Indigenous studies support
Tân’si! Welcome!
At Athabasca University, we are committed to creating and providing courses and learning environments that are relevant, respectful and meaningful to Indigenous heritage and to preserving First Nation, Métis and Inuit traditions.
Nukskahtowin
Nukskahtowin, Athabasca University's Indigenous centre, is an inclusive space named for the Cree word for "meeting place."
The centre is a hub where ideas and people come together, fostering collaboration among diverse minds around Indigenous knowledge and culture, research initiatives, and academic offerings.
Nukskahtowin's main goals are to honour and cultivate traditional Indigenous knowledge and support, safeguard and preserve Indigenous knowledge, education, and the invaluable oral traditions passed down through generations.
Learn more about NukskahtowinAwards, bursaries and scholarships for Indigenous students
Indigenous students have many opportunities for financial help and recognition for their academic achievements and cultural contributions.
In addition to the many awards, bursaries, and scholarships from organizations around North America, we’re proud to offer 11 financial awards specific to Athabasca University.
Click here to see the complete list of funding opportunitiesIndigenous studies courses
This course introduces the historical, anthropological, sociological, and political science perspectives on the origins and implications of major federal and provincial government policies bearing on Aboriginal peoples. The course analyses, in broad terms, the history of Aboriginal-European relations from the beginning of contact between the two groups to the current time. The course introduces the principle legal and statutory documents, such as treaties, the Indian Act, the British North America Act of 1867, and the Constitution Act of 1982 that form the basis of Canadian state policies towards Indigenous peoples.
In this survey course, we introduce the concepts of internal colonialism, decolonization, and Aboriginal self-government. We also explore the impact of Canadian economic policies, with special emphasis on how resource exploitation and the extension of social services have affected northern Natives socially, culturally, politically, and economically. Finally, we discuss Aboriginal land claims, using case studies of claims that have been or are being settled, either through the courts or by negotiations. This survey includes an examination of the significance of a land-based economy to the establishment of effective and sustainable indigenous government.
This course introduces Indigenous education through the perspectives of Indigenous scholars, researchers, and others who offer Indigenous ways of teaching and knowing inherent to Indigenous philosophy and systems of knowledge. You are introduced to Indigenous education as a framework for holistic and lifelong learning as practiced by Indigenous ceremonialists, scholars, knowledge holders, and community members. Elements of Indigenous philosophy are examined within the context of a participatory and experiential knowledge system, as are principles and processes of significance in coming to know, and ways of knowing, engaging, and being, as practiced by Indigenous peoples in North America.
This course discusses the impact of the Canadian criminal justice system on Aboriginal people and communities, and the efforts Aboriginal people are making to regain control over the administration of justice. It has long been recognized that Aboriginal people make up a disproportionately large segment of the prison population in Canada. In this course, we discuss the reasons for this “over – representation,” and some of the strategies Aboriginal nations and communities are developing to address it.
INST 357 explores selected contemporary social, economic, and political issues surrounding the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. The course examines five main themes: 1) historical background related to the traditional Aboriginal, social, economic, and political institutions; 2) Canadian federal government “Indian Policy of Assimilation” based on the BNA and the Indian Act; 3) self-government as perceived by Aboriginal peoples; 4) fiscal arrangement and the delivery of programs and services in indigenous communities; and 5) the implementation of the federal and provincial governments' policy of economic development in Aboriginal communities.
This course examines the roles of women in traditional, pre-contact Aboriginal societies, the changes facing this group of women as a consequence of colonization, and contemporary issues of concern for Aboriginal women in Canada. While the course deals with Aboriginal women in Canada, particular emphasis will be on Western and Northern Canadian contexts and experiences and the women of those territories wherever the existing resources and materials permit. The course has been designed thematically and chronologically in order for patterns of experience to emerge and become evident. Throughout this course, the terms ‘Indian’, Inuit and ‘Metis’ will be used as they are the terms used in the Constitution Act (1982) to identify Aboriginal peoples of Canada and because these terms reflect historical usage. In the context of this course, they are applied exclusive of the derogatory context which has sometimes arisen as a result of cultural misconceptions.
INST 369 introduces major themes in the political, social, and economic history of Canada's first peoples from 1830 to the modern era. Throughout the course we see the conflicts between government and First Nations objectives and worldviews. Among topics approached are the conflicting views of governments and Native peoples regarding the meaning of treaties, the conflict between European-Canadian goals of economic development and First Nations efforts to maintain control over their traditional lands, and political and cultural efforts of Native peoples over time to assert their rights within Canada.
INST 370 traces the historical development of Canada's Métis from the period of the fur trade to the present. It includes discussion and debates about the origins of Métis nationalism, the validity of Métis land claims, and the character of Métis struggles for social justice from the Seven Oaks rebellion of 1816 through the two Northwest rebellions to the present. It also examines the changes in the lives of Métis women that occurred as a result of the impact of churches, education, and racism. Throughout there is an attempt to examine the evolving character of Métis societies and the impact of Euro-Canadian government policies on these societies.
This is a three-credit senior-level course that explores topics that relate to Aboriginal governments in Canada. This course is divided into three sections. Part 1 looks at traditional Aboriginal governance systems before the arrival of Europeans. Part 2 looks at the impact of colonialism on Aboriginal governments, and Part 3 describes some of the contemporary Aboriginal government structures that are emerging today. Most of the topics in this course are explained through a general survey format, supplemented by specific examples, and explored in greater depth through detailed case studies. Like most Indigenous Studies courses, the sources for INST 377 are interdisciplinary. They include academic articles and books by Indigenous and non - Indigenous authors, Aboriginal oral histories, legal decisions, policy papers, and other sources. The approach of this course is to assume that emerging Aboriginal governments will be most successful where they are based on the traditional governments of the past and incorporate traditional philosophies and laws in a modern context.
This is a three-credit senior-level course that explores topics that relate to Aboriginal governments in Canada. This course is divided into three sections. Part 1 looks at traditional Aboriginal governance systems before the arrival of Europeans. Part 2 looks at the impact of colonialism on Aboriginal governments, and Part 3 describes some of the contemporary Aboriginal government structures that are emerging today. Most of the topics in this course are explained through a general survey format, supplemented by specific examples, and explored in greater depth through detailed case studies. Like most Indigenous Studies courses, the sources for INST 377 are interdisciplinary. They include academic articles and books by Indigenous and non - Indigenous authors, Aboriginal oral histories, legal decisions, policy papers, and other sources. The approach of this course is to assume that emerging Aboriginal governments will be most successful where they are based on the traditional governments of the past and incorporate traditional philosophies and laws in a modern context.
The research project may involve any combination of library or field research, as agreed to by the student and the research project supervisor in a “learning contract” between the student and Athabasca University. The learning contract states what is to be done in the research project, how and when it will be done, how it will be evaluated, and how many credits will be awarded (each research project course is a three-credit course). Although the University may provide some help, students are expected to obtain and pay for all the materials used in their research project. Students may enroll at any time during the year, but before enrolling, must submit an acceptable “research/project proposal” to the course coordinator. The research/project proposal is, in effect, the first stage in the preparation of a learning contract and the location of a suitable supervisor.
The purpose of this course is to give students a broad survey of the diverse forms of Indigenous resistance to colonialism by highlighting the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples themselves.
We begin by briefly examining pre-colonial Indigenous politics of contestation and their impact on Indigenous societies. We then explore colonization and contestation in an historical context, highlighting the defining moments of the past. Students will be introduced to social movement theory, and other western theories of group organizing and their applicability in a Canadian context with special emphasis on Indigenous Peoples. With this foundation and using a broad definition of resistance (including language, spiritual, cultural, intellectual, and physical forms in addition to social movements), we then turn our attention to the various ways Indigenous Peoples have engaged in both individual and collective forms of resistance, again with examples from historical times to present day. This is further deepened with an examination of resistance in the academy by focusing on the post-colonial with particular emphases on Indigenous and decolonizing theorists. The course concludes by examining the Indigenous rights movement internationally and by highlighting the unique ways Indigenous women have contributed to Indigenous anti-colonial resistance and engagement. INST 420 is an upper-level Indigenous Studies course and as such, relies upon a number of readings by Indigenous scholars, activists, Indigenous Knowledge Holders and community leaders to broader students’ understandings of resistance.
The first half of the course have more detailed background sections, in the later part of the course it is assumed that students now have a base of knowledge, and these units rely heavily upon the reading assignments. The contemporary Indigenous Rights movement has also relied heavily upon the internet and students are asked to spend time exploring the websites suggested within the units.
The purpose of this course is to give students a broad survey of the diverse forms of Indigenous resistance to colonialism by highlighting the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples themselves.
This course addresses Indigenous knowledge as a fundamental component of Indigenous education. Indigenous peoples have always had their own philosophies, teachings, and educational goals. Rigorous and deep-rooted, Indigenous intellectual traditions and the sharing of information were both formalized and localized. The methodologies, processes, and means to share this information were embedded in the everyday: life lessons were functional and required, taught from birth to death, and wholistic. Thus, a general, life-long education was a known and regularized practice. It taught people how to survive. But survival did not include just hunting, provisioning, and defence; survival meant passing on educational and philosophical tenets related to living together well, living a good life, and shared responsibilities and obligations among neighbours (in Western traditions, those beings and things perceived as animate and inanimate). The same processes through which philosophy was/is taught would be used to teach Indigenous citizens arts, politics, laws, and language. Storytelling, sharing circles, organized meetings, and ongoing training in the home through experiential learning were and are the pedagogic vehicles used to teach and transfer knowledge. This course will address Indigenous knowledge as a fundamental component of Indigenous education. In doing that, it will also prepare the student to address and understand Indigenous pedagogy and knowledge for and about Indigenous people.
Graduate course offered every Spring
This course addresses Indigenous knowledge as a fundamental component of Indigenous education. Indigenous peoples have always had their own philosophies, teachings, and educational goals. Rigorous and deep-rooted, Indigenous intellectual traditions and the sharing of information were both formalized and localized. The methodologies, processes, and means to share this information were embedded in the everyday: life lessons were functional and required, taught from birth to death, and wholistic. Thus, a general, life-long education was a known and regularized practice. It taught people how to survive. But survival did not include just hunting, provisioning, and defence; survival meant passing on educational and philosophical tenets related to living together well, living a good life, and shared responsibilities and obligations among neighbours (in Western traditions, those beings and things perceived as animate and inanimate). The same processes through which philosophy was/is taught would be used to teach Indigenous citizens arts, politics, laws, and language. Storytelling, sharing circles, organized meetings, and ongoing training in the home through experiential learning were and are the pedagogic vehicles used to teach and transfer knowledge. This course will address Indigenous knowledge as a fundamental component of Indigenous education. In doing that, it will also prepare the student to address and understand Indigenous pedagogy and knowledge for and about Indigenous people.
This course is designed to teach students the structure of Indigenous businesses in Canada and the community environment in which they operate.
The course will introduce fundamental business topics (or functions), including accounting, finance, management, and marketing. INBU 201 also covers economic, cultural, political, and legal (all from a Canadian perspective) business environments, as well as ethics, social responsibility, business types, and entrepreneurship. Students will develop a relevant vocabulary and understand fundamental concepts from disciplines such as economics.
INBU 201 exposes students to all the primary business topics in just one course. Thus, students will obtain an overview of the study of business, specifically from an Indigenous perspective, and will be introduced to management and marketing. The course also introduces many additional business topics, such as entrepreneurship, corporate responsibility, and Indigenous economic development.
This knowledge can be used to inform the selection of subsequent business courses or simply to understand modern Canadian business and business-related articles from newspapers, magazines, and other media.
This course is designed to teach students the structure of Indigenous businesses in Canada and the community environment in which they operate.
The course will introduce fundamental business topics (or functions), including accounting, finance, management, and marketing. INBU 201 also covers economic, cultural, political, and legal (all from a Canadian perspective) business environments, as well as ethics, social responsibility, business types, and entrepreneurship. Students will develop a relevant vocabulary and understand fundamental concepts from disciplines such as economics.
INBU 201 exposes students to all the primary business topics in just one course. Thus, students will obtain an overview of the study of business, specifically from an Indigenous perspective, and will be introduced to management and marketing. The course also introduces many additional business topics, such as entrepreneurship, corporate responsibility, and Indigenous economic development.
This knowledge can be used to inform the selection of subsequent business courses or simply to understand modern Canadian business and business-related articles from newspapers, magazines, and other media.
This course is designed to teach students the structure of Indigenous businesses in Canada and the community environment in which they operate.
The course will introduce fundamental business topics (or functions), including accounting, finance, management, and marketing. INBU 201 also covers economic, cultural, political, and legal (all from a Canadian perspective) business environments, as well as ethics, social responsibility, business types, and entrepreneurship. Students will develop a relevant vocabulary and understand fundamental concepts from disciplines such as economics.
