The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI) provides educational projects that support Aboriginal Canadian students. Some of the projects created are aboriginal-focused textbooks and teachers’ resources that reflect aboriginal students and were created by Aboriginal teachers who have taught grades 11 and 12 programs. Another initiative is trying to improve the quality of education in elementary schools on reserves to improve literacy and numeracy.

CBC Archives: Native Issues

This collection of CBC Archives includes 30 radio clips and 36 television clips under 12 topics focusing on Aboriginal peoples. Broadcasts span several decades, from 1955 to present times. Topics range from celebrating Aboriginal heritage to social and economic issues to Aboriginal rights and political activism. Each presentation offers background history and facts to better understand its context, and the site includes connections for teachers to additional educational material and resources to extend awareness and understanding of the topics.

The Other Side of the Ledger: An Indian View of The Hudson’s Bay Company – 70 minutes

Filmed in 1972 through the National Film Board of Canada for their Aboriginal Perspectives film collection, directors Martin Defalco and Willie Dunn investigate an Aboriginal perspective of how Canada’s indigenous people have been impacted by colonialism, how land was acquired by the Crown, the commodification of Aboriginal culture by the Hudson Bay Company and popular culture, how the treaty process emerged, and reasons why a cycle of dependency through poverty was created. The resulting loss of voice in decisions affecting themselves and loss of pride in their culture continue to affect Aboriginal people today. Narrator George Manuel, who was president of the National Indian Brotherhood at the time, also demystifies the level of compensation awarded to Aboriginal people who were registered inhabitants of a reserve.

A 3:00 excerpt is also available and can be a sufficient classroom resource to support teaching.

I’m Not the Indian You Had in Mind – 4:41

Written and directed by Canadian author and broadcaster Thomas King, I’m Not The Indian You Had in Mind challenges the stereotypical image of Aboriginal people in the media. Drawing on examples from western films, commercialized artifacts, and pervasive language, we begin to see the influence these images have had on the world’s perception of what it means to be Indian and how First Nations people today are working to break down the barriers that have arisen through this Eurocentric prejudice.