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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Indigenous Canada by University of Alberta

4.8
stars
21,724 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

DN

Aug 30, 2020

This is a great survey course about Indigenous Canada. As a participant, I have learned and unlearned so much about Indigenous Canadians, and more important, this course has inspired me to learn more.

JH

Feb 13, 2021

Highly recommended - I have recommended it some of my staff who are interested in both taking the course and reading the materials. I should note they are First Nations and are as interested as I was.

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526 - 550 of 7,644 Reviews for Indigenous Canada

By Amelia K

Oct 22, 2020

My understanding of Indigenous history, culture, worldview, and challenges has been greatly expanded and enhanced. I feel like it's been a missing piece in my life as a Canadian and that every Canadian would benefit from taking this course. There were times when I wasn't clear if there was a spelling error or if I was missing something, like the word Haida vs. Hyda. I appreciate and do forgive any errors in the original presentation and would like to suggest reediting the script at some point to support the clarity of the message in the work. This course was life-changing for me! Many thanks!

By Alexander B

Jul 24, 2022

I am truly grateful for having the opportunity to learn about these elements of Indigenous history here in Canada. It is unfortunate that there was not more space to delve into further detail about each Indigenous group (First Nations, Metis, and Inuit) individually, but that may be an additional set of courses that can be organized at a later time to provide further insights into the experiences of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island, and their history with colonialism and settler society. Thank you again, and I hope to carry this information forward with me to educate others in the future.

By Meagan F

Jun 20, 2020

Thank you for providing such a well thought out and well-researched course. It was very educational and valuable for our understanding of Canadian history and contemporary issues. We especially appreciated the inclusion of the lecture dedicated specifically to women and genderful people. We have recommended this course to our friends and family. One small suggestion that we have is to include a few more pictures of the artists' works in the lecture on indigenous art. Thank you so much for putting these lectures together and for allowing us to gain such invaluable knowledge from this course.

By Roxanne Q

Dec 11, 2021

This course (long over due I am 60 ) fills in the gaps from my own elementary and high school text book learning. During the last 5yrs I have learned so much about the culture, sadness, and shocking mistreatment of indigenous peoples. It has sparked a need for me to learn and share this history. I am non indigenous..there must be many people like me who want something better and this is a way to know what direction you must take.. you can't ignore or undo once your aware of the pain, disrespect, and mishandling of our ancestral people. Thank you for this course. It was an eye opener.

By MICHELLE K B

Feb 27, 2021

I learned so much about indigenous Canadian history, but I also learned about different world views, and how patriarchal settle culture has colored everything I thought I knew. I learned to question the viewpoint and background of whoever is teaching any type of knowledge. It affects what is even considered “knowledge”. So it has truly expanded my worldview and my way of knowing. I am a better learner for having completed this course and it is helping with my expanding knowledge and recognition of the lack of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in all the ways we get knowledge.

By Heather L

Jan 16, 2021

This course was presented with grace and knowledge with a goal of educating the participants about the colonization effects on Canada’s diverse indigenous peoples. Hard topics were covered, such as marginalization, treaty failures, residential school abuses, the reasons for drug and alcohol abuse in native populations, land mismanagement and more. I really feel better informed as a white Canadian. I realize there is a long road to reconciliation and forgiveness. I will take future opportunities to support the native point of view. Thank you to all the teachers and guests for your efforts.

By Russell J P

Dec 9, 2021

This course was eye opening, heart wrenching, humbling and inspiring. It was so informative, comprehensive, broad in the sense of history, subject matter, teaching styles (video, art, text, interviews) yet left me wanting to learn more and go deeper into the material. This course, delivered and studied a chapter each year, building on each of the previous years should be mandatory in schools across the country starting in grade 1 with a required completion in grade 12 in order to be able to earn a high school diploma.

For the time, passion, experience and knowledge shared, nya:weh.

