Indigenous Peoples and Culture Quiz

Indigenous Peoples

• Collective term for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.
• Original inhabitants and their descendants of a region.

Anishinaabemowin

• Language spoken by Anishinaabeg peoples, including Ojibwe.

Elder

• Sacred knowledge keepers.
• Honoured by communities for holding traditional knowledge.
• Knowledge Keepers are taught by elders or senior knowledge keepers.
• Pass on their traditional knowledge.

Medicine Wheel

• Represents balance, life, interconnectedness.
• Teaching tool.
• Four quadrants:
  • White (mind): North, winter, fire, elder, sweetgrass.
  • Yellow (spirit): East, spring, water, childhood, tobacco.
  • Red (emotion): South, summer, wind, adolescence, cedar.
  • Black (physical): West, autumn, earth, adult, sage.

Sweetgrass

• Used in smudging ceremonies for purification and protection.
• Considered the "sacred hair of Mother Earth."
• Often braided.
• First plant on Earth.
• Symbol of healing and connection of mind, body, and soul.
• Cultural resilience.

Sage

• Used in smudging ceremonies to remove negative energy and cleanse.
• Associated with the black zone (adulthood, fall).

Tobacco

• Yellow zone (east and spring).
• First offering in every ceremony (birth).
• Opens a door for communication.

Wendigo

• Represents hunger, superhuman strength, and violence.
• Transformation of human to monster.
• Cannibalism and greed.

Nanabush

• Trickster and hero archetype.
• Mischievous and clever.
• Half-man, half-spirit (can transform).

Indian Act (1876)

• Government legislation governing Indigenous peoples.
• Defines who is considered Indigenous.
• Controls interactions with First Nations.
• Manages reserve lands.
• Regulates communities.
• Controls cultural practices.

First Contact

• Indigenous people given numbers and identification cards.
• Dehumanizing practice.
• Potlatch ban (until 1940s).
• Status vs. Non-status Indigenous people.

Métis

• Group affected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• Listens to survivor testimonies of residential school system.
• Creates a record.
• Educates the public.
• Initiated 94 Calls to Action.

Culture

• Customary beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.
  • Surface Culture: External aspects, explicitly learned, easily changed. Includes greetings, food, language, clothing.
  • Deep Culture: Internal aspects, learned by participating in cultural activities, unconscious, difficult to change. Includes beliefs, values, and thought patterns.
  • Cultural Identity: Sense of belonging to a cultural group, formed through shared characteristics.

Culture Loss

• Disappearance of cultural traditions, knowledge, and practices.
• Impacts from colonization (residential schools, 60s scoop).

Resilience

• Ability to overcome challenges using cultural heritage, community support.

Colonialism

• Settling among and controlling Indigenous peoples.
• Removing cultural uniqueness and appropriating land.
• Imposing colonizers' cultural values and beliefs.

Storytelling

• Passing down cultural beliefs and history through oral traditions, songs, dances, and art.

Stereotypes

• Widely held, oversimplified images of Indigenous people, often negative.
• Reinforces power imbalances, diminishes self-esteem, and hinders reconciliation.

Hegemony

• Leadership and dominance of one country or social group over another.
• Colonists imposing eurocentric cultures onto Indigenous peoples.

Treaty

• Legally binding agreement between Indigenous communities and the Canadian government.
• Defines rights and outlines benefits.
• Originally for peaceful coexistence, often eroded by subsequent colonial policies.
• Indigenous people often lose land, culture, and rights.

Fire

• Cultural symbol representing values, traditions, and morals.
  • Anishinaabeg: layered meanings, unity, responsibility, governance.

Archetype

• Recurring patterns and symbols in literature, art, and mythology; reflecting universal human experiences.
  • Examples: Hero, shadow, mentor, herald, companion, threshold guardians, trickster.

60s Scoop

• Removing Indigenous children from their homes and into child welfare systems.
• Adopting by white families causing loss of traditional ties and forced assimilation.
  • Affects traditional connections, identity and cultural continuity.

Residential Schools

• Boarding schools for Indigenous children designed to assimilate them into Euro-Canadian culture.
• Forced removal from traditional practices and culture.
• Abuse, cultural genocide, and intergenerational trauma.

Governance

• Making and implementing decisions for an organization or country.

Reserve System

• Government-sanctioned land set aside for Indigenous peoples, typically First Nations,
• Managed under the Indian Act.

Literary Elements

• Character: Person in a literary work.
• Direct/Indirect Characterization: Telling/showing character traits.
• Setting: Time, place, and atmosphere.
• Plot: Series of events forming the storyline.
• Exposition: Introducing characters and background.
• Inciting Incident: Event sparking central conflict.
• Rising Action: Events building towards climax.
• Climax: Point of greatest interest and suspense.
• Falling Action: Events after climax, resolving tension.
• Resolution: Conclusion resolving conflict.
• Conflict: Struggle between opposing forces. Internal / External
• Theme: Central message or lesson.

Rhetoric

• Rhetorical Triangle: Speaker, audience, purpose.
• Ethos: Ethical appeal (credibility of speaker).
• Logos: Logical appeal (reasoning and data).
• Pathos: Emotional appeal (evoking audience feelings).

Test your knowledge about Indigenous Peoples, their languages, traditions, and sacred practices. This quiz covers terms such as Anishinaabemowin, the role of Elders, and the significance of the Medicine Wheel. Dive into the cultural richness and history of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.