Contemporary Indigenous Peoples in Canada (ANTH*2660)

Code and section: ANTH*2660*01

Term: Winter 2025

Instructor: Thomas McIlwraith

Details

Calendar Description:  An analysis of the impact of Euro-Canadian society on Native culture. Particular emphasis will be given to contemporary issues relating to Canadian Native peoples (Indians, Inuit and Metis) such as education, treaties and reserves, land claims, government administration and economic development.

Course Description: Ethno-historical, anthropological, and cultural perspectives on the social, economic and political situation of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. This course will provide an overview of a wide variety of issues facing Indigenous peoples today. The history of European contact, settlement, treaties, reserves and the Indian Act legislation will first be reviewed to provide students with an understanding of the social and historical conditions that have brought about the present state of affairs. As the term progresses, current social, political, legal, land, human rights, community (and other current issues) will be discussed as outlined in the schedule of weekly readings. The orientation of the course is anthropological. The instructor is not an Indigenous person.

Evaluation: Your grade will be based on four requirements: a midterm exam, an infographic assignment, two short written reflections on course material, and a final exam.

Tentative breakdown:
• Midterm Exam: 30%
• Final Exam: 35%
• Infographic: 25%
• Reflections: 10%

Required Texts:
• Vowel, Chelsea. 2016. Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Issues in Canada. Winnipeg: Highwater Press.
• Menzies, Charles R. 2016. People of the Saltwater: An Ethnography of Git lax m'oon. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.
Readings are also drawn from the following open access (free) textbooks:
• Belshaw, John, Sarah Nickel, and Chelsea Horton. Histories of Indigenous Peoples and Canada. Kamloops: Thompson Rivers University. Open and free textbook:
https://histindigenouspeoples.pressbooks.tru.ca/
• Centennial College. Our Stories: First Peoples in Canada. Toronto: Centennial College. Open and free textbook: https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/indigstudies/

CourseLink: All class documents, web links, discussion groups and grades will be managed through CourseLink. A detailed, week by week course outline will be available when the semester begins.

Syllabus

Attachment	Size
ANTH2660 WebOut McIlwraith_W25.pdf	136.08 KB