RjP

By Dale D

Nov 16, 2020

Thanks for your presentation on this all important Canadian and international subject. This has given me a greater understanding of the history of our First Nations peoples and their struggles and peaked my interest to further explore this rich history. Along with the many struggles, I have confidence that through perseverance, learning, art, and other forms of communication, we will get better at collaborating outcomes that foster positive relationships in our world. Thanks to all that participated in building this course and to the excellent presenters on explaining this complex topic.

By Kathleen B

Feb 16, 2022

While I was impressed by the depth and sensitivity of this course, I wish it was more up to date. This became most apparent when the census info about Indigenous people in the city was cited. I realize this would be a huge project to take on - but I wonder if one final installment could be added which addressed some of the major changes since the course was written.

This was a super way to educate myself about some of the important challenges for Indigenous people in Canada. Naturally I need to keep learning to stay abreast of the current landscape.

I will recommend this course to others

By Michael W

Nov 23, 2020

I liked this course a lot. The content was informative and well presented, accessible and understandable. I liked the lectures, but also and maybe a bit more the broad range of "Interviews" with elders and academics. They gave the course an increase in authenticity. Again the lectures were also well done, informative and insightful, but the interviews for me were the strongest part. I found I felt more connected to them, drawn in. Thanks to all of you, I hope there will be subsequent courses, because my sense is that I still have a lot to learn. With respect appreciation and admiration.

By Jennifer L

Aug 31, 2017

This course was extremely meaningful to me. I am a Metis woman living in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan. I currently work as an Educational Assistant in our public school. Many of my co-workers are also Indigenous. We have all been directly affected by the St. Micheals residential school that once stood here. Leah Dorion is highly regarded in our school and has on occasion, worked with our students on art projects at the local museum. This is the first University class I have taken in 30 years and I'm glad I started with this one! Thanks for making this so relevant and worthwhile to me!

By Penelope H

Aug 29, 2021

I thouroughly enjoyed this course. As a relatively new settler to Canada, I felt it was important to take on these studies. The course provided informative lessons on the history, as well as contemporary issues from an Indigenous lens. Thank you to all who created the lessons. I know how much work goes into creating such engaging curriculum. I am thankful to have been able to take on this opportunity to learn more about my adopted homeland. I hope that Canada continues to reconcile the 'wrongs' that have been placed upon our Indigenous peoples. May we grow together in a positive way.

By Lisa P

Feb 24, 2021

Thank You! You need to fight to get this into Public School Systems as part of the Education curriculum. As a born Canadian I had no idea about many of the course topics, this has provided me a better understanding of so many things and a much deeper appreciation for the rich a vibrant culture of indigenous peoples. I will pass this on to everyone to take and participate.

If I could give one small item of feedback certain course elements cover a lot of information and by the time you take the quiz your head is spinning; consider breaking up the quiz into quizzes after video segments.

By Laurie F

Sep 17, 2020

My aunt who is a Metis knowledge holder, told me about this course. I have always been fascinated by my dad's heritage however it was only passed on to us in a very limited way. Unfortunately it was not something they were brought up to be proud of. My dad has learned a lot from his sister who has taken on a proud role in spreading knowledge about Metis history. Even though I am almost 50 I figure you are never to old to enrich your life with more knowledge and information. I appreciate that a quality course like this is available to anyone interested in learning new perspectives.

By Todd C

Sep 14, 2020

An exceptional opportunity to gain access to the actual history of indigenous experiences. The history of this land started well before any human being populated this geography. To limit our knowledge to what happened here since 1492 is inaccurate storytelling of our collective past. While geologist can tell me what happened here millions of years ago, it turns out there is enough resource amongst current people to tell the story of human population of the Americas. The question isn’t; why do I need to know what is in the content of this course? the question really is; why don’t I?

By Patrick J

Dec 3, 2021

This was an excellent course and offered me a different, and sometimes troubling view, of the country that I love and call home.

While I cannot fix the wrongs that were made in the years prior, I am taking from this a notion that indigenous people’s culture, teachings and view on sustainability and overall environmental health need to be incorporated into our modern way of thinking, if we are to continue to share this land, and all it provides, for us all to be able to live harmoniously together. Thank you for allowing me to learn from this course.

