Great course that provided a very broad overview of the history of colonialism in Canada and the on going relationships between the various first nations and settler society. At the same time if also delved deeply enough into Indigenous cultures to give me a much better understanding of the nuances in the many many first nations that have inhabited this land for millennia. I had the very good fortune of seeing Jackson Beardy when he would visit is at Ecole Sacre Coeur where I used to attend with his son Jason in the 1970s. That has left a deep impression on me and so I was happy to see his name mentioned in the section on art. My only suggestion is for some minor updates on the historical developments in Winnipeg as of late with respect to the development of the former Kap-Yong army barricks and the Hudson's Bay building in downtown Winnipeg. Some of the reading materials need a more through edit for spelling and words omitted. Aside from that this was very worthwhile. Thanks!

This course contains a lot of useful information and yet is quite concise. It could be higher quality in terms of interaction and production - but it's also being offered for free. It gives a nice starting point for further research. It is an important community service to make it available to the general public, and it also makes it easy to share with friends and colleagues. One question I had throughout is regarding the way in which it solidly follows settler cultural norms of education - while I see how this is practical, I also kept wondering if there's not any way to incorporate some of the Indigenous education models described in actual practice in the course. This might seem antithetical to an online course, but on the other hand, what we are seeing constantly (especially in this Covid era) is a lot of innovation around online content. And it's a point made in the course that Indigenous cultures are innovative and continually adapting to new situations, modalities etc.

I learned a lot through this course - things I had often heard about in the media, but really didn't know much about the background. It was very enlightening this way. I have been very interested in the struggle with the Wet'suwet'en as I lived in that valley for many years and have seen their camps and understand their frustrations and struggles. I did feel a "proof reading " of the material would have been helpful as sometimes I was having difficulty making sense of what was written (I seldom used the videos in this course, as I have limited Internet Usage. I did use it for reviewing the paintings - which I enjoyed - and for certain parts that caught my attention). Otherwise I had to rely on the written subject matter. I would recommend it to friends that wish to further their knowledge of Indigenous History and Contemporary Life. I have always been very interested in Indigenous art and I have has several Indigenous friends and co-workers. Thankyou.

Most areas of this course rate 5/5 stars. The discussion on Sundays was very interesting and informative and brought the course to life. The information, graphics, lectures and content was all excellent. My only complaint is the quizzes. As a mature learner, I do not remember everything I hear. I expected the answers to all the quiz questions to be found in the notes provided, and this was not the case. I had to Google some things to find the answer. Some questions were worded in a confusing manner, or gave answer choices that could conceivably be correct, but were marked incorrect because a certain answer was required. Also, there were some spelling mistakes through the visual presentation and written material. Overall, I would recommend this course for every single Canadian, particularly settlers, who should understand where modern day Indigenous issues and racism stem from. I would definitely sign up for more free Indigenous courses. Thank you.

Again, great course, instructors and content were amazing. I really learned so much. The only reason this review isn't 5/5: absolutely awful testing. The questions are so hyper-focused on specific micro-details on reading content, it doesn't help measure or test one's understanding of the broader concepts taught in the course. And even when testing on micro-details, the details in the question are often wrong lol. There are questions where the multiple-choice options are so similar and sometimes both contained in the text. I would at least fix this as it looks slack, but more importantly, I would do a re-think on the testing to better make it align with the overall course goals as well as with what the people taking the course are looking to get out of it (ensuring they understand concepts, not annoying the crap out of them to make sure they read the random fact you're asking a super specific, possibly-not-even-matching-the-text question about)

I appreciate how this course was set up overall. It was very functional and I particularly liked the art videos with Leah Dorion. The content itself was very informative and was done in a chronological order that made sense. I appreciated the interviews that were videoed and done. Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way through, it often became a politically motivated course in which the white man were always bad. It was biased to some degree. While I understand that colonialism is ultimately responsible for destroying Indigenous society, there was very little about many destructive manners that some Indigenous people continue to use today regardless of the services that are offered to them. Perhaps a less biased approach, looking at both sides to the coin would have been more effective. Nonetheless, the culture and content explored in the course was very informative and I would use the materials to educate others on the topic itself.

