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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Indigenous Canada by University of Alberta

4.8
stars
21,725 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

MD

Jul 2, 2021

This course was very interesting and very informative. Not only did it help correct stereotypes or prejudices, it showed a wide range of subjects pertaining to global and specific Indigenous cultures.

LJ

May 5, 2022

I really enjoyed this course. I liked that it was taught by indigenous peoples from their perspective. I feel much more confident in my knowledge regarding indigenous issues and traditions. Thank you!

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6726 - 6750 of 7,644 Reviews for Indigenous Canada

By Edward F

Sep 19, 2020

This introductory course had three main presenters who were great at telling the stories. I liked Dr. Tracy Bear the most as her style and tone was very conducive to my learning. This course is heavily geared toward watching videos and clips of others talking about specific items. There is also an art and artist component. It is not difficult to follow and read the notes. I would like more reference to maps and locations of some of the native groups as there were only generalities and green dots on a map of Canada. I have learned and relearned much by taking this convenient online course.

Ted Fuller M.Sc. P.Eng. P.Geo.

By Victoria G

Sep 4, 2020

Overall an interesting course that provides a good overview of the history of Indigenous North American peoples and many of the issues that have affected them and continue to affect them, their culture, their livelihoods and their future. There were some technical issues with the presentation of the course (including when those pop-up questions appeared in modules) some of the formatting, and the 12th module needs a redo as no links are provided to access the artists that they refer to and subsequently ask questions about. I definitely learned something in every module despite being familiar with a lot of the content.

By Debra P

Nov 27, 2021

I enjoyed this course. There is a lot of material presented clearly and in a way that draws the viewer in to the story. Some of the quiz questions were challenging as they don't always readily connect to the material presented at first glance. Being able to reread and review the material as many times as I wanted was helpful and reinforcing. The three host speakers were easy to listen to and the paintings were a great way to visually connect with the materials presented. The only criticism would be that some of the written text was less than accurate to the spoken presentations and distracted from the materials.

By Ciaran K S

Nov 23, 2017

Very interesting, and horrifyingly eye-opening. A new sense of our country's identity comes into light. The insights into the culture and history taught through the scope this course helps us as Canadians -- first generation, first person, fifth-generation Torontonian -- to understand the nature of our Country; what holds us together, keeps us apart, and why we fall into this cyclical blind pattern of poor social governance.

This course helps us all to find a definition of home: Canada as a country of many nation -- and puts Margaret Atwood's "Survival" into challenge about our true identity as many, but one, people.

By Geraldine D

Sep 26, 2020

I started this course to understand the native plight and why they are so angry with our government and white society. I have come to realize why. How do we go forward TOGETHER while respecting each other? Blaming has not solved the problems as we seem to be stuck in the same rut. I found the instructors very informative.I would have given 5 stars but at times I felt the anger and resentment coming through on some lectures with some smirks. I still have many questions such as why two nations? Are we not all Canadians? The course has made me want to learn more to understand better.

A 70 year old white person!

By Ben P

Sep 9, 2021

Thank you for this course. I am urban indigenous of Mississauga Ojibwa but have little background information on my history of Indigeneity as my grandmother was a graduate of residential schooling and would not teach her children about her people. This program offered a beginning of developing an understanding of my own identity. I do wish there was more information on the indigenous people of eastern Canada - specifically Ojibwa in this course but perhaps there are more specific courses I can take. but overall I found this course both informative and insightful. I am looking forward to continued learning.

By Kim A

Apr 4, 2020

Very good overview of a huge and complex subject. While I wouldn't call it a comprehensive history lesson, it definitely includes a lot of major historical events. Mainly it is a deep examination of worldview, with a lot of cultural ideas and I found the many examples of political struggles, activists and legal battles to be enormously helpful in understanding where we are today and what groundwork has already been laid down. It is a good introduction and made me want to keep reading more and learning about what Indigenous people are doing in this generation to heal to make Canada and the planet a better place.

