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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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6851 - 6875 of 7,644 Reviews for Indigenous Canada

By Diana G

Oct 19, 2020

Some of the references have become outdated, especially in the last section. With so much interest among the wider population in Canada in understanding indigenous perspectives and history, it would be great to review and update the course material. Would have appreciated more visual representation of art being discussed in the Culture section. Generally enjoyed the course and learned a lot. Thank you, miigwech!

By LInda S

Dec 6, 2021

This was a very good intro to the Indigenous peoples in Canada. It covered the history, the culture and the issues faced by the Indigenous people.

I do think though that some of the questions in the quizzes should be looked at again to verify that there is only one correct answer or that the answer is in the videos or notes.

Thanks you for offering this course virtually and for free. I will recommend it to others.

By Kimia G

Jan 2, 2021

This is a great course for anyone who is unfamiliar with Indigenous history and peoples in Canada and wants to learn more. The course will give you a comprehensive overview, and weaves in beautiful artwork by Leah Dorion that I absolutely loved. I especially appreciated the modules on the Fur Trade, governance systems, the various Treaties, the Indian Act, residential schools, and Indigenous women and artists.

By Alix R

Nov 2, 2020

Excellent course, but the format could use improvement. 12 weeks of the same format for each module (multiple videos, reading, quiz) made the course feel repetitive and very long. It would be better if each module incorporated different interactive elements or ways to present the information. Despite this, the content is excellent and is an essential source of information that every Canadian should learn from.

By Carol G

Dec 3, 2020

Thank you. I feel the gap in my understanding of the indigenous perspective of history was significant. I would now like to study each specific area of the course in more depth. Thank you for helping me ‘see’ more clearly and providing me a new framework with which to view my country and the colonialism which shaped its trajectory. There is much healing, learning and reconciliation that must guide our future.

By Janice M P

Nov 26, 2021

This was my first on line course in my quest for knowledge of our Indigenous people. I did find the sections about the treaty process and dates heavy going but history never was my forte. Never the less, I have completed the course and have also completed Aboriginal Worldviews from UoT. This is a great way to expand my knowledge of an area that, regretably, was never taught when I was in the school systems.

By Stephanie R

Dec 11, 2020

This is an excellent course that I think every Canadian should take. In fact, I think it should be mandatory in all levels of school from elementary to University level. It would also be helpful to have a similar course on Indigenous history in the US. I don't even know if reconciliation is a thing in the U.S. I do think this course could be updated though, because a lot has changed over the last 10 years.

By Molly R T

Sep 20, 2020

At times it seemed as though the course prioritized presenting the contributions that indigenous peoples have made to colonial Canada instead of focusing on the ways in which settler society/systems have damaged and impeded life for indigenous communities (I found this mainly in week 6 but at other times as well). I would love the opportunity to delve into some of these ideas further in follow-up courses!

By Felix A

Oct 12, 2020

Essential course for ALL colonial settlers. Suggestions: for modules that are long or contain a lot of facts, eg Module 8 and the final one, please have Quizzes at shorter intervals to build encouragement. Also, include more visual examples, especially for Indigenous Artists, to enhance interest and help personalize the lectures. Grateful thanks for a liberating eye opener on Canada’s HIDDEN HISTORY 🙏🏽

By Anne P J

Aug 2, 2021

i found the videos had just the right level of complexity for someone new to the topic. I appreciated that i could then print off a transcript of the videos as a permanent resource to refer back to. I liked that i could do the course in my own time and at my own pace. I would thoroughky recommend this course to anyone who wishes to educate themselves about the true story of indigenous people in Canada.

By Tiffany T

Dec 10, 2020

Great primer for history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, especially evolution of relationships with European settlers. I am glad the course talks about diversity of Indigenous Peoples rather than grouping them together. I did not have time to delve into the interactive art at the end of each module, but I love this idea. Some questions and answers on quizzes are worded strangely or are a bit ambiguous.

By Bill A

Nov 1, 2020

Very good. Carefully factual. Supported with evidence and documentation. Offered more depth and detail than I expected at first. Understandably idealized depiction of Indigenous cultures (no mention of precolonial slavery or caste systems, for example), but why invite negative criticism. There has been enough of that. A little bit dry and stilted in places, but that's typical of most academic courses.

