Description
The purpose of this research paper is to help you engage with current events and contemporary challenges concerning Indigenous people in Canada. You should be able to interpret a current issue in relation to the historical and cultural aspects of the colonial experiences that we have been learning about throughout the course. The conclusion of your paper will explain why it is important that non-Indigenous Canadians - both long-standing and new Canadians - must examine these challenges as problems for all Canadians to work out together.
To ensure that all topics are adequately covered for the benefit of the class as a whole, the instructor will assign each student a topic from Category A (land and environmental challenges) OR from Category B (social and cultural challenges)- see the category list below. You should begin research by reading ahead through the units that offer the most directly relevant background for your assigned topic. You are also required to move beyond the course material and seek out current/recent primary or secondary resource materials to present further context and information about your assigned topic.
The research paper will be assessed on the student's ability to use information from the textbooks, articles, films, and Internet research to provide context for understanding the assigned topic. As the paper will be 'published' on D2L - anonymously -- it will also be assessed according to usefulness to others as in preparation for the final relational essay next. Style, organization, spelling and grammar will also be assessed as overall presentation assessment.
General Guidelines for the completion of this assignment
- Getting started: Read the unit readings that correspond most directly to your topic (see Category A and B lists).
- Moving forward: Use the 'Search' fields in the websites provided (and others that you find through Google or Wikipedia for example) for current or recent news/blog items that can provide further context and information about your topic. NOTE: Copy-and-paste from websites into your essay is plagiarism, it is easy to detect, and is severely punished. Proper citation and referencing is expectedfor all quotes or excerpts. HOWEVER it is needless and lazy to copy-and-paste chunks of text from websites into your essay, even if properly cited and referenced. You must learn to paraphrase. Take the information you learn and work it into what you want to say in your own words.
- Continue to pay attention to these websites as you move along, as some reporters/bloggers publish frequent updates that will be useful for you.
Format for the paper
Your essay should have a short, concise introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.
- Introduction: Give a short summary of the issue at hand - one or two paragraphs. Be very clear about what your paper is about - no hints such as "this paper will...." Just introduce your topic - there is no need to gesture to ‘this paper' or to yourself. I don't want to see the 1st person "I" anywhere in your paper. This research is about your topic, not about you, so please refrain from direct reference to yourself.
- Main body: Outline the themes and facts and circumstances from the textbooks, article readings, and films (whenever applicable) that give background context and information about your topic. Use your current event resources from the Internet to relate that background to the present, so that the reader connects historical conditions directly to the present day. (Ie: What is the historical lead-up to this issue? How have certain government decisions and/or industrial enterprises impacted Aboriginal people's lives, forcing reaction to this issue? How do aspects of cultural and economic sovereignty, law [Indian Act], and racism play into this issue?)
- Conclusion: Explain why it is important that non-Aboriginal Canadians - both long-standing and new Canadians - should examine these challenges as problems for all Canadians to work out together with the Aboriginal people affected. In other words, explain why challenges for Aboriginal people ultimately concern all of us in important ways. Explore the reasons why this is so.
The following sets of questions are meant to GUIDE your research and help you get started researching. Your essay is NOT simply going to answer these questions one-by-one. Rather, your essay will have a thesis statement (see Essay Writing document on UMLearn / D2L)
Category A - Land and/or Environmental Challenges
1 Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) (for example, Elsipogtog in New Brunswick)
What is fracking? Why are the First Nations of Elsipogtog opposed to fracking. What happened at Elsipogtog that was in the news? What is the history of Treaty on the territory? What implications do you think Aboriginal rights have for the fracking industry? Why should Canadians care about the issue of Elsipogtog? (or the place / context you chose)?
2 Kinder Morgan Pipeline
What is the Kinder Morgan Pipeline and where does it propose to run? Does the company have a good record? Why is there First Nation opposition to it? (What are the implications for land jurisdiction? What are the implications for the environment?) Why have many Canadians come to support the opposition to the pipeline? Why is this topic important for Canadians?
3 Alberta Tar Sands (Athabasca Oil Sands)
What are the Tar Sands or Oil Sands? Where are the oil sands located? Why is there First Nation opposition to the oil sands? (Are there Treaty violations happening with this industry? Is so, what are those? Are there environmental concerns.?) Why have many Canadians come to support opposition to the oil sands? Why should Canadians care about this issue?
4 Grassy Narrows First Nation -
Where is Grassy Narrows First Nation? What are a few of the things happening in Grassy Narrows that make it a place given so much attention over the years? Are there environmental factors? Are there potential Treaty violations happening? Why have many Canadians come to support the struggles in Grassy Narrows? Why should Canadians care about this issue?
5 Transcanada Energy East Pipeline
What is the proposed Energy East pipeline ? What is it meant to service and where is it meant to run? Are there environmental factors to consider? Are there potential Treaty violations inherent in the process? Why have many Canadians come to support the opposition to Energy EAst? Why should Canadians care about this issue?
6 Climate Change and the North (with particular focus on the Inuit)
What is climate change? What are the effects of climate change on the Arctic? What implications do these effects have on the Inuit people and culture? Why should Canadians care about this issue? What can Canadians do about the issue of climate change?
7 Occupation of JenPeg generating station by Cross Lake / Pimicikimak
When and why did members of Pimicikimak occupy (take over the grounds of) the JenPeg generating station? Are there historic treaty violations? Are there modern agreement violations? What are the environmental and cultural concerns voiced by communities like PimicikimakWhy should Canadians care about this Pimicikimak's concerns?
Category B - Social and/or Cultural Challenges
1 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to address Residential Schools Legacy
What is the history of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission? What is the TRC mandate (mission)? Why is it called Truth and Reconciliation (ie what does that mean for Canada and Canadians?) Why should Canadians know and care about the legacy of residential schools?
2 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Girls and Women
How many Aboriginal girls and women are estimated to be missing and murdered? In what part of Canada have most girls and women been murdered or gone missing? How does it link to the levels of sexual abuse against Aboriginal girls and women? Why is it believed that Aboriginal females are targeted violently? What has been the police response to this crisis? What has been the First Nations' organizational response to the crisis (ie are there any organizations or programs set up to deal with the issue?) Why should Canadians care about this issue?
3 Indigenous Children in Foster Care
What percentage of children in foster care are Aboriginal? Why are so many Aboriginal children in foster care? What is the official governmental policy reasoning? Is there a history of separating Aboriginal children from their parents in Canada? What is behind this practice? What implications does being a foster child, raised in non-Aboriginal households have on these individuals' senses of identity?
4 High Rates of Alcohol and Substance Use, Violence, and Suicide (including special focus on the hardest-hit people - the Inuit)
Why are there such high rates of alcohol and substance use, violence, and suicide in Aboriginal communties, and perhaps particularly the Inuit? (What causes that compel some people to harm themselves and others in this way?) What are some of the statistics behind alcohol and substance abuse, violence, and suicide? What in your opinion can be done to remedy the problem? Why should all Canadians care about this issue?
5 High Rates of Diabetes and Heart Conditions among Indigenous Canadians
Why are there such high rates of health problems such as diabetes and heart conditions for many Aboriginal Canadians? What are some of the statistics around these issues? What in your view are some strategies to remedy the problem? Why should all Canadians care about this issue?
6 Underfunding of First Nation Child Welfare and Education in Canada
How much less welfare and education funding is given Aboriginal communities than to non-Aboriginal communities? What does this say about policy toward Aboriginal children generally? What are some of the public controversies / discussions of this issue? Why should all Canadians care about this issue?