By Dan P

Nov 13, 2020

I enjoyed the course content and believe I learned a good deal about the experience of Indigenous people since first contact with white settlers. The only concern I would raise is that the "talking presentation" is sometimes overwhelming. I think it would be helpful to include more visuals as examples of what is being discussed as the presenter speaks, this is especially true in some of the lessons that are complex and full of detail. Overall this was a positive experience for me and I would recommend it to friends as a way to begin to learn about the experiences of Indigenous people as a colonized community.

By June M

Mar 10, 2021

Thank you for an insightful and engaging course on Indigenous Canada. It has given me some understanding into the role of world views, the importance of interdependence and relationships which conveys a more horizontal rather than vertical orientation of engaging with others and our environment. This appears to be very different from our “western” perspective and I wander how one works to maintain this perspective in the daily life. Thank you for also sharing the viewpoint of Indigenous women in terms of expanding their role in governance, leadership and expanding role in family life and in the community.

By Jeffrey F

Apr 20, 2022

Very intresting perspective of the history of Indigenous Canada from inside. History is usually written by the winner so it was refreshing to hear the other side. Being brown myself I emphathise , however am glad you ended on an uplifting note of the Arts. It is a pity so many other cultures cannot also tell their story of colonization in such a format. Truly Canada was a unique multicultural country from the start. Your course helps us understand the issues that are ongoing and may never be solved. Thank you for the knowledge shared, as it heals. This couse should be required school ciriculum.

By Christine M M

Nov 14, 2020

An excellent introduction to understanding the Indigenous culture and history. The first part of the course was comprised of information that should be included in all school sectors. I have read that they may not include this content of indigenous history in the early grades of the Alberta school system. Sadly this is what occurred during my school years. The later part of the course reinforced my current understanding and knowledge base. I felt that some of the information could have been presented in more detail and that some areas could be updated. Otherwise I totally enjoyed the course.

By Lance F

Oct 15, 2022

Much of the course was amazing.

The teachers, story tellers, artists, and early content were amazing. 5 stars!

I didn't enjoy some of the later modules. They were opinion pieces that seemed to focus entirely on activism and resistance....completely ignoring the important work currently being done by Indigenous folks (like myself and network across canada) that are trying to find prosperity from the ashes of colonialism. There are amazing things being done by First Nations, Indigenous businesses, and Indigenous entrepreneurs. The course completely ignores this important work....no stars

By Marie S

Apr 6, 2020

I enrolled in this course as a part of the Healing & Wellness Counselor Program through NETC. As an Indigenous woman, there was a vast amount of information that I did not know. I thoroughly enjoyed this course and would recommend this course to anyone looking for education on Indigenous people. I experienced many unexpected emotions while working through each lesson. I felt it, processed it and released it. Thank you for awakening another part of my healing journey.

Thank you for the time and effort that was dedicated to making this course what it is. All the best to you all. Love to you

By Del S

Mar 23, 2021

This course has caused me to reflect on the history of my home province of Alberta. The greatest sacrifice in that story of settlement was paid by our indigenous brother and sisters in the giving up of their traditional hunting lands, aspects of their culture and identity. This course has reminded me to not forget the ongoing social effects that colonization and settlement have caused.

P.S. I have been reading Wallace Stegner’s book “Wolf Willow” at the same time as having been enrolled in this course. It has broadened my understanding of the issues raised in the course material.

By Brenda A

Apr 11, 2022

Very much appreicate all the work that went into getting all the information, interviews and of course the 1941's video.

Love the history of the treaty, fur trade and art.

Always curious of the truth what happened during the early migration of european settlers coming into Canada, now I understand a little more of the how's what's and who's of this tragic, sad and shameful relationship between first Nations People and the Canadian Government.

Thank you for all that you do to help us all understand the Worldview both past and present relationships with the Indigenous Peoples.

Brenda

By Patricia M

May 23, 2022

This is a wonderful course and I learned a great deal. However, I would suggest it should be revised annually if possible. Currently there is a great deal of context missing about the graves of the children being discovered at residential schools. Lots going on on the reconcilation front with the pope coming to visit this year, the role of the monarchy and questions about their reparations.

Also a note about the test questions: it's not fair to frame them in the negative. It feels like trickery when they aren't framed in the positive. High school shenanigans.

