New text brings First Nations history into the classroom
Written By: Ileiren Byles
2006-03-06
; "Dr. Olive Dickason")
For the first time, the history of Canada's aboriginal people has been put into a form that can be used in classrooms across the country.The new textbook, A Concise History of Canada's First Nations, was adapted from a larger work by Olive Dickason, professor emeritus with the University of Alberta's Department of History and Classics. The original book, Canada's First Nations: A History of Founding Peoples from Earliest Times, was a bit overwhelming for junior high and high school classes, said Nancy Gibson, former director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute and co-principle investigator with the Alberta ACADRE Network that partnered with CCI Press on the project.
"This is a story that came about because people in the community were saying they really needed a history book," she said. "Olive's was the only one that was available, but we were asked if we couldn't make it just a little more accessible."
With the help of a team of writers and editors, the larger text was condensed into a volume that was launched Monday. But 'condensed' doesn't mean 'reduced,' said Moira Calder, an editor with the U of A-based International Institute for Qualitative Methodology.
"We didn't want to dumb the book down. We wanted to keep the subtlety and depth of the material," she said, crediting Dickason for helping maintain the integrity of the material. "Her analysis and dissection of every word in this book was an education for me. I miss those conversations because I always came away richer."
The book is published by Oxford University Press. CCI Press at the University of Alberta is a distributor.
Dickason, who celebrated her 86th birthday in conjunction with the book launch, said the project was an extension of the passion she felt for the original book.
"Most of my adolescent and teen years, I spent up North on the trap lines and you learn a view of life that you certainly don't get in the cities and in the schools. When I first met Canadian history, aboriginal history was just dismissed," she said.
But Canadian history did teach Dickason that the country's European history began when whaling and the fur trade attracted the interests of colonists - both industries that were entirely dependent on the First Nations.
"Whaling and fur trapping depended very, very strongly on aboriginal expertise. In fact, both are based on aboriginal expertise," she said. "This country is deeply founded and deeply linked with aboriginals. When I realized that the courses being taught didn't refer to this at all, I got very disturbed."
Dickason single-mindedly attacked the shortfall, writing The Myth of the Savage and the Beginnings of French Colonialism in the Americas, The Law of Nations and the New World and Canada's First Nations. That her passion and knowledge is now in a form that is accessible to young students is a gift, said Fay Fletcher, a professor with the U of A's Faculty of Extension.
"It's surprising how many students I meet at the university who still lack knowledge of First Nations history," Fletcher said. "The hope is that in about five to eight years, students will be coming to the university having had some contact with this text. Right now, we're filling a gap."
Whoever turns to A Concise History of Canada's First Nations for information, Dickason hopes her message comes through.
"I wanted this textbook to offer the aboriginal people the recognition and honour that is their due as the basic founders of this country," she said. "This is an attitude I hope will be present in those who are studying this subject and this book.
Original: ExpressNews