Page 10 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 to 12 | First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit studies is by nature integrative. For example, when students examine the relationship between the design and function of wampum belts and the purpose of written treaty documents, their exploration of art and history helps them think more deeply about government and sovereignty/self-governance. When students learn about traditional stories and legends through the work of various Métis artists while also investigating Métis harvesting rights, they are drawing on the arts, English, and law to develop their understanding of how geography affects culture. Similarly, when they analyse the impact of legislation on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures as they study a novel about the efforts of a residential school survivor to reclaim their cultural identity, they are combining their understanding of governance and law, civics, and English to gain insight into how institutions can influence identity.
Essential Understandings
While the many Indigenous nations in Canada are diverse in their governance practices, traditions, protocols, ceremonies, dances, songs, rites of passage, creation stories, languages, and other experiences, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit world views have certain constant elements in common. In this document, we refer to these constants as “essential under- standings” in the study of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit in Canada. They provide a
lens through which to develop a deeper appreciation of identity, relationships, and self- determination, three concept areas that are central to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit studies. As students work through major topics in a course, they use the essential understandings as a lens through which they can make connections to and between a number of key concept areas. The essential understandings, each of which is related to one or more
key concept areas, are outlined in the chart on page 9.
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities also have a long history with the French and English settler communities and, subsequently, with the government of Canada. This history ties these groups together in ways that are distinct from the connections between other groups in Canada. The Constitution Act, 1982, formally recognizes Aboriginal3 and treaty rights, which represent one of the essential understandings in the study of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit in Canada. This understanding provides the context for a theme that runs throughout the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit studies curriculum – that is, the crucial importance, for all peoples and nations in Canada, of truth, reconciliation, and renewed nation-to-nation relationships.
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3. In this document, the term “Indigenous” is generally used to refer to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit individuals and communities in Canada. However, “Aboriginal” is used in specific historical or legal contexts, as appropriate.