A. Literacy Connections and Applications / C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Understanding and Responding to Texts

First Nations, Métis and Inuit Creators: Storywork and the Influence of History

C1.7 C3.7 A3.3 A3.2About 55 minutes

Learning goals

I can make meaning from texts by diverse First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators using the Storywork principles of respect, responsibility and reciprocity.
I can compare how historical periods, cultural experiences and socio-political conditions influenced two or more texts by First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators.
I can connect these texts to identity, belonging and the present day.

Words to know

Indigenous Storywork
An approach to stories described by Stó:lō scholar Jo-ann Archibald (Q'um Q'um Xiiem), based on seven principles: respect, responsibility, reciprocity, reverence, holism, interrelatedness and synergy.

respect
Honouring the story, the storyteller, the community it comes from and the knowledge it carries.

responsibility
Taking care with how you listen to, use, retell or share a story.

reciprocity
Giving back: a relationship in which storyteller and listener both give and receive.

socio-political conditions
The social and political situation of a time, such as laws, government policies and how groups are treated.

Indian Act
A Canadian federal law first passed in 1876 that has controlled many parts of First Nations people's lives. It is still in effect, with many changes over time.

katajjaq
Inuit throat singing, traditionally a game or contest between two women facing each other.

Remember from Grade 7

In Grade 7 you used the Storywork principles of reverence and synergy with Jeremy Dutcher's album, Katherena Vermette's graphic novel A Girl Called Echo, and the film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. In Grade 6 you used holism and interrelatedness.

In Grade 8 you'll focus on respect, responsibility and reciprocity, and you'll compare four creators from different times, from the 1890s to today, to see how history shaped what they created.

About this lesson

The explanations in this lesson were written for this website. They are not by First Nations, Métis or Inuit creators. They describe real creators and texts. The best way to learn is from the creators themselves: read, listen to or watch their work with your family when you can (one text is for older teens; see the parent notes). This lesson describes and summarizes their work rather than quoting it at length.

Storywork: respect, responsibility, reciprocity

Jo-ann Archibald (Q'um Q'um Xiiem), a Stó:lō scholar, described seven principles of Indigenous Storywork. Three guide this lesson:

Respect: approach each text as knowledge, not entertainment only. Learn who made it and which Nation or community they belong to. Don't treat all Indigenous peoples as one.
Responsibility: be careful how you use what you learn. Some stories belong to particular communities. Credit creators by name, and don't retell sacred stories as your own.
Reciprocity: storytelling is a relationship. The creator gives; the listener gives back: by listening closely, learning, changing how they act, and sharing accurately.

Reciprocity: storytelling is a two-way relationship. The creator gives, and the listener gives back. Respect and responsibility guide how the listener receives and shares the story.

Four creators, four times

1. E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake), Mohawk, 1861 to 1913

Pauline Johnson was born at Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, to a Mohawk father, George Johnson, a chief, and an English-born mother. She became one of the best-known poets and performers in Canada in the 1890s and early 1900s, touring Canada, the United States and England. She often performed the first half of her shows in an outfit she put together to represent her Mohawk identity and the second half in an evening gown, showing audiences both sides of her heritage. Her poetry collection Flint and Feather appeared in 1912, and Legends of Vancouver (1911) retold stories shared with her by Squamish leader Joe Capilano (Sahp-luk). In 1892 she published an essay criticizing how novels of the time portrayed Indigenous women as stereotypes.

2. Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, 1899 to 1981

On July 1, 1967, Canada's 100th birthday, Chief Dan George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (in what is now North Vancouver) spoke at a centennial celebration in Vancouver. His speech, A Lament for Confederation, shocked many listeners. While others celebrated, he described what the last hundred years had meant for his people: the loss of lands, ways of life and freedom. But he ended with hope, calling on his people to gain education and skills and take their place in Canadian society with pride. He was also an actor, nominated for an Academy Award in 1971.

3. Tanya Tagaq, Inuk, from Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut

Tanya Tagaq is a throat singer and musician. Traditional katajjaq is usually performed by two women facing each other, as a game. For a time, throat singing was discouraged by missionaries in some communities, and it has since been revitalized by Inuit performers. Tagaq performs solo, mixing throat singing with experimental music and improvisation. Her album Animism won the Polaris Music Prize in 2014.