The content of the course is very good. It presents important information and viewpoints most of which was missing from the Canadian History that I was taught while in school. It certainly provides a foundation for improved understanding of, and empathy for, the indigenous peoples of Canada and North America. It also provides a perspective that is not always well conveyed by the media with current affairs relating to indigenous peoples. The delivery of the course is somewhat lacking. More use of multi-media and interactivity in presentation of the information would have made the course far more engaging. The vast majority of the course consists of a presenter reading the content, which is not an effective method of conveying the information in a memorable fashion.

I am glad that I took the course and am grateful that the University of Alberta and the Faculty of Native Studies have made the Indigenous Canada course available.

I am interested in learning about the original people of this land that I have adopted - I am from India and arrived her 38years ago. While my children were growing up I did not see a lot of content related to the Indigenous peoples but they were curious and with them my curiosity also grew.

Then I met some wonderful people growing Seneca and Mohawk corn via ceremony in a park right by my house - my contact with them and learning from them piqued my interest and I was so excited to have an opportunity to learn more.

I truly enjoyed learning from this course - so much is included in a Nutshell. I would recommend this course to others (I already have). The reason I cannot give it a 5 start is because of typos, and some times the way it is presented is a bit confusing.

Thank you to the University of Alberta for this opportunity to learn the Truth of this beautiful land.

Thank you Coursera for the platform you have created .

This course is a definitely a really good primer for a topic that is otherwise inadequately discussed in public school curricula. I found that there was maybe not enough time spend discussing discourse and power structures that work to maintain the status quo. The nature of the course being a primer, left me wanting more discussion of the tools of colonialism and how law was used to other, and disempower indigenous people. I felt that it did a great job at creating a perspective of indigenous resilience, but would have like to have seen more about the betrayal of indigenous people during the process of nation building. My education has involved a fairly significant delve into indigenous issues in Canada to begin with, so maybe my lens is skewed as to what the average person would take from it. Over all, I liked the course and the presenters and felt that this was a great into to Canadian Indigenous issues. Thank you!

Thank you for this very valuable opportunity. I now have a greater understanding and appreciation for the richness of the Indigineous cultures that were highlighted. I feel some shame that my understanding of "canadian History" was from such a strong settler perspective given what I was taught in school almost forty years ago.

I loved the artwork that was commissioned and created by Leah Dorion. Her work was vibrant and compelling! This component was a lovely addion to the course work and no doubt appreciated by all of the visual learners!

I recognize that this course is now a few years old however, it would be beneficial to have some of the course content updated when time and resources allow. I noticed some material was out of date when at times I would look up certain events, resources, and people just to satisfy my own personal interest.

With graditude I thank you again for this opportunity.

I only hesitate to give the 5th star because the course needs desperately needs to be proofread. It appears the text of the lectures has been rendered via speech recognition software and has yet to be thoroughly checked over. There wasn't a single module without mistakes; not one! The content is fantastic and I'm certain I will be re-reading the course notes and revisiting the lectures to further commit this vital information to memory. Kudos to all involved in developing the course and its execution, thank you.

I learn best (pretty much exclusively!!) by reading so the inaccuracies in transcription (unseeded instead of unceded, can instead of can't... there are many!) and spelling are very distracting but certainly not anything stopping understanding, merely adding distraction. Hopefully correcting this and integrating the changes into the package can still happen and isn't too much trouble.

This is my third attemot to leave my comments. As soon as I pressed Return to add a final paragraph, my comments were deleted. This course presented a wide spectrum of information about Indigenous Canada that was helpful in having a better understanding of the effects of colonization on indigenous peoples. I would have enjoyed more dynamic presentations which were a bit monotonous as the speakers did not change their positions or locales. The classes would have benefitted by more audiovisual material. The U of A has a wonderful audiovisual department that could provide input on how to make the lectures more interactive. I enjoyed the interviews and particularly liked the video of the 1471 performance. The last module on indigenous creativity and art would have been a great opportunity to include images of the artwork rather than just a sketch of the artist face. But well done!

