Red River Resistance and the Indian Act: Then, and Now – Why Does It Matter?

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Red River Resistance and Indian Act Project

After learning about (and, of course, researching further into on your own) the Red River Resistance in the 1860s+ and the enormous impact of the Indian Act that still impacts all Canadians – though especially Indigenous Peoples, of course – today, you will have the opportunity to bring that idea to our own lives now.  There are many Canadian current events where protests, rallies, or demonstrations of opinions  – good, bad, and in between – have occurred to display people’s feelings about a specific topic or issue.

You will be in groups assigned by the teacher.  Each group with research their current event and compare/contrast it to the Red River Resistance.

Remember: Telling your audience “they are similar, but different” is NOT the point of the activity.  There are no such thing as “right answers.”  However, you will need to come up with a “Why does it matter?” point to compare them all.  This will take the form of a “Thesis Statement,” which is like a big Topic Sentence.

RESEARCH

You must have a minimum of six (6) reliable sources for you project – three for each (3 for Red River and 3 for current event, minimum).  You may, of course, have more.  Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source.  No, neither is “But, I used the sources on Wikipedia.”  No.

You can always have more resources than the minimum.  There is no maximum.

Remember: The textbook counts as a source, as well as the new article Ms. Hopkin has left in your group’s channel , so you already have two!

On the very last slide of your PowerPoint, have a slide entitled “References.”  Copy/paste the links to your sources there.

You will be required to use the parenthetical citation we have been using in your writing on your slides for this project.  E.g. (Hopkin, 2007, p. 25).  You will receive some examples on how to do this.

Prior to any slide writing, image searching, etc. your group must create a comparison chart.  Only one chart per group to be submitted in your group’s channel on Teams (these have now been made).  Your chart should be in the form of a T-Chart and have the Red River Resistance on one side and the Current Event on the other.  After you and your group review, you must write your drafted Thesis Statement on the bottom.

Though not required, you are welcome to include Social Media Posts e.g. TikToks, Instagram, etc on the topic.  It just must be embedded in your PowerPoint, not separate.

Ms. Morden must sign off on your Thesis Statement by the start of class on Wednesday, 1 May 2024 before you are allowed to start doing your research.

Readings on the Red River:

One Source That Must Be Included:

  • Some sort of social media account on the current event.
  • The Indian Act must be included in your project.

Things to think about:

  • To what extent did these people try to do “all of the right things” BEFORE it came to a protest or rally?
  • How your thesis statement connects to your inferences around the two topics.
  • This is about YOUR thinking on these topics.  THERE.  IS.  NO.  RIGHT.  ANSWER. Show the audience those thoughts and questions.
  • What questions do you have?  Did your research answer them?  If they did not, which questions do you still have?

PRESENTATION

Minimum six (8) minutes in length, but cannot exceed eight (10) minutes.  You will be timed and one group member may bring up a phone or some other device upon which to time yourselves.  You will also have class time designated for rehearsal only so you know how long your presentation is.

Everyone should be speaking an equal amount in the group.

There should be no “parts.”  Every person should be speaking equally for all slides and all parts.  You will have rehearsal time to practice this.

No scripts, but you may use a maximum of two (2) cue cards.  One side only.  Cue cards must be submitted after your presentation.

You will use Microsoft PowerPoint for this presentation.  Notice that it says Microsoft PowerPoint as in PowerPoint.  Is Prezi PowerPoint?  Is Google Slides?  Keynote?  No.  It’s not.  You are only allowed to use PowerPoint.

Slide layouts are one (1) image and three (3) points maximum per slide.  Clean and simple.

Slides should open near the beginning with your “Thesis Statement.”  It should also reappear at the end.

Final Slide is “References” with links to your sources.

You are welcome (and encouraged) to engage your classmates as you present with small activities, questions, etc.

Presentation Style:

  • Eye contact around the class.  Not looking at floor, cue cards, or screen.
  • Voice loud, clear, articulate, with good pacing (not too fast, but not too slow).
  • “Cheating out” and facing the audience.  Your back should NEVER be to the class.
  • Stance and posture – looking prepared and confident.

Part of your grade will be how you ask questions/give compliments/put up your hand at the end of your classmates’ presentations.

Your presentation should tell us about your Current Event, compare it to the Red River Resistance.  But, do not retell the class about it – we all learned and researched it, so we already know).  Focus instead on how it connects to your thoughts/ideas/questions/etc.

The expectation, given the amount of class time you have for this, will be that at least half of one full class is spent REHEARSING your presentation and timing yourselves, etc.

CURRENT EVENT TOPICS

All of these topics include some type of protest/rally and are recent within five years.  These will be given to groups through random draw.

  • Black Lives Matter.
  • 2020 Canadian Pipeline Railway Protests (Indigenous Protestors).
  • Affordable Housing in Vancouver.
  • #MeToo.
  • BC’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (2022) #MMIWAG
  • Climate Change (Summer 2021).

These have a Vancouver-specific focus unless otherwise indicated.

You will have public groups created in Teams.  All of your collaboration should be here.  You should not be using something like Google Docs for this.  There is a limit to the amount of private channels in Teams, so you will have a public channel only.  Please do not tag the entire team as it will notify the entire class – please just tag the members in your group.  Part of your grade for “use of class time” will come from using this space in Teams.

ASSESSMENT AND SUBMISSION

You will be assessed holistically on this project, starting from how you work with your group, to how well you follow the instructions, to your ability to think, to how polite and supportive you are as an audience member for other groups.  Worth ethic is a part of this assessment – this means simple, basic class expectations like arriving on time to class (especially on the presentation days) is expected and will impact your entire group.  However, though part of your assessment is how you collaborate and support your group, you will all be assessed individually.

Your Chart must be submitted by the end of the short class on Tuesday, 30 April 2024.   Upload this in your group channel and tag Ms. Hopkin “Hi Ms. Hopkin, here is our chart @hopkin,” so she can look at it when she is back.  However, while in class, Ms. Morden must approve it in person.

Thesis Statement must be signed off by Wednesday, 1 May 2024.

The final part of Friday’s class you will not be allowed to work on your slides.  You will only be allowed to rehearse, practice, and time yourselves!

PowerPoint presentations must be submitted to the Assignment in Teams Friday, 3 May 2024 by the end of class.

Presentations will begin in class on Monday, 6 May 2024 and continue the following classes as needed.

Looking forward to seeing your great work and hearing your thoughts and ideas!