Thank you for making this course readily available through Coursera. This is what has always been missing from my education for as long as I can remember. It is my firm belief and wish that the contents of this course become mandatory for all Canadians from a young age until High School graduation (at a minimum). I have a much better appreciation for the history of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada and I promise to continue on my quest for more knowledge so that I can be a more effective ally. If I were to offer only one point of constructive criticism it is that I would incorporate more visuals during the presentations. Not only do people learn in different ways but visual memory is the most powerful and lasting. Again, thank you and keep up the great work!

THANK YOU for creating a course that helps introduce/present a more accurate representation of indigenous Canada. While yes, the course videos/transcripts require revision, it does not take away from the information that is relayed in the videos. At 31 years old, I was personally embarrassed by my lack of knowledge on this, and am horrified by how little of this was taught through my public education in Canada. While i have always appreciated indigenous culture, I had no idea how little I really knew. I still have a lot to learn, but am very motivated to continue my education on this, and will make a point to spread the word about this course. Again, many thanks for making this course so accessible...I look forward to taking any future courses from your Faculty!

I found the course very interesting and informative. It was well presented and I appreciated that it provided a variety of learning methods - video / audio, reading, interactive painting, etc.

There were a lot of mistakes in the transcripts for videos, I would have appreciated the words being included and / or spelled correctly.

I did find that the quiz questions were often confusing and even when I went back and read over the materials to determine the correct answer for those I got wrong, I could not actually figure out what they were asking. The course would be better if the correct answers were shown upon completion of the quiz.

All in all a good course that I would recommend to anyone looking to learn more about Indigenous people in Canada.

The information is very broad but serves as a good introduction. I did find it leaned heavily on being biased in some lectures. I learned a lot, however, and will take what I learned with me. I would like to see some variation in instruction for this course as it is very repetitive. I hold 3 degrees already and I really had to work hard sometimes to get myself involved in the learning process because the model of delivery was so much the same. I also struggled with studying for the tests because it was difficult to pinpoint what was important enough to highlight and what was being glanced over. I'm certainly not sorry I took the course, however, as it has taught me a lot and given me enough information to understand this topic more than before.

Thank you. I do now have a better appreciation/understanding of the Indigenous history and the issues they have faced and are facing. My ancestors were from Russia in the early 1900’s and had to endure communism and the KGB taking my grandfather away in the middle of the night - never to be seen again. My ancestors also had their land and homes taken away from them. Unjust, difficult lives have been a common thread for previous generations in many areas of the world. It is important to acknowledge and discuss this history and mutually work together to improve conditions for all.

In one module, you discuss Winnipeg’s ’ Neechi Commons. Perhaps an update would be helpful - also what was learnt from that. I good idea but not sustainable.

Overall I enjoyed the course. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the instructors and particularly enjoyed the videos of witnesses and historians sprinkled throughout.

The course did what I wanted it to do, it gave me a basic foundational appreciation for the struggles indigenous peoples have faced. My education at the University level came with a perspective and bias of the white male settler. As I get older I'm searching for wider, more diverse perspectives on history and this course helped me with that.

My only critical feedback is that I found it lost a little bit of steam towards the latter half. Greater care could have been used in the crafting of a number of the multiple choice questions.

Thank you for all your hard work.

I have been an informal student of Indigenous people of the U.S. since growing up in Kansas, land stolen from plains tribes. I learned so much from this course. Partly because it focused on Canada, partly because it reflected recent scholarship, but mostly because it was created by Indigenous people. I found that the quizes were disappointing. They seemed to focus more on whether a person read the material rather than how well they understood it. As a community college educator, I call these sorts of questions trivial pursuit. A few are good for the purpose of "were you even there?" but if there are too many it trivializes the material. But evaluation is a minor part of the course. The learning experience was very good. Thank you.

