Jeremy's Article Review

In “Teaching First Nations History as Canadian History”, Graham Reynolds (2000) proposes the need to move beyond a traditional, Euro-centric view of Canadian history. His premise is to consider what steps educators, including teachers, administrators and curricula engineers, might have to take in order to present First Nations history as a non-extraneous unit of Canadian history.

Reynolds’ assertion that it is problematic to teach First Nations history as something that began around the time Europeans “discovered” North America is credible. The view that our knowledge of First Nations need only begin when our peoples began interacting, on the other hand, is not. According to the article, this view persists, to a decreasing extent, in contemporary and modern texts. To address this point, Reynolds explores the notion that racial-ethnic relations are a recurring theme of history and that indigenous cultures were not fixed cultural units without diversity or development. Because we recognize that Canadian history pre-dates confederation, it should follow that Canadian history pre-dates Canadians altogether.

To teach Canadian history in a social studies context, the now admitted necessity of a multi-ethnic approach should be further augmented by that of a multi-discipline one. Reynolds' conception of a more balanced historical view includes anthropological, archaeological, sociological, geographical and ecological perspectives. Furthermore, he suggests that First Nations' historical accounts such as myths and oral histories are at least as credible as the European methods – a view shared by many Western historians. Teaching First Nations history from a colonial perspective seems preposterous, but ethnocentrism continues to dominate the history text books and classrooms of Canada's schools. By incorporating First Nations oral histories into the curriculum not as fables, but as credible accounts, the idea of First Nations history being separate from the European colonial history of Canada is granted less weight.

While Reynolds was duly kind Canada's First Nations in his discourse, the lack of any reference to the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest calls for scrutiny. This can be justified partly because between 1600 and 1800 AD, the Pacific Northwest had the densest concentration of indigenous peoples on the continent. Furthermore, a rudimentary knowledge of west coast cultures leaves Reynolds' assertion that Native North Americans left little physical evidence of their legacy grossly exposed to the historical record. While it is true that Canada's First Peoples use of wooden construction left little to compare with the Aztec pyramids, shell middens around coastal British Columbia have been dated between 8000 and 10000 years old.

Shell middens are one example of evidence that challenges the depiction of First Peoples as nomads, wandering haplessly about ancient North America. Other examples of key historical facts that are commonly downplayed, overlooked, or ignored in social studies education are the development and diversity of subarctic cultures and the presence of racial intermarriage in New France's fur trade. Of more immediate concern for the curriculum than addressing fallacies in First Nations history is the fact that First Nations history did not end when Europeans reached North America. Indeed, the post-contact period is one of the most sanitized areas of Canadian history. While authors of text books endeavour to keep the contents politically correct, the results are often offensive to Canada’s indigenous heritage. Shielding the youth from the bloody, premeditated crimes of Canada’s colonial past does not help them reach a better understanding of First Nations history.

Again, if social studies education is to address First Nations history as a non-extraneous unit of Canadian history, it must be done in a way that is honest to the First Nations experience. First Nations scholars are more than capable of writing their own history into Canadian history text books and the possibility of having a white and native person co-author a high school history text should not be flippantly dismissed. Realizing that most students are likely to resent a mandatory First Nations class, the existing subjects relating to First Nations history could easily be made to include a more balanced interpretation of Canadian history. Reynolds offers little in the way of curriculum and classroom plans for teaching First Nations history as Canadian history, however, he shares a multi-discipline approach that would undoubtedly benefit social studies education. Noam Chomsky is my hero.