Including Aboriginal History in The Canadian Curriculum In the past several years there have been remarkable changes in the administration and content of Aboriginal education in Canada. The introduction of the Indian Control of Indian Education by the National Indian Brotherhood in 1972, paved the way for the transfer of power from the Federal and Provincial governments to local First Nations Communities across Canada. As impressive as this revolution may be, there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done; not just in education but also in response to the need for native content in Canadian primary and secondary school curriculum.
Currently there is no accepted or effective strategies for teaching First Nation history and culture within the Canadian Social Studies program. First Nations history is mainly taught as an entirely separate course or, as introductions to what is regarded as the "mainstream" or, more appropriately, the Eurocentric history of Canada.
English: Monument to aboriginal war veterans in Co...
Aboriginal flag
Flag of the Temagami First Nation.Though these approaches are well intended, they are only the first steps in reverting the years of widespread prejudice and ignorance. This essay will demonstrate that there is a much needed revision in our nation's history, inorder to illustrate the significance of the Aboriginal culture in our society.
The most obvious way to integrate First Nation's history into Canadian history is to expand the historical time frame from a mere five hundred years to ten thousand years.
But the lack of large scale Aboriginal materials prompts the dilemma of deciphering more than ten thousand years of history, with very little archives. Combination of the harsh climate in the north as well as the use of wood instead of stone as a building material have resulted in the depletion of many physical remainder of the earliest inhabitants.
Currently, there is an increasing body of knowledge which is revealing...