Mi’kmaw Studies 10 Exam Review January 2014

Terms to know:

Aboriginal

Eagle Feather

First Nation

Indian Act

Medicine Wheel

Mi`kma’ki

Oka Crisis

Powwow

Smudging

Status Indian

Stereotype

Treaty

Wampum belt

Wigwam

Questions by Unit:

Introduction

  1. How many districts make up Mi`kma’ki?
  2. What group of languages does the Mi’kmaq Language belong to?
  3. What is the purpose of a medicine wheel?
  4. What are the colours of the medicine wheel and what do they represent?
  5. How long have Mi’kmaq people existed in this region?
  6. Describe the home of the ancestral MI’kmaw.
  7. What is a stereotype? Describe 2 stereotypes you know about Mi’kmaq people.
  8. Review your stereotype cartoons.

Politics Unit

  1. What is a treaty?
  2. What was the wampum belt used for?
  3. What is a status Indian?
  4. Define authority.
  5. What does it mean to have an “inherent right to self-government”?
  6. Discuss the traditional role of the Mi’kmaq Grand council. Why did the role change?
  7. Discuss the roles of the Local Chief, District Chief and Mi’kmaq Grand Council Chief.
  8. Describe the Indian Act of 1876. Why do many Aboriginal people feel that the Act is "paternalistic"?

Socioeconomics Unit

  1. Describe the two type of land claims. Do you agree with the current land claims procedures in Canada?
  2. Describe the Oka Crisis. What were the main factors? What impact did this crisis have on the relationship between First Nations peoples and the Canadian government?
  3. Compare and contrast (describe similarities and differences) the protests against shale gas fracking in Rexton, NB with the Oka Crisis.

Culture Unit

  1. Describe a powwow.
  2. Describe the talking circle. What are the rules of the circle?
  3. What is the significance of the drum for Mi’kmaw People?
  4. What are five of the recommendations from the Royal Commission on Preserving Aboriginal Languages? You may answer in jot note form.
  5. Describe one of the technological contributions Mi'kmaq people made to Canadian Culture: canoe, snowshoes, toboggan.
  6. Describe the powwow and its importance to preserving Mi'kmaq culture.

Spirituality/Education Unit

  1. Describe a smudging ceremony.
  2. Before a boy is considered to be a man, what must he do?
  3. How far did most students go in Residential school? Grade 3, 9, or 12?
  4. Where was Nova Scotia’s residential school located?
  5. Why are eagle feathers sacred?
  6. Compare and contrast formal and informal education.
  7. In what ways has ResidentialSchool crumbled First Nations communities?
  8. What role do drums play in Mi'kmaw Spirituality?

Essay Questions. You will have to write an essay on one of the following questions. Please be prepared to write this essay by preparing your points before the exam.

  1. Discuss how the treatment of Aboriginal people by the Government of Canada (past to present time) was a form of cultural genocide. Give specific evidence of treatment to support your discussion.

"Cultural genocide is a term used to describe the deliberate destruction of the cultural heritage of a people or nation for political or military reasons."

  1. Explain how the Canadian Justice system failed Donald Marshall Jr. Discuss how racism played a major factor in Marshall's conviction.
  2. Canada’s Aboriginals have struggled for years to assert their claim that the land is tied to their sovereignty. Discuss with specific examples from two land-claims issues studied how and why Canada’s natives are willing to fight over land to establish their rights to sovereignty.

"Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself."