The 10th anniversary of the Canadian government's apology for its mistreatment of First Nations peoples was observed earlier this month (1.7).

There is controversy over that apology because it may set a precedent for the government to acknowledge other types of transgressions of the past. But others believe that the apology did soothe the leaders and set the stage for a new era of cooperation and civil rights in Canada.

"First Nations" refers to specific indigenous aboriginal groups in Canada--Inuit and Metis peoples. First Nations is a legally undefined term that came into common usage in the 1980s to replace the term Indian band. There are currently more than 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands in Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

A national representative body is the Assembly of First Nations. Its chief, Phil Fontaine, and many others, have argued that a citizenship-based membership for each First Nation is needed, instead of only memberships based on bloodlines, race theories, and records of ancestry.

Citizenship could be based on other factors, like loyalty to one's community, knowledge and education about the history and politics of that traditional territory, language spoken, and close family and friendship bonds with community members.

ProQuest has created a Canadian-focused BookCart learning activity to help teachers provide students with a one-stop collection of resources to learn more about First Nations and their civil rights issues--Native Peoples of Canada--Issues.

This BookCart includes complete information and resources to guide students in this inquiry-based learning activity: essential questions for critical thinking, student directions, correlated print resources, and over 35 articles and websites for student to select from.

Teachers or librarians can copy Native Peoples of Canada--Issues and any other BookCart from the Canadian BookCart collection by using the following procedure:

• Logon to the eLibrary Canada or eLibrary Canada CE Teacher Edition.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Scroll down the folder list on the left and click Canadian BookCarts.
• Type Native Peoples of Canada--Issues in the Search box.
• Click the Copy icon (middle one) in the Actions column to the right of this title.
• Click Return to My Local Carts.

Librarians or teachers can edit this BookCart to customize it for their students.

To edit this BookCart for your students to use:

• Click the first new BookCart Title with the prefix "Copy of."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your name in the Author boxes and your email.
• Type any additional Essential Questions for your students in the Description box.
• Edit the existing Student Directions for your students to use in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click Save.
• Return to My Local Carts.

This special Canadian BookCart provides links to templates for learners to use for both written and PowerPoint-style reports. Check the weblinks section for these connections.




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