Grade Levels: 7/8
Subject Area: Social Studies, History, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit studies, Geography, Language Arts, Visual Arts

Lesson Overview
Students learn how Aboriginal peoples were impacted by settlement and colonization. Students choose a variety of Indigenous nations and learn aspects of their traditional way of life before settlement/colonization by Europeans.

First Nations people view learning as a continuous process throughout one’s life cycle. The First Nations Holistic Lifelong Learning Model captures this complex, inclusive and integrated process that also incorporates the many forms of intelligence.  It is a visually appealing tool for revealing the forces that operate through our life cycle. It is a way to honour learning that includes students as well as everyone in the learning community. The Model identifies the many factors that influence our development and learning, providing many insights into the nature of these influences.  
This Plain Talk looks at learning and intelligence holistically and provides a significant new perspective and approach that is consistent with First Nations values and principles.

The lessons in this resource guide are designed to be implemented in a range of courses, such as civics, history, social sciences, English, geography, business, careers, physical education and science. The resource has been produced as a PDF file on CD with an accompanying video on this website. Although the lessons are intended for use with high school curricula, the video and activity sheet may be of use to all Federation members who work with students.

The guide includes resources on:
- land
- residential schools
- health
- identity

This site has links that provide information on the following:
- Aboriginal Business Opportunities Network (ABON)
- Economic Development
- Northern Saskatchewan Business Directory
- Aboriginal Business Service Network
- Gaming Trusts and Grants

The First Nations Performance Indicators Checklist is a culturally relevant tool that communities can use to assess their educational strengths and weaknesses, and to develop programs to enhance educational success from a First Nations perspective.
The checklist will help communities to understand the circumstances characterizing their educational systems and create a basis for adopting and implementing a model for continuous improvement in their educational systems based on culturally appropriate approaches.

The Indian Residential Schools and Reconciliation Teacher Resource Guides for grades 5, 10 and 11/12 were developed by the First Nations Education Steering Committee and the First Nations Schools Association. They are our response to the call by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada for education bodies to develop age-appropriate educational materials about Indian Residential Schools.

It is our hope that these resources will help students of all cultural backgrounds gain an understanding of the history of the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people over Canada’s history, with a focus on the BC experience. The materials are also designed to engage young people to take part in the journey of reconciliation.

A video on the home page does a great job of describing the who, what, and why of the resources.

British Columbia resource.

The SSBA offers First Nations and Métis Education Services, in support of its strategic plan and the Indigenous Council. The Indigenous Council consists of all self-identified First Nations and Métis school board members in Saskatchewan. The Indigenous Council elects one member to act as the Indigenous Constituency Representative on the SSBA Provincial Executive. Currently, the Council represents 11 per cent of all Saskatchewan school board trustees. Prior to the October 2016 school board elections, nine per cent of all Saskatchewan school board trustees had self-declared as Indigenous.

SSBA First Nations and Métis Education Services include:

Supporting the Indigenous Council in advancing initiatives, projects, and programs
Indigenous culture and reconciliation presentations
Advancing the Association’s Strategic Plan as it pertains to FNME priorities
Information and research
Resources

FNME Achievements and Resolutions
FNME Research Centre Reports

First Nations in Canada is an educational resource designed for use by young Canadians; high school educators and students; Aboriginal communities; and anyone interested in First Nations history. Its aim is to help readers understand the significant developments affecting First Nations communities from the pre-Contact era (before the arrival of Europeans) up to the present day.

The first part of this text —"Early First Nations" — presents a brief overview of the distinctive cultures of the six main geographic groups of early First Nations in Canada. This section looks at the principal differences in the six groups' respective social organization, food resources, homes, modes of transportation, clothing, and spiritual beliefs and ceremonies.

Parts two through six of this text trace the relationship between First Nations and newcomers to Canada from the very first encounter up to the government's historic apology in June 2008 to all former students of Indian Residential Schools. In this apology, the Government of Canada expressed deep regret for the suffering individual students and their families experienced because of these schools. The government also acknowledged the harm that residential schools and assimilation policies had done to Aboriginal people's cultures, languages and heritage.

Today the Government of Canada is working in partnership with First Nations in this new era of reconciliation to build stronger First Nations communities. All across the country, this crucial collaborative work is taking place in areas as diverse as First Nations economies, education, governance, social services, human rights, culture and the resolution of outstanding land claims.

