• Students will examine policies upon which the residential school system was built
• Students will explore a variety of stories from residential school survivors
• Students will understand that the history of residential schools is complex through listening to, and reading about, a diversity of people who were brave and influential in different times and contexts in relation to residential schools
• Students will understand and describe education for children in Northern Canada before the introduction of schools

Mangilaluk Graphic Novel (pages 1 – 59)
DK: K-6 pages 188-191
News articles
Historical websites
Documentaries

What conditions were imposed on Indigenous people by the Indian Act that created a disparity in power?

There are elements that may be difficult for students:

• Abuse
• Residential School
• Death
• Difficult family relationships
• Addictions

Plan for supports with school counselors, helpline contacts, and opportunities for students to self-regulate and have a safe space to share thoughts, feelings, fears, and other big emotions.

What socio-economic challenges do Bernard and his family face during the first part of the novel? How are these connected to the historical legacies of colonialism?

• Indian Act
• Residential School

Possible Indian Act Idea

• Group students into 2-4. Students will then find 3 policies that were discriminatory toward Indigenous people.
  
  • Best to provide students with an organizer to help guide their thinking
• Students will then write an opinion statement detailing the discriminatory policies.
  • Ex: The Indian Act created a reserve system that took Indigenous people off their land and shifted power to the government.
  • Each group will write their opinion statements on a sticky note and place it on the board to discuss with the class.
• Students will then answer: how do these discriminatory policies shift the power from Indigenous people to the government?

Note: Have students explore how the Indian Act has influenced the place in which they live and go to school.

Possible Residential School Idea

• How did residential school create conditions within Indigenous communities? Such as:
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug use
  • Poverty
  • Power imbalance
• Students will work on a Describe/Interpret/Connect activity looking at the graphic novel:
  
  • Describe: Describe the social conditions that Bernard is born into
  • Interpret: What are your interpretations of these issues and interpret where they stem from?
  • Connect: How are these social issues connected to legacies of colonization and how are they connected to Bernard and trauma?
• How was the intention of residential schools structured to displace or take power from Indigenous people?
  
  • The aim here is to have students look into the historical aspects of residential schooling.
  • A possible resource here could be the mission statement by the minister of Indian Affairs
  • A possible document-based analysis might work for this
    
    • Splitting students into groups to analyze the intention of Duncan Scott and how it connects to Bernard’s childhood.

Note: This activity can be done using sticky notes and having students place them on chart paper (one for each of describe, interpret, connect). This can then lead to a gallery walk and then a whole class discussion

Historical Thinking idea

• Rank the level of impact that the Indian Act and residential schools had on Bernard and his place
  
  • 1 can be little to no impact and 5 being a life-altering impact
  • Students will justify their thinking with a written response

Visible Learning Link

Make space for anchor chart/visible learning in your classroom that will remain around the essential question

• Why is there a disparity in power between Indigenous Peoples in Canada and settler Canadians and what were the conditions that created this disparity?
• Based on what students have learned throughout the module, they will put up understandings and questions connected to this module’s learning

IQ – Pages 14 – 16

• Have students read through these 3 pages and create an understanding of what education looked like historically for the Inuvialuit.
• Then, have students create an understanding of how residential schools changed education for Indigenous children
  
  • Students could create an infographic detailing their understanding of both

DK – Page 3 (Grade 8 Module 1)

• How can today’s education system allow students to “walk in two worlds” or “be strong like two people”?
• In your own words, what systems were put in place that made it difficult for Bernard to walk in two worlds?