Canada History Week 2021 Learning Tool

1. Choose one of the ceremonies, gatherings, games, or other cultural practices from the list below to research. You may also choose one not listed here. • Dene Games • Inuit Vocal Games • Powwows • Potlatches (Learn more with the Living Traditions: The Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch on the Northwest Coast exhibit) • Sun Dance • Smudging • Vision Quest 2. Make note of the following information for your chosen practice. You may wish to conduct additional research: • When does it take place? Where does it take place? Who is involved? What does it consist of? • Is the ceremony or gathering public, or only intended for a select group? • How was it impacted by colonial policies? What were the implications of this? How did this affect those involved? • What does it look like today? What has changed? • Visual examples – videos or photographs. 3. Share the information you’ve learned with your class. You can choose to share what you’ve learned in the way that suits it best: for example, with a slideshow presentation, brochure, oral presentation, or news article. Activity 4.3 - Research an Indigenous Ceremony or Gathering Colonial policies and laws restricted or outlawed many forms of Indigenous cultural practices. For example, the Indian Act banned and criminalized “any Indian festival, dance or other ceremony” and subsequent amendments placed further restrictions on Indigenous peoples. Despite these restrictions, many Indigenous practices persisted. EXTENSION ACTIVITY: Read the Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada article. Has the practice you researched been appropriated by non- Indigenous cultures? If so, how? What are the implications? What actions are being taken to stop the appropriation? 14 Kahnawake Powwow on Mohawk Territory, 2010. Courtesy Dreamstime.com/Martine Oger/19479320.