INBU 201 exposes students to all the primary business topics in just one course. Thus, students will obtain an overview of the study of business, specifically from an Indigenous perspective, and will be introduced to management and marketing. The course also introduces many additional business topics, such as entrepreneurship, corporate responsibility, and Indigenous economic development.
This knowledge can be used to inform the selection of subsequent business courses or simply to understand modern Canadian business and business-related articles from newspapers, magazines, and other media.
This course is designed to teach students the structure of communication in Canadian businesses and its impact in the workplace. The course will introduce fundamental leadership skills, including communication topics used in business. INBU 386 covers essential Indigenous human resource topics, such as communication and leadership. Interpersonal skills development, working with teams and groups, and working in digital work environments (all from a Canadian perspective) are also covered in this course. Thus, students obtain an overview of the study of human resource management (HRM) in a business setting, specifically from an Indigenous perspective. The course also introduces many additional business topics, such as leadership, corporate responsibility, diversity in the workplace, and Indigenous leadership.
INBU 386 exposes students to all the primary communication topics used in business. Thus, students obtain an overview of the study of communication processes in the workplace, leadership communication skills development, and interpersonal skills development that benefit the individual and the workplace. This knowledge can be used in subsequent business courses or simply to understand dynamic interpersonal relationships development in Canadian businesses.
ANTH 362 provides an introduction to the diversity of cultures in Canadian First Peoples, including those people who identify as First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. Students will be exposed to ethnographic content through textbooks, ethnographic texts, and film. This course is divided into geographical linguistic and culture areas, providing students with a wide breadth of pre-colonization, colonization, and current perspectives, including truth and reconciliation, from case studies across the country. An introductory course in cultural or social anthropology is a recommended prerequisite for this course.
Ancient Cultures of North America is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the precontact cultures of North America, from the first people of the continent to the arrival of Europeans. The course has three major objectives: To foster an appreciation for the dynamic field of North American archaeology, particularly the gathering of information and interpretation of past cultures. To furnish an understanding of the general historical sequence of North America’s past and an appreciation for the diversity of the peoples and cultures that thrived here. To provide the ability to evaluate the ways in which contemporary archaeologists consider and communicate with other stakeholders in North America’s past.
Indigenous Literature in Canada begins with the origins of Indigenous literature in the oral tradition and leads to contemporary Indigenous writing in English. The course also examines related areas such as the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), released in 2015. Assigned readings from the TRC will inform many of the topics and themes found in Indigenous literature. English 308 is designed to provide you with the basis for a deeper understanding of the literature of Indigenous nations in Canada. The course is divided into eight units and progresses from orature and stories from the oral tradition through written poems, stories, and drama, to two novels.
Indigenous and Canadian Drama is a senior-level, three-credit course that surveys plays by Indigenous and Canadian playwrights from the 1960s to the present. ENGL 431 examines a diversity of theatrical styles and themes, in works from across the territory occupied by the Canadian nation-state. The plays are grouped in three “Acts” according to commonalities in the social, political, and philosophical issues they address, rather than according to chronology, although students are encouraged to consider the historiographic context of each play. ENGL 431 focuses primarily on the analysis of individual plays—on their own and in comparison, with each other—as theatre and literature, but also as knowledge production and political action. Special attention will be paid to the cultural differences between Indigenous and settler understandings of performance, the use of theatrical innovation or derivation, elements of dramatic form, shared themes, sociological or psychological orientation, the uses of literary language, and stagecraft.
Indigenous and Canadian Drama is a senior-level, three-credit course that surveys plays by This three-credit, university-level course is designed to provide a multicultural and multidisciplinary perspective on health and healing. The course gives students the opportunity to apply some conceptual tools of medical anthropology to examine the health status of First Nations people and other ethnic groups in Canada, while considering the role of medical pluralism in a culturally diverse nation state.
The course begins by tracing developments in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans. Issues explored here include the diversity among and the elements common to First Nations societies, the religious beliefs of the first peoples, gender roles, relations among First Nations, and the causes of change in the organization of these societies over time. The course then traces the patterns of European-First Nations relations during the first three hundred years of continuous European involvement in the Americas. It also examines the impact of dealings with the Europeans on the social structure of various First Nations.
