Assignment Overview
This is a critical research paper in the form of a letter addressed to a political leader of relevance to the issue at hand (Prime Minister, Provincial Premier, National Chief, Chief and Council, etc).
Students will choose one area of Indigenous rights, history, politics, relations, etc in Canada and construct a letter to a political leader in which you:
– Provide a clear and detailed overview of the issue under discussion;
– Contextualize the issue in the broader history of Indigenous-state relations in Canada;
Point to ways that the issue might be addressed, grounded in existing research – this can include a policy recommendation, a political decision, a legal decision, an educational initiative, work underway in communities, etc.
– Through grounded research, propose the best way(s) forward to address the issue.
While this assignment takes the form of a formal letter, it will also be a well-developed research paper that includes a central claim or assertion (a thesis statement), secondary academic sources, clear paragraph structure, and adherence to APA style and format.
In deciding how to situate your research and also what path(s) forward you will recommend, keep in mind some of the tenets of this course with regards to centering Indigenous voices and perspectives, foregrounding Indigenous self-determination, and emphasizing Indigenous worldviews, governance structures, and philosophies.
The letter may be addressed to any political leader you deem relevant to the issue under discussion. For example, you may wish to address the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Mark Miller. Or perhaps you would rather address the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Rosanne Archibald. You may even choose to address a local leader, including the elected Chief of your community, or the mayor of your municipality. Consider what level of government this issue is best addressed at, and who you would want to speak to if you had the opportunity (I can help you to determine this).
The issue you might address in your letter can draw on any aspect of Indigenous rights and history we’ve touched on in this course. The more specific the issue you raise, the better.
For example, while treaty implementation issues may be the broader category of issue you’re interested in addressing, it would be good to focus on a specific treaty, or a specific treaty issue, such as the right to healthcare for Treaty 8 First Nations. Other broad categories may include, but not be limited to:
Land rights/land claims
Indigenous languages
Education
Policing
Indigenous representation in politics
Hunting/fishing rights
Indigenous peoples and the criminal justice system
Housing in the north
Food security
Healthcare
Access to resources
I’ll provide a sample introduction in class and post to Brightspace so you can get a sense of how you might set up the letter while also balancing the necessary aspects of a research paper.