Amazing, amazing information but it made me feel that it is considered that the majority of nonindigenous citizens of Canada, past and present do not value or care about your heartbreaking history and your present day struggles. I taught in both Calling Lake and Wabasca. I loved every one of my students. I took Cree language lessons, it is such a beautiful language. My fostermother became a sister because of her love and activities with her now indigenous sister. Politicians through history do not necessarily represent the majority of society, especially pre internet, web. This course has been both an educational and emotional journey. No one deserves to go through what Indigenous Peoples had and have to go through. I am so happy to see the progress and strength that is happening. Thank you for this educating and giving such good understanding in these lectures.

I am metis and have been learning more about my background since I've been an adult. I found a lot of the information in this course enlightening and learned a lot from the content. I appreciated the written dialogue that went along with the videos. As an educator, I know that people learn in different ways so having the visual cues to go along with the audio is great. I can not give 5 stars though as I was extremely disappointed with all the errors in the written dialogues. I was especially disturbed by the error in the second Indigenous Art video from week 12 that says at one point - Terri began "beating" when it should have said beading. There were many errors in that particular video. I know the final words for the course mention the possibility of errors but something coming from a University should be edited a little more closely before it is offered.

Thank you for the amazing 12-week learning experience. I have learned an immense amount of knowledge in terms of the history, the barriers/struggles, the resiliance and the culture of First Nations, Inuit and Metis Peoples.

One little suggestion to better the course, is to have a more distinction-based approach and to maybe speak to that more. I felt that having 3 First Nations faciltators throughout this course did not represent the diversity of Indigenous groups in Canada. Also, when we speak of Inuit or Metis history, stories and culture, it should be done by an Inuk or Metis individual. Their voices should be an equal part to this course, as Inuit and Metis share very different histories, traditional teachings, needs, priorities, etc. than First Nations Peoples.

I will be recomending and promting this course to others within my networks. Miigwetch

J'ai trouvé le cours très intéressant et instructif. J'ai beaucoup appris sur les Autochtones du Canada dont l'histoire s'apperentent à celle des autochthones dans d'autres parties du monde avec la seule différence qu'il n'y ait pas eu de traités pour que le colonisateurs s'installent sur leurs territoires.

Je vois maintenant le peuple autochthone d'un autre oeil et ces premiers habitants du territoire canadien méritent bien plus que ce qui leur a été promis. Il faudrait que ce peuple avec l'aide des nouveaux arrivants, révendiquent leur dû. Que tout le monde revient au premiers accords du Wumpum, chacun profitant du territoire et de ses biens sans aucune exagération et sans empiéter sur le chemin de l'autre. Tout simplement le "Indian Act" doit plutôt avantager les autochtones tout en accommodant les non-autochtones sur cette terre du Canada

As a student of Sociology I was fascinated to read about indigenous people of Canada and I could draw parallels to the impact of British Colonialism in India, and how it adversely affected tribal people here. At first I did not enjoy taking the Quizzes, but after about two Weeks, I began enjoying learning and relearning and attempting the quizzes several times over.

I feel the content in each week was a bit too detailed and heavy...and with too much emphasis of the historical events; esp the numerous Treaties and geographical descriptions.

It would have been more interesting to have interview-based learning components; A endless one-way narration got very heavy, sometimes intense, though interesting.

The quizzes could have been less focused on 'knowledge-type' questions.

All in all, I am glad to have learnt something totally new.

Thank you

Information was overwhelmingly eye opening and informative. There is so much present, it was difficult to complete the tests on my first attempts. There should be questions embedded throughout like mini quizzes to help the information absorb more readily. Also, some questions relate to such minute details, it is difficult to not want to 'cheat' and look at notes to help yourself.

Lastly, while I understand the point of view is taken from an aboriginal/Native person stand point, some phrasing comes across as equally biased as traditional colonists views, and sully's the importance of the material. It could be worded differently to have its approach more friendly, and entice more Aboriginal friendly but less knowledgeable allies to view the worldview of indigenaiety more readily.

