Grade 11 and Grade 12

If you are interested in learning about BC First Peoples, this is the course for you!  Through exploring the Big Ideas, you will learn that BC First Peoples:

• Have different identities, worldviews and languages – these are renewed, sustained and transformed through their connection to the land;
• Demonstrate their richness, diversity and resilience through cultural expressions;
• Are actively resisting and challenging the deep and ongoing impacts of colonialism through self-governance, leadership and self-determination.

A significant focus of this course is to understand how Indigenous people are connected to the land.  This is a concept that is fundamentally tied to Indigenous identity, both culturally and spiritually.  The course will aim to develop an understanding and appreciation of First Peoples unique to the Northwest Coastal Peoples, the Plateau Peoples and the northern Subarctic Peoples of present-day British Columbia.  Historical and contemporary events will be studied and evaluated in order to understand the continuing impact of colonialism on the political, social and economic lives of First Nations in BC.  Efforts will be taken to learn about and from the local nations of the Coast Salish peoples, including W̱SÁNEĆ, T’Sou-ke, Songhees, and Esquimalt nations.  The course will focus on the renewal and resilience of First Peoples in charting a future of increasing self-government and self-determination, and why it matters for all of us.