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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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6776 - 6800 of 7,644 Reviews for Indigenous Canada

By Susan B

Mar 11, 2021

I found it fascinating to learn another perspective on my assumptions of "truth" Eye opening and humbling. It gave me a sense of pride in the rich cultures I learned about, particularly in the arts . my only complaint was that I would have liked to have seen more examples of the various artists work, perhaps in the background while the lecture was going on. There are so many wrongs that need to be acknowledged, to allow for future understanding and co-existence. Thank you for this excellent course.

By nancy m

Aug 21, 2021

Sadly, I learned almost nothing about Indigenous culture in my public school years, so this course was a very good fit for something I had been wanting for many years. It provided a very good, and broad overview in preparation for my next educational venture, San'yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training. The course notes were helpful as I tend to learn better by reading. I would encourage you to have them professionally edited as it is clearly a transcript of spoken words that don't always "read well".

By Roman P

Nov 20, 2017

This course helps to explore indigenous Canada deeply. I work in the museum where there is a huge exhibition about indigenous people of Northern America and wanted to have a deeper understanding of our collection and different traditions connected with it.

The only reason why I didn't give 5 stars to this course is that I would like to have a little shorter version of it, pointing more attention to cultural and historical developments of different nations and less to the exact dates and personalities.

By James B

Dec 21, 2020

This is an awesome Course! Very well put together and alot of great information. I still think that it needs more detail on how current Colonial systems/Chief and council systems work with IOGC and Band funds etc. Band Council Resolutions and the changes in voting throughout the nation. I would give it a 4.75 out of 5 if I could but I am a little Bias as I took the ACIR course and got to go to Banff and interact with others. the Electives were a bonus too. Merry Christmas and Good work

James Blackman

By Sandra M

May 19, 2021

I found the organization and content of the course to be excellent and have encouraged others to sign up for it. I think the use if interviews worked well to add variety and interest

I think there could be more interest put into backgrounds and did find voice modulation of all three primary lecturers somewhat monotonous.

I am new to online learning so may have unrealistic expectations of the scope of online lecturing.

On the whole the course was well worth taking. My thanks to all who were involved.

By Maureen W K

Dec 27, 2020

Indigenous Canada is a very good survey of a very broad field. It encourages me to pursue further studies of Indigenous issues. I experienced a technical difficulty with the art videos of each module as very "truncated or incomplete and "freezing up". The Module 12 Dorion video helped to clear up some of the resultant confusion. I would have liked to have learned more about the history of treaties in Canada. Perhaps another course is in my future... Thank you for a very educational experience.

By Carmen H G

Oct 9, 2020

I really, really benefitted from this course.

I was impressed with the substance of the material, and enjoyed the lecture aspect of it.

I feel like I have a clearer understanding of the Indigenous viewpoint on Canadian history, and although it's painful to hear certain truths, as a Settler, I am better for it and begin to inform others about it with greater objectivity and information as my allies.

Many, many thanks for making this very needed and very necessary course free for all of us!

Carmen Grant

By Marcie E B

Apr 10, 2022

Overall wonderful! Learned so much. Well organized and liked how each week built on the previous.Would have liked to have visual examples of the art / artists as they were presented in the last module.

Also some of the info was a bit outdated, eg. Neechi COmmons no longer around, when I went to look at for info. This would be a good addition - talking about WHY an important inititative like Neechi was not sustainable.

Thank you!! Amazing work and I am telling everyone I know to take this course!

By Tiarra K

May 3, 2018

I think the content of the course was fantastic, easy to understand and yet added depth to my understanding of Canadian history. I wish every Canadian would take this course! The only thing I would change is having more visual examples of the art described in the last segment such as "Walking with our sisters" and "Trace" because it would have added some context to the unit on Art but now I can continue my own personal research. Thank you for making this course so easily accessible for everyone!

By Rosemary H

Nov 1, 2020

Very informative course, with a wide array of topics, all instructed with care and in great detail. I feel that i've learned a lot. The instruction was a little dry, but I believe this is mostly because of the online element. The content itself though was very well delivered. I especially liked the interviews! Being able to hear people tell what they know and have experienced in their own words makes the whole experience more real, and gives a more defined picture. Very glad to have taken part!

By Cecilia R

Apr 1, 2022

I enjoyed the videos- especially the interviews with members of the Indigenous community, professors and students. Some of the quizzes were really difficult. I wish I had access to the videos to share with my students. I took this course as part of my professional development and I feel as though I have learned so much, but now I don't have access to share material that I think could be really insightful to my students. Thank you for putting this together. I am a U 0f A alum, BEd grad 1998.

By José C C B

Apr 21, 2020

Un curso muy interesante que aporta mucho para conocer desde una perspectiva antropológica a los indígenas de Canadá. Aporta mucho sobre la situación actual que viven los indígenas del Canadá: su situación, política, económica y social. Me quedo con ganas de conocer otros aspectos más clásicos como algunas referencias a algún estudio concreto de casos de parentesco, también alguna referencia sobre antropología del cuerpo y el espacio o algún caso de antropología lingüística. Un buen curso.