I found the early weeks very helpful to give context to Indigenous history within Canada. In later episodes I felt things were a little too genialized, or they didn't make best use of the media to present information. For example, while talking about Artists I feel it was a missed opportunity by now showing examples of the artists work. I would recommend this course to anyone as a starter point towards becoming more culturally aware, but I suspect without working with or being involved in Indigenous groups all of this knowledge remains "academic". I'd imagine that anyone wanting to gain more understanding on these topics would need to actually be involved in Indigenous people whether it is through work, social live, activism etc.

I learned a lot from this course. I recognize and appreciate that it is told from an Indigenous perspective and this has challenged the things I have learned as a child from school-based curriculums. My one critique is the "flat" presentation style. The first week was engaging with the story telling and the graphics and then it sort of fell flat over the subsequent weeks. I wish it was more engaging and interactive and it would have helped to have the presenters move around a little bit as I started to get screen fatigue. I also wish that there was a way to read along and watch the video in full screen. Overall, I'm very happy to have taken this course. I feel much more knowledgable about Indigenous history in Canada. Thank you!

I live in Germany and knew little about the history of Canada so far. I was shocked by some facts. At the same time I thought about die values and the system of the society in which I grew up. I was interested in the different worldviews, values and ways of life of the various indigenous peoples.

In some videos the names of groups or institutions were mentioned but not sufficiently or much later explained. Also processes were not always explained in chronological time. I often found the time jumps confusing, especially in the lessons about treaties. The pictures shown in the videos were removed too quickly. The video about indigenous art would have been more vivid if some pictures of the presented works of art had been shown.

It was amazing and I learned a lot about the different indigenous groups around Canada. Not only learning the basics on the different groups but also the history and what people may think are small details but are big stepping stones for indigenous people. The course was well organized and laid out and easy to navigate through. I really enjoyed the fact that even being located in western Canada that it encompassed all of the indigenous groups, even the ones out east. I live in Labrador and it connected ties over this way, which is great to see. The videos were spoken clear and concise and to see and hear of the guest speakers was amazing. Great course. I selected 4 stars, only because there is always room for improvement.

Well done. NOTe that is from 2015, interesting to know how far along we have come, but, of course with a great deal more to be done. Does the course need revising at all?

Particularly interesting was Britian substituting a patriarcharcal society on Indigenous cultures who were much more neutral between the genders and indeed some were matriarchal in nature.

Now we are trying to undo this with Indigenous peoples, and adapting to the women's movement in how society is organized in the greater context as a country not just Indigenous. We have come a long way, but witha long ways to go. In retrospect, what Britain should of done, was adopt much of how the Indigeous people were governing, instead of the other way around!

Some of the course was a bit complaining with so much treaty, written political, and land complaints, with involvement from the women. The population growth, where will they put there offspring if not with more urban growth? Depression etc, only blaming government and colonizaiton. The Colonializers must have done some good. The women being murdered, abused and then have to take time from employment to powwow against government activisim. I felt the art and creative side was very uplifting. They really do have some beautiful artwork and stories.

The actual prepration of the literature for this course, and the filming, though lengthy, was exceptional. I did greatly enjoy learning more about Canada.

well presented and important. Should have learned this in the mainstream long ago. My only critique is that the political position is obvious, which is not itself a bad thing, but it a) clouds the broader perspective of colonialism in the 1800s early 1900s. That is, it was a harsh approach to many who were not of the 'right background' - jews, poor people, orphans, women etc. It is collectively evolving on many fronts. b) completely ignores the fact that first nations took slaves, fought, had human societal challenges pre contact and is confronted with internal issues today. (the queer indigenous interviewee in Week 9 did a great job of highlighting some of this, outside of the course lecture).

