Page 90 - 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
are long lasting. Students develop their understanding that something that is historically significant for one group may not be significant for another. Significance may also be determined by the relevance of something from the past and how it connects to a current issue or event. In this course, students might apply the concept of historical significance when investigating precontact practices that provide evidence of Indigenous people’s relationship to the land and determining the ongoing importance of such practices; when assessing the impact of the “Sixties Scoop”; or when determining the importance for Inuit of the creation of Nunavut.
Cause and Consequence
This concept requires students to determine the factors that affected or led to something (e.g., an event, situation, action, interaction) and its impact/effects. Students develop an understanding of the complexity of causes and consequences, learning that something may be caused by more than one factor and may have many consequences, both intended and unintended. Students might apply the concept of cause and consequence when in- vestigating the motives for and the impact of treaties between Indigenous peoples and colonial governments in Canada; when ranking the factors that contributed to the rise
of the Métis Nation; or when analysing the short- and long-term consequences of the residential school system.
Continuity and Change
This concept requires students to determine what has stayed the same and what has changed over a period of time. Continuity and change can be explored with reference
to ways of life, political policies, economic practices, relationship with the environment, social values and beliefs, and so on. Students make judgements about continuity and change by making comparisons between some point in the past and the present, or between two points in the past. For example, students might apply the concept of con- tinuity and change when analysing ways in which interactions with settlers changed the material, cultural, and/or spiritual lives of First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit individuals and communities; how various court cases reinforced contemporary ideas about, and/or led to changes with respect to, Indigenous rights; or the extent to which advocacy and protest in the past fifty years have contributed to changes in the lives of First Nations, Métis, and or Inuit individuals and communities.
Historical Perspective
This concept requires students to analyse past actions, events, developments, and issues
within the context of the time in which they occurred. This means understanding the social, cultural, political, economic, and intellectual context, and the personal values
and beliefs, that shaped people’s lives and actions. Although students need to be aware of historical injustices and the negative consequences for Indigenous peoples of many historical events, policies, and attitudes, they also need to be conscious of not imposing today’s values and ethical standards on the past. Students also learn that, in any given historical period, people may have diverse perspectives on the same event, development, or issue. Students could usefully apply the concept of historical perspective when exam- ining the attitudes, values, and ideas that underpinned the Indian Act or the pass system; when analysing the responses of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians to the Northwest Resistance; or when assessing the views of Inuit and the federal government on the use of numbered identity disks.
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