Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Prime Minister Harper's Apology
As part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established. Before its work got under way, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a public apology on June 11, 2008, on behalf of the Canadian government. The apology is part of the process arranged by the government and the First Nations as parties to the agreement, part of an overall attempt to address the government’s role in the history of the Indian Residential Schools.
Truth and Reconciliation
Since the beginning of its work in 2010, the commission has been collecting information about what was done to survivors in the residential schools and has worked to make this information public. From this process, the survivors receive public, communal acknowledgement and support for years of injustice and suffering.
The Charge of Genocide
In the 1990s, residential schools scholars and many indigenous leaders began to argue that the efforts of the Canadian government to assimilate the Indigenous Peoples in the residential schools embodied the principle of cultural genocide: assimilation was intended to destroy the Indigenous Peoples as culturally distinct group.
Prime Minister Harper’s Apology
The apology is part of the process arranged by the government and the First Nations as parties to the agreement, part of an overall attempt to address the government’s role in the history of the Indian Residential Schools.
Language, Names, and Individual Identity
Learn about the relationship between name, identity, and tradition reflected in Inuit naming practices.
Métis
Learn about the development of the Michif language and how it exemplifies a fusion of Métis and French cultures.
Words Matter
An Anishinaabe woman of Cree and Ojibway descent recalls the first instance in her childhood when she encountered the term Indian.
Words, Places, and Belonging
Read excerpts that explore the importance of land and landscape to Indigenous identity and culture.
“I’m Not the Indian You Had in Mind”
Thomas King's poem explores the difference between stereotypes of Indigenous Peoples and how these people live their lives in contemporary Canada.
The Idea of the "Indian"
Learn about the ideas the first Europeans brought with them to Canada that determined their responses to the Indigenous Peoples they encountered.
From "Noble Savage" to "Wretched Indian"
Examine the differing ideas about Indigenous Peoples conveyed in a painting by George Catlin and an excerpt from Charles Dickens.