I enjoyed the course and I am an urban metis woman born in Manitoba and raised in Alberta by a settler family I often felt I didn't fit in on either side of the spectrum as I am not classified as full blood or recognized by the Metis as I have never lived in a settlement and have been disconnected from my culture My bloodlines indicate that I am metis. Learning about how the Metis people have adapted to the urban culture has made me realize I do fit on the spectrum and that is as an urban Metis Woman. Thank you to all who put this course together as I have learned a lot about the indigenous culture and can now look at the world through different eyes Better eyes. ( Not a review but a perspective )

The course was relatively deep in information and provided a very good overview of the historic and current challenges facing Indigenous peoples in Canada. It also offered a look into the efforts of Indigenous peoples to gain recognition and take control of their destinies based on unique Indigenous governance models. My only criticism is that some sections attempted to provide too much information all at once and I felt that in those cases one would get loss in the breadth of coverage and detailed information presented. Otherwise I felt that this was a fantastic initiative that will certainly help non-indigenous Canadians better understand the Indigenous perspective in Canada today. Well done!

The course was very interesting and accessible to a person who is at an introductory level on this topic. I was impressed by the diversity of topics that were covered in relatively short amount of time. The lectures and videos were well presented and engaging. The instructors spoke clearly and concisely and were easy to understand. The multiple choice evaluations at the end of each module, however, were poorly written and did not necessarily cover important material. The course notes did not always contain the answers required to complete the evaluations which lead to frustration in some instances.Overall,however, taking this as a general interest course was a very positive experience.

This course was a fantastic starting point to learn about various aspects of Indigenous peoples in Canada. I learned so much about the history, the cultures, and contemporary issues facing Indigenous people today. Through the course, I became much more aware of my lack of understanding of Canada's true history (which was not taught in school) and how diverse and relatable Indigenous cultures are. I feel much better informed and find myself even more curious to learn about the Indigenous people of this country. I took away one star because the material was dry at times. It is difficult with an online course, but it would have been nice to have a bit more of an interactive platform.

The information in this course is excellent and very important for Canadians to learn. The overall presentation and lessons learned is very good. It does a good job of condensing thousands of years of history into a digestible package. I think the course does a good job of setting a baseline that all Canadians (especially settler descendants) can start at in their journey to understanding and cooperation with Indigenous people. I enjoyed this and learned a lot! Thanks!

Small nitpicks - there are a few modules that have some clunky delivery, but it is mostly well done. A few quiz questions also had some ambiguous answers, or addressed content not directly covered in the notes.

I found this course to be very informative. It gave me a perspective that I hadn't encountered in my previous history lessons. The beginning of the course was concise enough to give me foundations to explore those chapters in history more, but the last 2 to 3 units about more modern topics needed elaborating. The parts about Indigenous in Urban areas and modern Indigenous views needed a little more information or another voice explaining them. I found Tracy Bear (if I remember the name correctly) to be very clear and succinct, but the male moderator in later units to be a little vague in his explanations, yet great in the first units. Overall, though this is a great course.

What a terrific overview! The treaty sections were the most complex. I knew that the treaties were as diverse as First Nation communities but had no idea just how complex. And how woefully inadequate the Indian Act was - I'm old enough to remember (unfortunately) Jean Chretien's role as Minister of Indian Affairs. While critical of colonization, I think a lot more could have been said. It was left to the Residential School section to hit home the intergenerational damage done by colonization. I really enjoyed Leah Dorion's art segments that were a welcome visualization and contrast to so many words! Thank you for making this course available - very timely and so necessary.

I found this course very informative and educational and certainly a MUST for all Canadian's. Travelling through North Ontario I found myself judging the indigenous peoples without really having a clue to the history and the on-going injustices suffered by these first Canadian people .

I found the lecture format a bit tedious, but the entire course could only be improved with the addition of more imagery and multi-medium video segments. For a free course, this is a great format for educating the public and the poorly informed and I would recommend this course to anyone.

Thanks to UofA, Tracy Bear, faculty and presenters for producing a highly informative educational course.

Very well organized and well thought out. Presented clearly. Slight technical problem that videos would stop when ~90% completed and had to be restarted. As a non indigenous 69 yr old I was exposed to many new ideas and people past and present. Although indigenous people have had to and are still fighting to correct many wrongs I feel the course did not acknowledge the progress that has been made or that there are many non indigenous people who are happy and helpful with this progress. Also what is the vision of indigenous and non indigenous people (including descendants of original settlers right up to immigrants and refugees) together in Canada in the future? Thank you.