I had to re-do the course 3 times. For some reason it logged me out and didn't save the chapters I had completed. I had to re-register and start again. The first time I got kicked out was becasue the course timed out on me. I thought the course was learn at your own pace so when I got busy in May and June I assumed I could pick up where I left off. I was wrong and I had to re-enrole and re-do all of the chapters I had completed. Overall the course content was great. I just got struck with a lot of bad luck on the tech side of things.

This course was great. However, I found the certain questions on the tests were often poorly written and confusing. They felt like they were trying to trick me rather than confirm what I had learned. Since this is a free class, out to educate more people, I think the faculty should re-look at some of the questions. The difficulty of the test turns off a lot of people. And here the most imporant thing is to educate not make people feel 'dumb' or tricked. Overall I am very happy that I did this course. I learned so much. Thank you.

This course was very good and covered a lot of information about our history in Canada. I loved that the presenters spoke slowly and clearly, and the interviews with Community Members added a good perspective and insight. I really loved the artist at the end of each module, explaining her ideas to use. A number of the quizzes were ridiculously hard and the language used in the questions was, at times, ambiguous. I had to retry 4 different days and what was with using my course notes from the video as well as the notes provided.

This was an excellant introductory course and really opened my eyes to the history and settlement of Canada in a perspective I knew very little of. I have a far better understanding of Indigenous history and culture then I ever thought I'd have. I wish more of this was taught at the public school level. The history of Residential Schools was shocking. I never really understood how horrific they were. Growing up a Catholic, I am ashamed and what Indigenous Peopls endured.

Thank you so much.

Sgt Dan St. Amand #1393

York Regional Police

I really enjoyed the Indigenous Canada course. It offered a perspective on Canadian histroy that is not widely shared but deserves a much larger platform. I thought the scholars and instuctors did a very good job, but some of the quiz questions felt a little silly and could have been more thoroughly written, and there were a bunch of grammatical errors in the course notes that made them feel rushed. All in all it was a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to broaden their understanding of history.

Overall, a great course that every Canadian should have to take. Sometimes it was less engaging to listen to the presenters speak. I found the interviews with the artists elders and other "guest speakers" elders the most engaging as well as the breakdowns of the paintings. Some of the quiz questions were poorly written and confusing (double negatives, could be interpreted differently depending on how you read it etc). They relied on memorization of information, names, dates and facts and less on interpretation and higher thinking.

As an introduction, I found the course informative. And interesting in material. A broad swath. Brought down into manageable chunks. I would have preferred more dynamic use of the medium. The lecture style was slow; where images were used great. And the personal accounts and interviews were good. But not enough. There were missed opportunities eg fabulous acclaim for artists and their art. And yet we only see a drawing of them. Yes there was encouragement to view more and links. But overall provided a good basis to get more info.

Very meaningful content from indigenous perspective. All the speakers were clear. The content was well organized and I liked the repeating themes for comprehension of difficult and new subjects. I enjoyed very much Leah Dorion presentations of her art and have become a fan. I feel so much better anchored in indigenous history, crucial to my professional job of curating rare book collection of early explorers. I have been taught about indigenous worldviews and the enormous constraint put upon communities post European contact.

I found this course to be very informative, and I learned a ton. I especially appreciated the early modules about the treaties and the fur trade. However, I found the delivery of the material to be quite dry, and although Leah Dorian’s artwork was beautiful, I would have liked to have seen some different artists, especially in the last module about Art. Some of the quiz questions weren’t that straightforward as well. But all in all, I was very pleased with this free course, and will continue to educate myself going forward. 

From a white man looking into a foreign culture, it was very interesting to see the uniqueness and beauty of the Indigenous culture brings. The content of this course was exactly what I was hoping for. Some criticism: I hate trick questions and I strongly believe that they should be left out of testing. Additionally, some of the material was presented in a very dry and monotonal way. I would have liked to see more enthusiasm and excitement when someone is talking about their roots. Overall, I really enjoyed this course.

Loved the course, the way it was presented, the accessiblity and the content. The presenters were clear and informative and the course material gave a great overview for indigenous history and past and present social justice issues. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was that there were quite a few typo errors in the course notes and a few pieces of information that differed from what the course presenters said. Otherwise, I am very grateful for this personal and professional development opportunity. Thank you.

I was very moved by the content of this course. It has motivated me to learn more about Indigenous peoples in Canada. I found the format good, the videos and reading material excellent. I would have liked to see images of the art discussed in the last module. I also found some of the sections were difficult to understand because of esoteric jargon. However, I really appreciate the opportunity to take this course and can say that it has deepened my appreciation of the indigenous people in a very profound way. Thank you.

