This course introduces students to the cultural diversity of Canada’s Native peoples. We will study the archaeological, historical, and contemporary ethnographic descriptions of aboriginal cultures with respect to cultural ecology and modes of subsistence, religious practices and beliefs, family and kinship structures, and political systems on a region-by-region basis. The effects of European contact and colonialism on traditional patterns will be analyzed. Two underlying themes of the course will be (a) an evaluation of the contributions and political implications of “doing anthropology” among Native peoples, and (b) an evaluation of First Nations efforts in reclaiming and reconstructing their traditional cultures.

Lecture Hours: 45