from Indigenous people from various parts of Canada are presented to correct the untruths we were taught in school. The course begins with a description of pre-contact Indigenous societies, then describes in detail how colonisers took over despite the efforts of the Indigenous peoples to fight back. Spiritual beliefs, politics, and art are explained in order to provide context to the struggles and ways of being of contemporary Indigenous peoples.

By Lisa U

Sep 20, 2021

Very well done. I found each section interesting, and I learned a lot. I certainly have an expanded view and appreciation of our Indigenous peoples. The format of the course was engaging and I particularly enjoyed the commissioned art pieces; it was like a little treat at the end of a session and after the quiz. Thank you to all those who contributed to developing this course. I would love to see a second, advanced course to dive deeper into Canadian Indigenous culture, governance, art, history, reconciliation, etc.

By Christopher M C

Aug 12, 2018

It was refreshing to take a course whose aim was to present the breadth of a major topic. It succeeded. Along the way, it probed the depth of several major subtopics and provided great resources for further exploration. I started taking notes in week 1, but soon put my pencil down, as few words were wasted in the lectures and it became clear that everything being said was important. I'm American and was searching for a course on Native Americans in the U.S. I found this one first and I'm glad I did - it was a treat!

By Kent P

Nov 30, 2020

Just a very eye opening but also confirming course based on my Wonderful experiences with First Nations Groups I worked with in Northern Saskatchewan. One funny lesson I learned working out at Brabant Lake. Don't host an ice fishing derby on the same Saturday as the Montreal Lake $100,000 first prize ice fishing derby. You'll only get half the community coming to the Brabant Lake Derby...

This was just an excellent course and will be a huge help in FN consultations efforts on resource projects I'm involved with.

Kent

By Emma B

Aug 19, 2020

This was an informative, engaging, and well-organised course, which I am very glad that I was able to participate in. The blend of lectures and reading was effective: I appreciated being able to listen, take virtual notes, and access the text for each unit. The visual art component for each unit was excellent. I would thoroughly recommend this course to people, whether fellow educators, Canadian residents, or those with interest simply in learning and understanding more about Canada. Thank you for this opportunity.

By Cynthia M

Nov 14, 2020

Really glad I took this course - it provided a good foundation of knowledge for me to begin understanding the Indigenous perspective. It has inspired me to read more First Nations stories and challenge my colonialist perspective on all Indigenous issues. Suddenly everything makes better sense and I can respect my First Nations neighbours. Why wasn't I taught this in school when I was growing up?? Education is the key to helping overcome our past. So grateful for this course - I'd recommend this to everyone I know.

By Mary-Anne O

Oct 9, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this eye opening learning experience. We are so smug being Canadian, born in such an amazing country. However, learning the price that indigenous peoples paid so that Canada could become the “Best” country in the world is very humbling. I thank you from the bottom of my heart ♥️ for opening my eyes and my heart. I will recommend this course to everyone I know.

I absolutely love the live QnAs on Sunday’s and will continue watching them. I commend you all for your dedication and enthusiasm.