Colonization and Change

Overview

In this third lesson of Learning in Treaty 7, students investigate how colonization changed relationships between Indigenous Peoples and Canada. Building on prior learning about Treaty 7 peoples, territories, and treaty relationships, students connect historical events to Indigenous resistance, resilience, reconciliation, and responsibilities in outdoor leadership.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• explain how colonization affected Indigenous Peoples, lands, cultures, and governance
• place key events in a chronological and cause-and-consequence framework
• compare how treaties, the Indian Act, residential schools, displacement, and national parks shaped relationships
• identify examples of Indigenous resistance, resilience, and ongoing responsibility
• connect historical learning to respectful outdoor leadership in Treaty 7 territories

Success criteria

• I can accurately place major events and explain at least two relationships between them.
• I can describe impacts of colonial policies using specific evidence.
• I can distinguish between government intentions, Indigenous experiences, and continuing consequences.
• I can propose responsible actions for outdoor leaders working in Treaty 7 territories.

Curriculum links

• Aboriginal Studies 10–20–30: traditions and history of Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Alberta, viewed through past, present, and future.
• Aboriginal Studies 10–20–30: identifying key questions, selecting relevant content, developing points of view, and communicating conclusions.
• Aboriginal Studies 10–20–30: understanding diverse, strong, evolving cultures and the resilience of languages, identities, and values.
• Alberta social studies: treaties, assimilation, residential schools, the Indian Act, collective rights, and the contemporary consequences of colonial policies.

Lesson structure (120 minutes)

1. 0–10 min · Opening and care agreement. Teacher opens the hook and learning intentions with the question, “What responsibilities come with entering someone else’s home territory?” and reviews discussion agreements: use precise language, avoid speaking for Indigenous Peoples, listen without debating lived experience, and take a quiet pause if needed. Students complete a brief think-pair-share and identify one question they bring from the previous lesson.

2. 10–25 min · Context mini-lesson. Teacher uses the Treaty 7 context and key terms to clarify colonization, treaty relationship, assimilation, displacement, resistance, resilience, and reconciliation. Explain that Treaty 7 was an agreement between the Crown and the Blackfoot Confederacy, Tsuut’ina, and Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, and that treaties are living relationships rather than events that ended in the past. Students record one definition and one question for two selected terms.

3. 25–60 min · Collaborative timeline investigation. Teacher forms five groups of five and distributes the colonization timeline and case-study organiser. Each group receives one case study: Treaty 7 and changing interpretations; the Indian Act; residential schools; displacement and reserve creation; or national parks and access to land. Using teacher-provided, age-appropriate source excerpts, groups identify approximate dates, policy or event, stated purpose, effects on Indigenous Peoples and lands, and evidence of resistance or resilience. Students place their case on a shared wall timeline and prepare a two-minute explanation. Emphasize that residential schools may involve painful material and students may choose a quiet alternative task.

4. 60–75 min · Timeline gallery walk. Teacher directs groups to rotate around the timeline, read each case, and add one sticky note beginning “This led to…” or “A continuing effect is…”. Students examine sequence and connections, then revise one claim on their organiser if new evidence changes their understanding.

5. 75–95 min · Case-study discussion. Teacher returns to the case-study comparison and discussion prompts and facilitates a whole-class discussion: “Whose interests were served?”, “What choices and rights were restricted?”, “Where do we see Indigenous agency?”, and “What responsibilities remain today?” Students use one piece of evidence from the timeline to contribute, and record one connection between two cases. Teacher corrects oversimplifications and reinforces that Indigenous Nations have never been passive recipients of history.

6. 95–112 min · Outdoor leadership application. Teacher presents the outdoor leadership scenario: a group plans a multi-day trip through Treaty 7 territory and wants to use a place without learning its history, seeking permission where appropriate, or considering local protocols. In groups, students use the final section of the colonization timeline and case-study organiser to create three responsible actions, such as learning whose territory they enter, following applicable land-use guidance, avoiding appropriation, respecting culturally significant places, supporting Indigenous-led knowledge, and acknowledging ongoing treaty responsibilities. Groups share one action and explain its historical basis.

7. 112–120 min · Exit reflection. Teacher uses the plenary and exit questions to revisit the learning intention. Students complete the final worksheet prompt: “One colonial policy or event changed relationships by… One example of Indigenous resistance or resilience is… As an outdoor leader, I am responsible for…”. Invite students to submit privately and remind them that questions can be continued in the next lesson.

Resources

• the complete Colonization, Treaties, and Change deck
• the colonization timeline and case-study organiser
• Teacher-prepared case-study source excerpts from reliable Indigenous and public educational sources
• Large paper timeline or whiteboard timeline
• Event and case-study labels
• Sticky notes and markers
• Projector or interactive display
• Quiet reflection space and alternative task materials

Assessment

• Listen during group work for accurate chronology, respectful language, evidence-based reasoning, and recognition of Indigenous agency.
• Check organisers and gallery-walk responses for clear cause-and-consequence links and distinction between policy intentions and lived impacts.
• Use the exit reflection to assess understanding of historical change, resistance and resilience, and transfer to outdoor leadership responsibilities.

Differentiation

• Provide a partially completed timeline, simplified source excerpts, a word bank, and sentence starters such as “The policy was intended to…” and “Indigenous Peoples responded by…”.
• Allow students to demonstrate understanding through oral recording, a labelled visual timeline, or written responses; provide text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and purposeful group roles.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach key terms with visuals and permit bilingual notes or a first-language partner where appropriate.
• Extend confident learners by asking them to compare two perspectives on Treaty 7 or evaluate whether a proposed outdoor-leadership action addresses a historical responsibility or only a present-day courtesy.