HIST 369 introduces major themes in the political, social, and economic history of Canada's first peoples from 1830 to the modern era. Throughout the course we see the conflicts between government and First Nations objectives and worldviews. Among topics approached are the conflicting views of governments and Native peoples regarding the meaning of treaties, the conflict between European-Canadian goals of economic development and First Nations efforts to maintain control over their traditional lands, and political and cultural efforts of Native peoples over time to assert their rights within Canada.
POLI 311 examines the complex issues associated with Aboriginal peoples and their politics. The central issues of this course include the history and context of Aboriginal government and political movements, and the political goals of Aboriginal peoples today. Political Science 311 will help you recognize the efforts of Aboriginal peoples to create and recreate their governing institutions, which is essential for understanding Aboriginal politics. This course will also help you understand the policies of the various levels of government in Canada, particularly the federal government, concerning the circumstances, rights, and self-determination of Canada's Aboriginal peoples.
WGST 304 looks at a variety of topics related to Aboriginal women's health and wellness. Aboriginal women's health and wellness issues will be examined across physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions, giving credence to both animate and inanimate matter and to the creator, who is considered to be at the center of all that exists. The Aboriginal way of knowing, being, and living (Aboriginal epistemology) is central to understanding Aboriginal women's health and wellness issues. The wholistic nature of an Aboriginal world view is present in all course units.
Counselling with Indigenous Women will engage students in issues and practices critical to working with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit women in culturally appropriate ways that promote principles of human dignity, decolonization, and self-sovereignty. Counselling is one of many processes Indigenous women may turn to for support or assistance in working with difficult issues. Traditionally, problem-solving and healing took a broader community focus, where supports were found through relationships of interconnection, family, friends, and community. Ceremony was one way to acknowledge important life events and offer mutual support, spiritual connection, and possibilities for transformation; working with medicine healers and teachers, with nature, and with spirit offer other possibilities for problem solving and healing. Customs and cultural practices have offered community members ways to promote safety and well-being and to minimize conflict.
This course presents the historical and theoretical underpinnings of Western colonial sexualities in Canada and the United States. Students examine the power of sex and sexuality and the regulation of sexualities into categories of normal and abnormal. Students consider how sex and sexualities are normatively defined through discourses produced by various institutions, including colonial governments, popular media, corporations, and educational, scientific, and medical bodies. Students engage with feminist, queer, Indigenous, and racial theories that trouble and deconstruct these social interpretations of normative sexuality. Students will study a textbook as well as academic articles, poems, songs, podcasts, videos, blog posts, and news articles and will critically analyze contemporary debates pertaining to sex and sexuality, including virginity pacts, the HIV/AIDS crisis and queer activism, sex work, pornography, eugenics and forced sterilization, interracial marriage and the Indian Act, public sex, LGBTQ2S communities and culture, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ2S refugees.
Undergraduate courses that include one chapter of Indigenous content
Governance (GOVN) 400 Governance and Leadership
Unit 11 Indigenous Perspective and Impact
View GOVN 400 SyllabusPolitical Science (POLI) 400 – Governance and Leadership
Unit 11 Indigenous Perspective and Impact
View POLI 400 SyllabusHuman Services (HSRV) 400 - Governance and Leadership
Unit 11 Indigenous Perspective and Impact
View HSRV 400 SyllabusPolitical Science (POLI) 309 -Canadian Government and Politics
Unit 5: Aboriginal Peoples
View POLI 309 SyllabusEnvironmental Studies (ENVS) 305 - Environmental Impact Assessment
Unit 6: Indigenous Issues and Environmental Assessment in Canada
View ENVS 305 SyllabusEnvironmental Studies (ENVS) 435 - Transformative Change in Building Sustainable Communities
Unit 4: Ecological Knowledge and Traditional Ways of Knowing
View ENVS 435 SyllabusLabour Studies (LBST) 415 - Sex Work and Sex Workers
Unit 5 is about Indigenous Experiences of Sex Work
View LBST 415 SyllabusSociology (SOCI) 380 - Canadian Ethnic Relations
Unit 7: Canada’s First Nations: The Special Problems of Aboriginal Minorities
View SOCI 380 SyllabusContact us
If you’d like more details about the assistance available for Indigenous students at AU, feel free to get in touch.
Email: indigenous@athabascau.ca
Phone: 1-800-788-9041 ext. 5054
Updated November 01, 2023 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)