By Carol B

Jan 26, 2021

I have only one issue. The content of this course was very dense and I found your time frame, especially the readings at the end of each module took much longer then estimated. I actually filled a legal pad with notes which helped me remember all of the facts and names. In all, with videos, I probably spent about 4 hours on each module. Otherwise, a fantastic course and I am so happy as a Metis person to have the opportunity for this overview. It taught me so very much. Thank-you!!

By Beth F

Oct 2, 2020

Thank you so much for this valuable course...it has been an important addition to my limited knowledge about Indigenous history. As many have said before me "it has provided me with a history of "Canada" I was never taught in school". I have recommended this course to many people in my work and personal life. If there was one piece of critical feedback I could provide, it would be that there is very little content or focus on the eastern areas of Canada. Kind regards and thank you again.

By Craig S

Feb 21, 2021

Good high level overview. Obviously would like to get into more specific examples but difficult given the time frame. In particular, showing more of the actual works in the last section would have been good (“google time”). Also, could not find the list of musicians, authors etc you mentioned in the video. That would be a nice kick off for further exploration. Thanks for putting together the course. Definitely has me thinking of things from a different viewpoint and inspired discussion.

By Melanie D

Nov 1, 2020

I learned a great deal. Thus course has given me a new perspective on how Canada was settled and the importance of the indigenous story. As a descendant of settlers and living in Nova Scotia, this has helped me have a more balanced view on the current situation between indigenous and non-indigenous lobster fishermen.

I give it 4/5 because some lessons were too long and I found it hard to absorb all the content. I would have found more value from it being broken up into smaller parts.

By Sarah G

Sep 2, 2020

I really liked this course! I learned a lot about the way the opposing worldviews of settlers and Indigenous people clashed and influenced historical events, as well as modern proceedings. My only criticism is that occasionally I felt the phrasing was odd, or a word or term would not be defined before they were used. Sometimes I would rewind, feeling like I missed something, only to find an explanation was never given for that word or term. Nothing Google couldn't help me with though!

By Yvonne L

Aug 16, 2021

I learned so much about the history of this country that was not taught, but should have been, when going to school. It has been a long time since I have taken a course so it took me a while to get through it and now I want to go over the whole thing a second time because my retention is not as good as it used to be. I really enjoyed the material and it has made me want to continue learning about the First Peoples of this country so I can be an ally in the quest for reconciliation.

By Jenna S

Apr 13, 2018

I found a lot of value in this course, however I do have some complaints. I found that the first half of the MOOC was A LOT about the settlers and colonialism, I am aware that this is a major part of Canada's history but I do remember learning a lot of it in school but the addition of the indigenous population and they're hardships was very beneficial for my own knowledge. Also, the course notes I found were very hard to read due to poor punctuation and sentence structure. Thank yo

By Kate L

Sep 28, 2020

the content was absolutely fantastic! I would have loved to have seen more art work and illustrations / pictures throughout the course, particularly in the last module. I think having more interviews would be great instead of listening to primarily one person talk throughout the course, though she was great! Thanks for making it available! (FYI - two different friends heard about course through CBC radio and told me about it due to my interests... great job getting the word out!)

By Sheila D

Sep 16, 2021

I learned a lot and I feel inspired to continue my learning . In the last section of Art and Indigenous culture, I wished that they highlighted some examples of art and culture as they were speaking as a focal point to make it more engaging. Overall, I feel that there is still a lot to learn and I've only scratched the suface of my learning and will try to take my new knowledge out into the world and try to see life from more of an indigenous perspective from now on. Thank you

By Marie J

Jan 4, 2023

This course filled an important gap in my education by creating a greater awareness of the social, cultural and political challenges that the indigenous nations faced, and continue to face, through colonization. It has inspired me to learn more and share with others. This is only step one in my journey and I am excited to see where it will lead me. A big thank you to the University of Alberta for developing this course and the Coursera community for making it so accessible.

By Beth H

Aug 10, 2022

Really great information, far more history than I learned in school, and quite accessible. I really enjoyed how the artist's conception of the topics was integrated throughout. My only complaint is that there could be additional visuals and information along with the speakers in the videos. There was quite a lot of just watching speakers talk, and I found it harder to absorb the information that way. Being able to read along while watching the video was helpful at those times.

By Danica B

Sep 30, 2020

Other than trying to keep all the names straight...

As a “white settler” , third generation Canadian I gained knowledge about all aspects of the course. There was so much that I don’t know, and I imagine many my age don’t know. Keep educating people. I think that is the only way issues will finally get resolved. It will take many more years, but progress is being made. Thank you for the work you all have done. I have grown from this course and I feel I am a better person for it

By Brian F

May 10, 2021

Great presentations. Well delivered and good pace.

The Quiz in chapter 10 seems way out of step with the other quizzes though. It asks vague questions which are not well covered in the reading material. The answers I got right I went back and tried to find what they referred to in the transcripts and the link was not good. For questions of a multiple choice style, I think you can't have nuanced interpretation of your writing.

Thanks for making this course. It is really good.