Overall, I am pleased I selected this class.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course. There was so much information to process and to absorb, all of it contributing to a better understanding of , and empathy for, Indigenous Peoples and what they have, and continue, to endure. As an overview course, it provides good insight into most topics; however, there were several topics that could have used more detail or explanation., e.g., Module 10 mentioned RCAP's Community of Interest as a model, but I was unable to find it within the Report's recommendations on searching. I would have liked a definition of that model rather than a reference. Overall, and despite some contention with the quizzes, this course has taught me a lot more than the Canadian history (settler colonizer-focused) courses I took in university. Thanks to Dr. Bear and all those who contributed to this.

This course gives me a broad general understanding of Canadian indigenous people, it is probably very rare to find another course to replace it. I especially like the art piece explanations in each of the Modules and the interviews, too.

However, the course uses many hard vocabulary and expressions you can only find in scholarly papers. It is difficult to understand, learners need to go to forum to discuss with others to find out what the content is talking about. (but do keep in mind that I am not Canadian nor is English my native tongue.)

Besides that the quizzes are sometimes hard. I find some questions very detailed, ambiguous, or don't where is it from in the content.

And lastly, I find the last reading in every modules helpful and good resources to keep after finishing the course.

that's all, thank you.

Very grateful to have been taught this perspective and have my eyes opened in regards to Canadian History, as well as everything brought forward in this course. I am thankful for the time and effort that was put into this course and feel appreciative that I was able to take part in this learning experience that quite frankly should be mandatory in schools. On a different note, I found the course to be repetitive at times and found it hard to stay engaged with the material being read to me in a sometimes monotone fashion. I found it easier to be present during the interviews where the individuals seemed engaged and connected to their material. The questions (questionnaire) were also sometimes worded poorly and did not seem focused on the important material covered. Overall: thank you, I am grateful.

I found the course interesting and informative, and essential for a non Canadian such as myself. Topics were well researched, and on the whole, well presented. Towards the tail end of the course, there was a lot of negativity geared towards males in general and the Federal Government of Canada and Britain/France.

Nothing can ever make up for what has happened in the past within in Canada. If Reconciliation is indeed the true goal, and a fair and equitable voice for ALL in Canada, regardless of background, then perhaps the lecturers need to keep that in mind when presenting.

There are powerful lessons that need to be learned from the past - but, if we are truly the custodians for our future generations, then we need to look to how best to make the future the best it can be for everyone.

the course was very informative- I learned much more than I would've had I taken the course. It was also really neat to see the connections in this course to what I'm learning in school at the moment. I loved that there was videos as well as the course notes to learn the material. It for sure helped me learn the material better. The only thing I would change is that, in none of the weeks did the reading take 10 minutes. For me, it took more like 30 minutes to an hour depending on how long the notes were. I also enjoyed the 1491s presentation in the week 12 videos. Thank you for putting in the effort to give this opportunity to learn so much.

;/............................'[[[[[[[[] <---------------that was my cat walking on the keyboard to tell you what he thought of the course. :)

I appreciate this course very much. I value the videos and the written documents available for each modules that caters to different learning styles and help with he pronunciation of words. I feel there could be a little more improvement with he information as i noticed some inconsistency in information. However, this is an excellent initiation into understand the experience of First Nation Peoples and to jump start interest and education about their experiences and histroy. The course helped me so much and heignten my sensitivity and awareness to the First Nations Peoples of Canada experience. As a newcomer to Canada and an aunt to niece and nephew who are of First Nation decent, I deeply value the access to this information and i am sincerely grateful.

Thank you !

The course provided me with a better understanding of historical events for which I am thankful for. There is blame placed on the government which highlights the fact that in 2021 we are all (regardless of race or culture) at the mercy of. It is my hope that in the near future more people will become educated of historical events and be able to move past blaming and who is entitled to what and move more towards collaboration of working together as people with the environment a prime focus. Moderate livelily hood has created division and chaos in our province as it continues to go undefined and there is no acknowledgement that some people, regardless of their race or culture are just plain greedy. Indigenous cultural teachings go under educated and under appreciated.