FirstVoices is a suite of web-based tools and services designed to support Indigenous people engaged in language archiving, language teaching and culture revitalization.
This site provides information on a large number of native First Nations languages with opportunities to:
1. Learn Our Language, including:
PART OF SPEECH
Pronunciation (audio)
Definitions (in English)
Related Phrases
2. Play a Game (interactive games using the First Nations languages)
3. Photo Gallery
4. Kids Portal (with words, phrases, games, stories and songs)

The Readiness IC Maps focus on actions and practices to help school-wide efforts to increase Métis, First Nations and Inuit student achievement. They provide clear, specific and shared descriptions of what a new initiative or practice should look like.

Following Their Voices is an initiative designed to raise the educational achievement and participation of Saskatchewan's First Nations, Métis and Inuit students. Following Their Voices focuses on enhancing relationships between students and teachers, creating structures and supports for teachers and school administrators to co-construct teaching and learning interactions with students and creating safe, well-managed learning environments. Following Their Voices is based on research that was conducted with First Nations and Métis engaged and non-engaged students, parents/caregivers, teachers and school administrators about what is needed in order to be successful as a First Nations or Métis student in school. The ‘voices’ of these groups of people were profound in terms of the issues they identified. Their words and insights, along with international research, and guidance and advice from Elders and Knowledge Keepers formed the foundation of this initiative.

This online lesson provides perspectives from Native American community members, images, objects, and other sources to help students and teachers understand the efforts of Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest to protect and sustain salmon, water, and homelands. Scroll to begin an exploration of the Pacific Northwest history and cultures.

This documentary introduces us to thousands of Indigenous Canadians who enlisted and fought alongside their countrymen and women during World War II, even though they could not be conscripted. Ironically, while they fought for the freedom of others, they were being denied equality in their own country and returned home to find their land seized.

FourDirectionsTeachings.com is a visually stunning audio narrated resource for learning about Indigenous knowledge and philosophy from five diverse First Nations in Canada. Navigate to the site map for access to the teacher lesson plans to go along with the interactive audio and visual content.
Junior: Grades 1-6
Intermediate: Grades 7-9
Senior: Grades 10-12

Four Directions Teachings rend hommage à la tradition orale autochtone, en mettant en valeur le procédé d’écoute attentive, lorsque un ancien ou un professeur traditionnel partage un enseignement, selon son point de vue, sur la richesse et la valeur des traditions culturelles provenant de sa nation.

Available in:
Flash Version - English and French
HTML Version - English and French
Subtitles Version - English and French

"Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples 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."

From Apology to Reconciliation: Residential School Survivors was developed in response to the Government of Canada’s formal apology to Aboriginal people who attended residential schools. The project was created to help Manitoba students in Grades 9 and 11 understand the history of the residential school experience, its influence on contemporary Canada, and our responsibilities as Canadian citizens.

In Pursuit of Adventure: The Fur Trade in Canada and the North West Company is a scholarly research site, which illustrates and documents, in part, the heroic age of the fur trade in Canada by examining the exploits of the North West Company and other Montreal-based fur trading companies at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. The story of the North West Company is closely tied to the evolving economic, geographic and political history of Canada and Quebec, especially after France seceded Quebec to Great Britain in 1763. At the core of this site are the full texts of thirty-eight manuscripts that are known collectively as the Masson Papers and cover the period ca 1790-1820. The patrimonial importance of these diaries is of the first order and provide important insights into the history of the North West Company and the fur trade in general.

This site offers Aboriginal Games Categorized by Mathematical Content:
- PATTERNS AND RELATIONS
- PROBABILITY
- DATA MANAGEMENT
- NUMBERS AND OPERATIONS
- PROBLEM SOLVING
- CRITICAL THINKING
- GEOMETRY
- COORDINATION

This site offers interactive games and learning activities for teachers of grades 1-12 students that include lesson plans, games and activities, and web quests that help students to better understand Aboriginal cultures, artifacts and language.

Virtual Museum Challenge

Students learn to interpret objects that were made by aboriginal peoples in Canada, and learn about the history and cultures of Canada's aboriginal peoples, by researching and selecting images of objects from the Canadian Museum of database, completing the Virtual Museum Challenge worksheet, and making a presentation of artifacts selected for an imaginary exhibition.

Grades 9-12.