By: Aidan Furney

Throughout this semester My perspective and understanding of first nations people and their culture has grown and changed rapidly. My initial knowledge was nothing more than a little knowledge of residential schools and a few stories we had learned in English 12. However, through this course I’ve learned a lot more than I would have ever guessed about First Nations people. Throughout this class I’ve built up a respect and curiosity for the first nation’s history and culture. I remember when I first found myself in the class I was not interested in the topic and idea of learning about first nations peoples however throughout the class I gained more and more interest, most notably coming to the First nations in media unit which by then I was very interested and intrigued by the first nations community and how they have been consistently mistreated and misrepresented in the media. Another big part of my interest was learning the history. My Dad is huge into the history of Canada and their involvement in conflicts and reminds me constantly that history always repeats itself and if we do not look back on it, we are doomed to the same mistakes and misfortunes previous people before us made. One of my favorites and most interesting parts of the class to me was learning about the early history of first nations when making contact and trade with the Europeans. I especially was interested in the introduction of guns and iron and how it became the focus of the trade market. Although I believe it was one of the most harmful events for the first nations I found fascinating that in some cases first nations communities seized the opportunities to take control of the trade and become middlemen to other communities which reminded me of business strategies I had learned in my previous business classes. 

Relating to core competencies I’d say I was most in line with social awareness and responsibility. After this class I believe that it is your responsibility to understand the heritage and native culture of the country you live in. I’ve gained an understanding and respect for the culture which greatens my social awareness. Gaining social awareness helps you address first nations communities and members in the polite and proper manner and with respect. Many people still use the term Indian which needs to be removed from their vocabulary as it is a highly disrespectful term that needs to be left in the past which is a lack of social awareness. I now believe and would advocate that it is every person’s responsibility in Canada to learn the heritage and origin of this country and its native people with their culture. This class has allowed me to recognize how few people have knowledge of first nations culture as it has been removed or darkened due to the attempted cultural genocide and residential schools and how there needs to be efforts and steps taking to ensure their culture and traditions continues as we still have much to learn about.

Overall this class has greatly increased my knowledge of both First nations culture and the past of Canada, This class has spiked an interest in me and am even know considering taking other first nations classes in post secondary.

Below is a picture of our soapstone carving project. We got to learn traditional soapstone carving which helped me appreciate and understand first nations artwork. I learned how truly difficult and time consuming the traditional art was. I know look at other carvings much differently as I know how much time, effort and passion was put into them.