By Robert J

Jul 24, 2022

The course served as a rewriting of north american history for me, presenting the perspective from the aboriginal peoples of the lands to which settler nations came. I came to better understand the relationships of aboriginal nations and Canada throughout history. Modern day perspectives also served well to show how aboriginal peoples are part of the fabric of our Country and how important it is to right past injustices. I write this on the day the Pope arrives in Canada, I trust, to help all those who have suffered as a result of a horrendous period of history.

By Trina M

Jan 31, 2021

Having done the UBC Indigenous MOOC a few years ago, I found this one much better. The Canadian focus was great, I learned a lot, and I loved that there was a great deal of positive representation. My only real complaint would be the quizzes which were poorly worded and felt really picky in terms of looking at minute detail rather than overarching concepts. I've recommended the course to a number of people and am grateful to have taken it, especially for the great integration of Indigenous art and the focus on 4 regions to help break the "one Indian" stereotype.

By Victoria M

Nov 13, 2020

Incredibly informative introduction to Indigenous history and culture. There is so much material to cover, but this course did a great job presenting the information in bite-sized, well constructed modules.

The only thing I would like to see more of is Mi'kmaq inclusion. As someone living in Mi'kma'ki and knowing there is a long, rich history of the Mi'kmaq peoples I would like to have more representation for the full East Coast of what is called Canada.

Thank you for offering this great resource. This is something every person of settler heritage should engage in.

By Melissa A

Sep 15, 2020

I found this full of knowledge that can help me empathize with the indigenous culture and it raised my knowledge of some facts. I have a better appreciation for the history and the grassroots causes. I thoroughly enjoyed the format although the last module of art seemed the most difficult for me; not sure why. I love art culture.I have recommended this course to a few other people. I work in a school and I had an understanding of orange shirt day but, now I completely feel that in some ways the residential schools caused much more trauma that I truly understood.

By Ryan M

Aug 17, 2020

Great course, I had many learning moments where the incomplete knowledge I brought to the course was sewn together into something more complete. I also found my thoughts and opinions being challenged as I made my way from "week to week". It's been the cause of a lot of reflection, and has made me reach out to friends and family to discuss the issues that are broached in this course. I gave the course 4/5 only because I wish the videos had made more effective use of the video format. However, 10/10 would recommend this course to other colleagues and friends.

By Nancy C

Aug 1, 2021

A lot of interesting material here but sometimes too much information for one quiz. Many names are hard to remember resulting in difficulty passing some tests without multiple tries. Due to so much dialogue and information, the course was also sometimes hard to follow. I understand this is from the indigenous point of view, in learning this course there were times I felt very sympathetic, and then blamed at other times for things done by people before me.

I am so sorry for the things that were done to these peoples, I took this course to understand better.

By Anne A

Aug 19, 2022

I've only screatched the surface of what I want to learn regarding First Nations in Canada but this was a fantastic starting point. Very interesting so see the paralels of the course material in policy and legislation in natural resource use and resource production in modern day. My only criticism is some of the questions in the quizzes weren't reflected in the course content and it might be useful to allow an answer key after the course has been completed so we can review what we may have missed.

Thank you so much for this fantastic learning opportunity.

By Laura S

Sep 27, 2021

I thought this course was very helpful in learning the basics of issues our Indigenous peoples have faced throughout the history of colonization in Canada. Instructors were great.

My only small complaint is I found a couple of the quiz questions seemed to be able to be answered a couple of ways, but only one answer was correct on the marking.

I'm glad I took the course. We learned a bit our residential schools in class when I was younger, but they really need to teach more about our influence on Indigenous populations when they teach Canadian history.

By Gael S

May 4, 2022

The content in this course was excellent. Really fabulous. I'm so glad I spent time on this.

However, the quizzes were often not good gauges of the content. Some questions focused on minutia, details that I did not think were reflective of the overall principles of the lesson. That was really disappointing. And there were some questions I did not understand, or answers that I could not find, even after scouring through the notes for the section and re-reading the righ passage several times. I would give this course 5 stars if the quizzes were better.