Sincerely;

Patrick Jackson, Toronto

By Irene D

Jan 30, 2018

I’m very pleased with this informative indigenous course. I’ve learned a lot about issues affecting indigenous - First Nation and politics . I’ve learned a lot about the affect that land has on indigenous culture and a little about trieties and the politics involved. It’s help me develop language and open

my mindtjank up to the abuse that took place and how and why it’s important for them to be heard and understood as a community . I love the storytelling approach and that they leave people to learn at their own pace and that woman detained a lot of power in their comminittees 🙏

By GP V

Aug 26, 2021

The most comprehensive and well presented course I've ever experienced. I recommend this course to everyone. I appreciated the accessibility options (closed captioning) as well as the module reading assignments which summarized the content week to week. My only complaint is the wording of the quiz questions tend to lean towards being a negative the majority of the time - at least that's how the dice rolled for me! i.e. "which of the following is not an example of ...." Regardless of that tiny little complaint, I feel this course should be required for everyone in Canada. Everyone.

By Suman K

Aug 16, 2020

I greatly appreciate all the members of the team who have put together the Course for Indigenous Canada. For me the experience was to learn about Canadian History in a relaxing manner, like an antidote to the Covid pandemic situation. From the first week itself I discovered the order that Reading, Interactive Video and then watching all the videos helped before taking the quizzes. I will take up another course from this Department from University of Alberta. I wish to continue contributing to the Discussion Forum, as I had many things to say but did not find time to do so in time.

By Brenda B

Jul 28, 2022

I am so grateful to have taken this course and I feel I have grown so much in learning so much history that my formal education failed to deliver. For me the art work beading over the Indian Act was so powerful, I hope to see that in person some day. The rest of the content was so engaging, the moderators were incredible and I learned many many things about the colonial history of Canada that I had no clue about. Thank you for making this course and for making it free and accessible to all. I will be telling everyone I know about it and encouraging others to sign up. Well done!

By Amie D

Dec 14, 2020

Authentic historical and cultural perspective was what drew me to this course initially. Throughout the weeks the content and their quizzes were paced in a manageable way for me to learn and work simultaneously. The pedagogical practices in the delivery of this course were fantastic. As far as the actual content goes, I wish I would have had this knowledge decades ago. Thank you to Professor Tracy Bear, Professor Paul Gareau, Alannah Mandamin-Shawanda, Isaac Twinn and all the elders, artists and presenters who shared their stories and their lives with me over these many weeks.

By Eric A G

Mar 11, 2021

Excellent course, it is a real pity that the richness and understanding that can be gained by this course wasn't part of the curriculum when I when through secondary school. I was more naive than I realized in understanding different perspectives - this definitely helped me. To counter some of the criticisms in the comments - this isn't a fundamentally sad or negative course, of course there some devastating history that needs to be understood, but there is also resilience, beautiful art, and lessons that would serve to improve all cultures here too. Very well worth your time.

By Biljana J

Nov 19, 2020

I very much enjoyed taking the course: Indigenous Canada. It was extremely informative and eye-opening. This was the first course I took on coursera and I loved it! As a Macedonian-Canadian woman that was raised in Canada, there were many things about Indigenous people (i.e. their experiences, their various worldviews, the struggles they have faced and continue to face, etc.) that I was not aware of. We definitely need to be more educated and made aware. Thank you for having this course on coursera and to the Professors for doing a wonderful job breaking it all down for us.

By Ruth C

Sep 28, 2020

It was very eye opening & informative to learn more about the history of Canada's Indigenous people, their mistreatment at the hands of European settlers, their fight for survival, their resilience & their continuing battle against stereotypical ideas and mistreatment. I have a profound pride & admiration for Canada's original inhabitants. I sincerely hope that Canada will continue to acknowledge the atrocities that have been, and still are, being committed against them and that one day they will enjoy the same rights, acceptance and treatment that all human beings deserve!