Sometimes there was too much repetition and I think, another edit, with the view to removing redundant material would make for a more powerful course. Another comment I have is the course would benefit from a more comprehensive view of pre-contact Indigenous governance and systems. As these were also created by people they would also have had their challenges/weaknesses (as well as their strong points of course which are adequately presented) and it'd be good to have a sense of these as well. Overall pretty good though.

I very much enjoyed and appreciate this course. I provided a 4 out of 5 being that , while each unit will ask a question within the unit, and a number of these units only provide the answer only after the question is asked - leaving the student often set up to be without an answer. to fail that question (opposed to being provided with/taught the information prior to being asked the question and instead leaving the answer yet to be provided/learned).

Thank you so very much for this opportunity.

Respectfully, Lisa Lacroix

This course was very educational. It provided excellent base information and provided me with information that would help me begin to look at Canadian history and current events with new perspective. I had no idea of the horrible treatment of First Nations peoples and no idea of the history that has created such complex and abysmal conditions to be faced by generations of First Nations peoples. I do have a better knowledge base and will continue my learning so that I can speak more intelligently of our histories.

I enjoyed the course and learned a great deal. It was well paced and the faciliators spoke clearly and easy to understand. I came across a couple of glitches, such as the pop quiz coming up before the material on the quiz was covered (two modules), and a few of the questions in the end of module quizzes seemed to be worded more to confuse than to test knowledge. Other than these issues, I am very satisfied with the learning and have recommended the course to many friends for value of the information. Thank you.

I learned a great deal. I am Wyandat / Metis/ Canadian and just getting to know my Grandmother's family/culture/history . I understand the need to educate with accurate Canadian ( Kanata or any) history . There was some repeat of * feelings* , rather than * facts* that started to sound preachy, but I also understand the importance of peoples feelings and the need and right to express them. Overall really enjoyed the course, ( content, delivery, presenters, and opportunity to participate).

Thank you.

I found it fascinating to learn another perspective on my assumptions of "truth" Eye opening and humbling. It gave me a sense of pride in the rich cultures I learned about, particularly in the arts . my only complaint was that I would have liked to have seen more examples of the various artists work, perhaps in the background while the lecture was going on. There are so many wrongs that need to be acknowledged, to allow for future understanding and co-existence. Thank you for this excellent course.

Sadly, I learned almost nothing about Indigenous culture in my public school years, so this course was a very good fit for something I had been wanting for many years. It provided a very good, and broad overview in preparation for my next educational venture, San'yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training. The course notes were helpful as I tend to learn better by reading. I would encourage you to have them professionally edited as it is clearly a transcript of spoken words that don't always "read well".

This course helps to explore indigenous Canada deeply. I work in the museum where there is a huge exhibition about indigenous people of Northern America and wanted to have a deeper understanding of our collection and different traditions connected with it.

The only reason why I didn't give 5 stars to this course is that I would like to have a little shorter version of it, pointing more attention to cultural and historical developments of different nations and less to the exact dates and personalities.

This is an awesome Course! Very well put together and alot of great information. I still think that it needs more detail on how current Colonial systems/Chief and council systems work with IOGC and Band funds etc. Band Council Resolutions and the changes in voting throughout the nation. I would give it a 4.75 out of 5 if I could but I am a little Bias as I took the ACIR course and got to go to Banff and interact with others. the Electives were a bonus too. Merry Christmas and Good work

James Blackman

I found the organization and content of the course to be excellent and have encouraged others to sign up for it. I think the use if interviews worked well to add variety and interest

I think there could be more interest put into backgrounds and did find voice modulation of all three primary lecturers somewhat monotonous.

I am new to online learning so may have unrealistic expectations of the scope of online lecturing.

On the whole the course was well worth taking. My thanks to all who were involved.

Indigenous Canada is a very good survey of a very broad field. It encourages me to pursue further studies of Indigenous issues. I experienced a technical difficulty with the art videos of each module as very "truncated or incomplete and "freezing up". The Module 12 Dorion video helped to clear up some of the resultant confusion. I would have liked to have learned more about the history of treaties in Canada. Perhaps another course is in my future... Thank you for a very educational experience.

I really, really benefitted from this course.

I was impressed with the substance of the material, and enjoyed the lecture aspect of it.

I feel like I have a clearer understanding of the Indigenous viewpoint on Canadian history, and although it's painful to hear certain truths, as a Settler, I am better for it and begin to inform others about it with greater objectivity and information as my allies.

Many, many thanks for making this very needed and very necessary course free for all of us!

Carmen Grant

Overall wonderful! Learned so much. Well organized and liked how each week built on the previous.Would have liked to have visual examples of the art / artists as they were presented in the last module.

Also some of the info was a bit outdated, eg. Neechi COmmons no longer around, when I went to look at for info. This would be a good addition - talking about WHY an important inititative like Neechi was not sustainable.

Thank you!! Amazing work and I am telling everyone I know to take this course!