Why are we asking you to write a Homelands and Treaty Paper? The lands we live on and the communities where we live are the homelands to the many and diverse Indigenous groups who continue to live in Canada. Many of the places we live emerged from natural gathering places for Indigenous people; many of the routes we follow today emerged from the routes utilized by Indigenous people. Many of our communities have place names that were first given by the Indigenous inhabitants of a particular area. In order to improve our understanding of where we live today this assignment asks you to research the history of your community in order to illuminate the Indigenous presence—both historical and contemporary—of your community. Connecting the history of Indigenous Peoples to the contemporary challenges of reconciliation is challenging. If we are to achieve reconciliation connecting Indigenous understandings of the world to our own lived understanding of community is essential In this assignment we ask you to research the history and contemporary presence of Indigenous peoples for your home community. A local understanding of Indigenous Peoples in your community is essential for you to understand your role and responsibility in reconciliation. What are we asking you to do? We ask you to create a research report that examines the Indigenous history and the contemporary presence of Indigenous Peoples in your community. Your research report will use a range of sources available to you. They may include history books, articles, maps, museums, oral histories, photographs, websites, government data sites, First Nations, Metis and Inuit websites and publications etc… Your research and conclusions will contribute to a larger understanding of your community as a centre for reconciliation. Your paper will be presented in three sections: Note: For International students: In this assignment you will write about Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Part One: The history of Indigenous peoples (if any) in your region. (3 to 5 double spaced pages) • Who are the Indigenous people(s) dwell in the region where you live? • What Indigenous place names are in your community? What do these names mean? • If a place name was changed or erased, what was the situation that precipitated the name change? Consider how the current place name came to be, by whom, when etc. … • What treaty or land claims agreement covers the area of your hometown? • Did the Indigenous people always live here? If not, where did they come from and why did they move? • What are the significant events in their history? Part Two: The contemporary presence of Indigenous community in your region. (3 to 5 double spaced pages) • What is the current population of the Indigenous peoples in your area? What cultural/Indigenous national background are they? • What are the Indigenous organizations in your area? 2 • What issues do they face? How are they navigating these issues? • What are the local initiatives that Indigenous peoples are working on? Please remember that the focus of the paper is on your home community. This project is for you to see your community in a different light. Please note that in Ontario 80% of Indigenous people live in urban environments. If you ignore this segment of the population your paper will receive a failing grade. Part Three: How has this exercise affected your view of your home community and Canada? (1 to 3 double spaced pages) • What conclusions do draw from your research? • What questions about your community and Canada emerged for you in this exercise? • In this section use the key course questions to guide you. o What are the implications of the historical record? o What is the legacy of this history? o Now that I know this what am I going to do about it? For part three, it is important to take your knowledge to action. Given what you found out, what actions could you take that would foster reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in your home community. Homelands report resources are available inside the academic and student supports tab on the left-hand side of the course Blackboard menu. Format/Organization Your Homelands report will be 7 to 13 double spaced pages. This page count does not include title pages or reference pages as required by APA formatting requirements. The final report will use a combination of 10 to 15 in text citations from academic and community sources, including Indigenous organization websites. We are encouraging you to include quotations in your writing to help you expand your ideas and provide context to your research. Reports that include references from Wikipedia or Canadian Encyclopedia will be assigned a grade a 0. Papers that do not contain intext citations or a reference page will be returned to students with a grade of 0.
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