4. Cherie Dimaline, Métis, from the Georgian Bay Métis community

Cherie Dimaline's novel The Marrow Thieves (2017) is dystopian fiction for teens. In a future damaged by climate disasters, most people have lost the ability to dream, and Indigenous people are hunted because their bone marrow holds the ability to dream. A teen named Frenchie travels north with a group who become his family. The novel's "schools", where captured Indigenous people are taken, deliberately echo residential schools. It won the Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature in 2017.

Creator	Form	Time	Historical and socio-political conditions
E. Pauline Johnson (Mohawk)	Poetry, performance, essays	1890s to 1913	Indian Act controlling First Nations life; stereotypes of Indigenous people common in popular books and shows
Chief Dan George (Tsleil-Waututh)	Speech	1967	Canada's centennial celebrations; residential schools still operating; First Nations people had gained the federal vote without losing status only in 1960
Tanya Tagaq (Inuk)	Music (throat singing)	2000s to today	Revitalization of Inuit culture and language after earlier suppression; Nunavut created in 1999
Cherie Dimaline (Métis)	Dystopian novel	2017	Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report (2015) brought residential school history to wide attention; climate change concerns

Comparing four creators and their times

Dates from this lesson on one timeline, drawn to scale. Each creator worked in a different moment in Canada’s history, and it shows in their work.

Worked example

Let's compare how history influenced two texts

Compare how historical period and socio-political conditions influenced Pauline Johnson's performances and Chief Dan George's Lament for Confederation.

Johnson's period: the 1890s, when many non-Indigenous audiences knew Indigenous people only through stereotypes in books and shows, and the Indian Act controlled First Nations life.
Influence on Johnson: she worked within popular entertainment to reach large audiences. Performing in two outfits challenged audiences to see her as both Mohawk and a modern professional poet. Her 1892 essay directly criticized stereotypes. She had to persuade audiences who held power, often with charm and performance.
George's period: 1967, a time of national celebration that mostly ignored Indigenous experiences. Residential schools were still operating.
Influence on George: he used the centennial stage itself to tell a different story of the past hundred years, grief instead of celebration, and hope built on Indigenous strength. The form (a public speech at a celebration) made the contrast powerful.
Comparison: both spoke to mainly non-Indigenous audiences at public events and challenged the dominant story. Johnson worked through performance and poetry in an era when there were few platforms; George spoke directly about loss, in an era beginning to question Canada's past.

Both creators used public platforms to challenge how Canada saw Indigenous peoples, shaped by their eras: Johnson reframed stereotypes through performance at a time of few opportunities, while George confronted a national celebration with honest grief and hope. Their forms fit their times.

Worked example

Let's use respect, responsibility and reciprocity with The Marrow Thieves

How can a reader approach The Marrow Thieves using the three Storywork principles, and what does history add to its meaning?

Respect: learn that Dimaline is Métis, from the Georgian Bay Métis community, and that the novel draws on Métis and other Indigenous experiences. Read it as a story with real history underneath, not just an action novel.
History's influence: the novel was published soon after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission finished its work (final report 2015). Its fictional "schools" echo the residential schools, where Indigenous children were taken from families. Dystopian fiction lets Dimaline show that this harm is not just in the past: the pattern of taking from Indigenous people could repeat if not understood.
Cultural experience: the group in the novel forms a chosen family and shares stories to survive. Language and knowledge passed on by an Elder become the key to the future.
Responsibility: don't treat the novel as entertainment only, and be careful not to treat its fictional events as a historical record. Credit Dimaline by name when discussing it.
Reciprocity: give back by learning the real history of residential schools and the TRC, and sharing it accurately.

The Marrow Thieves uses the dystopian genre (Lesson 1 and Grade 7) to connect residential school history to the future. Reading it with respect, responsibility and reciprocity means honouring its Métis creator, understanding the history it draws on, and acting on what it teaches.

Across all four: continuity and change

Language and identity: Johnson's Mohawk heritage on stage; George's voice for his people; Tagaq's Inuit throat singing; Dimaline's stories in which language and knowledge from Elders carry the future.
Responding to their times: each creator's form fits their moment: turn-of-the-century stage performance, a centennial speech, music on world stages, a dystopian novel after the TRC.
Resilience: practices that were suppressed or ignored (Indigenous voices on stage, the truth of Canada's history, throat singing, stories of residential schools) are carried forward, often in new forms.
Present tense: First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators are making art, music, film and literature today. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River, Inuit communities and Métis communities are living communities.

