Mi'kmaw Studies 11

Unit 1: Introductory

Worldview and perspective as the foundation of the course: how the lens you look through shapes the history you see, Mi'kmaw society before European contact, and the early relationships the Mi'kmaq forged with other First Nations and with the French and the English.

• Worldview and perspective in history and culture

• Mi'kmaw society before European contact
• Early relationships with other nations

Unit 2: Independent Study

A student-designed inquiry: choosing a historical or contemporary Mi'kmaw issue and investigating it carefully and respectfully by designing and conducting a research project that honours Mi'kmaw sources and voices.

• Designing and conducting a Mi'kmaw research project

Unit 3: Governance

Mi'kmaw governance and rights: the territories and complexity of pre-contact civilization, the inherent rights of the Mi'kmaq as first occupants, how governing structures changed from pre- to post-contact, the Nationhood-Concordat-Treaties relationship, and the adverse effects of discriminatory policy and injustice on First Nations.

• Pre-contact territories and civilization
• Inherent rights as first occupants

• Comparing pre- and post-contact governance
• Pre-Contact Mi'kmaq Nationhood
• The Concordat of 1610
• The Peace and Friendship Treaties
• Discriminatory policies and social injustices

Unit 4: Culture

Mi'kmaw culture and its continuity: how cultural biases have distorted views of First Nations, the role of oral tradition in maintaining cultural continuity and identity, the continuing role of Mi'kmaw Elders, and traditional and contemporary Mi'kmaw art, craft, music, dance, and literature.

• Cultural bias and views of First Nations
• Oral tradition and cultural continuity

• The continuing role of Mi'kmaw Elders
• Traditional and contemporary cultural expression

Unit 5: Education

Mi'kmaw education across time: traditional educational practices and how they changed, the origins, goals, and impacts of the Indian Residential School System (Shubenacadie in the Nova Scotia context), and First Nations communities' efforts to regain control of their own education.

• Traditional education and how it changed
• The Indian Residential School System
• Regaining control of education

Unit 6: Spirituality

Traditional Mi'kmaw spirituality: its beliefs, customs, and values; the significance of creation stories to identity and sense of place; and the unique blend of 17th-century Catholicism and traditional Mi'kmaw spirituality that exists in many communities today.

• Traditional Mi'kmaw spirituality
• Creation stories, identity, and sense of place

• The blend of Catholicism and Mi'kmaw spirituality