By Meagan S

Sep 21, 2020

While the course information was very interesting and important to learn, the delivery was very hard to focus on. It was very repetitive and was hard to engage with. I am glad that I have the readings for later as this will be helpful to reread over time. Overall, very happy I took the course to open my eyes up to these experiences which I was not fully aware of before. Very good learning experience!

By Jennifer M

Aug 29, 2022

This course was informative, interesting and eyeopening. It challenged the worldviews I recieved growing up about the Indigineous community and history and made me have a much greater respect and appreciation for Indigineous culture.

I would have liked to see more examples of the Indigenous art described in the last module as it was being spoken to, to elicit a deeper appreciation and understanding.

By Kathleen T

Jun 18, 2021

I found this course very rewarding. I feel like I have a better understanding of the history and legacy of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. It was at times difficult to face the horrors my colonial ancestors inflicted upon Canada's Indigenous peoples. My only concern is with the quizzes. If I did the quiz on my laptop I couldn't properly select the answer I wanted. It would change them after the fact.

By Pauline V E

Jun 15, 2020

The variety of topics presented was comprehensive, but the content in each topic was not. I was immensely disappointed that some native words were incorrectly spoken , eg. Mohawk people Kanien:keha'ka (there is NO "k" sound in Mohawk - its a "g" sound). If you are going to share this with your listeners, then please pronounce it correctly. I definitely finished this course knowing so much more.

By Pat G

Apr 12, 2022

This course was an eye opener to understanding the binary and matriarchal importance and role it played in Indigenous culture. The historical data of European influence was well presented and helps me to understand negative attitudes towards non-indigenous people. I am getting involved with our Rotary Clubs Indegenous relations committee so this course will certainly assist me in moving forward

By Robert S

Apr 1, 2020

This course was an excellent introduction to someone seeking a better understanding of Indigenous North Americans. I learnt a great deal more than I expected, and would highly recommend it to anyone. I might recommend editing of some of the quiz questions/answers, as they are occasionally poorly worded, which often obfuscates the correct answer. Thanks very much for putting the course together!

By Marina T

Aug 3, 2023

The course was excellent: illuminating, engaging, a nice mix of breadth and depth. The interviews were particularly great.

My only critique is the design of the assessments as often the questions / answers were unclear or very specific (rote memory) or in the case of the in video questions, unrelated to the specifics that were just discussed. More concept and synthesis based questions would add

By Wally W

Jan 6, 2021

Not having been in a school learning environment for over forty years, I found it difficult to study and retain the information appropriate to answering the quiz. I am looking forward to being better prepared

and retain the most relative information in my next course initiative. I truly found this course very well presented and most informative about our Indigenous citizens and their culture.

By Hate C D M P

Nov 26, 2020

I found many errors in the notes and the lectures which undermined the credibility of the presentation. I also found the speaking voices to be very monotone and difficult to listen to for more than a few minutes at a time. There were also technical issues with the website freezing and dropping out. Overall it was a very informative and useful experience that I would recommend to others.

By Miss L B

Oct 16, 2020

This is a very interesting and informative course that was thorough and well presented. It touched on a wide variety of areas regarding the Indigenous people of Canada. The reading material before answering the questions was excellent. Much better than another course that I have taken. A couple of questions on two quizzes were ambiguous, but that would be the only aspect that was negative.

By Amanda R

Jan 24, 2019

This course had excellent content. I am baffled and outraged at how Indigenous people have been treated in the past and continue to be treated, and that the majority of Canadians (myself included) are not educated on this history. My only complaint is that the course notes do not always match the spoken dialogue in the videos (ex: Rebecca Belmore's "Trace" was called "Fringe" in the notes).

By Alyssa D

Feb 28, 2021

I really enjoyed the content of this course and learned a lot! The assessments did make my learning experience a bit more challenging. I found that the multiple-choice questions tended to be a bit confusing, ambiguous, poorly worded, or too memorization-based (as opposed to deeply testing knowledge). If possible, I think it would be very helpful to students for the quizzes to be reviewed.

By Catharine L

Jul 28, 2020

Extremely informative, insightful, and equally shocking. There are so many dimensions to the history of the Indigenous, Inuit and Metis. We all need to educate ourselves and this course is very good start. There needs to be much discussion around this topic in our high schools, post secondary education institutions and in our living rooms. Hearing the story first hand was very moving.