Hands-on activity

Learning from the creators

You need: a library card or internet access (with a grown-up), paper, a pencil.

With a grown-up, find one of the creators' works: a Pauline Johnson poem (such as The Song My Paddle Sings, now in the public domain), a recording or transcript of Chief Dan George's Lament for Confederation, or a performance by Tanya Tagaq (preview it first). The Marrow Thieves is for older teens; a grown-up should preview it.
Respect: write the creator's name, Nation or community, and the year.
Influence: write two ways the time it was made shows in the text.
Reciprocity: write one thing you will do or share because of what you learned (for example, learn the name of the Indigenous Nation or Nations whose land you live on, or attend a local Indigenous-led event if one is open to the public).
Find one living First Nations, Métis or Inuit creator from your province, and read, watch or listen to their work.

Your turn

Name the three Storywork principles this lesson focuses on.

Which Nation was Pauline Johnson from, and where was she born?

Why did Pauline Johnson perform in two outfits?

Why was the date of Chief Dan George's speech so important?

What is katajjaq, and how does Tanya Tagaq's style differ from it?

What do the "schools" in The Marrow Thieves echo?

Give one example of reciprocity a reader could practise.

More practice: warm-up

Who described the seven principles of Indigenous Storywork?

What prize did Tanya Tagaq's album Animism win in 2014?

What genre is The Marrow Thieves?

In what year did Pauline Johnson's collection Flint and Feather appear?

What does responsibility mean in Storywork?

More practice: on your own

Why is it important to name each creator's specific Nation or community?

How did the revitalization of throat singing influence Tagaq's work?

Why might Dimaline have used dystopian fiction rather than historical fiction to address residential schools?

How was the context in 1967 different from the 1890s for an Indigenous person speaking publicly?

Why does the lesson say First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are living communities?

Challenge

Compare how Tanya Tagaq and Cherie Dimaline each carry something that was suppressed into the present. Use evidence about their forms and times.

Write a paragraph (5 to 6 sentences) comparing Pauline Johnson and Chief Dan George, focusing on how their audiences and eras shaped their messages.

Explain how reciprocity could change what a student does after this lesson, with two concrete actions.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which group of principles is the focus of this lesson's Storywork?

Chief Dan George delivered A Lament for Confederation on...

Pauline Johnson was...

Traditional katajjaq is usually performed by...

The "schools" in The Marrow Thieves echo...

Which is an example of respect when studying a text by an Indigenous creator?

What does comparing the four creators show?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: Grade 8 students read, listen to and view texts by diverse First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators to make meaning through Indigenous Storywork (C1.7), and compare how historical periods, cultural experiences and socio-political conditions influenced two or more of these texts (C3.7). They explore First Nations, Métis and Inuit cultures, histories and perspectives (A3.3) and identity and belonging (A3.2).

Please note: The explanations were written for this site and are not by Indigenous creators. Please experience the real texts together when you can.

Viewing and reading advice: The Marrow Thieves is written for teens but includes violence and mature themes connected to residential schools; please preview it. Tanya Tagaq's performances are intense and sometimes experimental; preview before sharing. Pauline Johnson's poems (she died in 1913) are in the public domain and widely available. Chief Dan George's speech is short and suitable for this age.

Sensitive topics: Residential schools caused deep harm to Indigenous children, families and communities, and the effects continue today. Keep explanations honest and simple, let your teen ask questions, and check in about feelings. If your family has a personal connection, you know best how to share.

Facts used: Jo-ann Archibald (Q'um Q'um Xiiem), a Stó:lō scholar, described seven principles of Indigenous Storywork. E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake, 1861 to 1913) was born at Six Nations of the Grand River to a Mohawk father and English-born mother; she toured as a poet-performer, published Legends of Vancouver (1911) based on stories shared by Squamish leader Joe Capilano, and Flint and Feather (1912), and in 1892 published an essay criticizing stereotyped portrayals of Indigenous women in fiction. Chief Dan George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation delivered A Lament for Confederation in Vancouver on July 1, 1967, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1971. First Nations people gained the federal vote without losing status in 1960. Tanya Tagaq, from Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut, won the 2014 Polaris Music Prize for Animism. Cherie Dimaline, of the Georgian Bay Métis community, wrote The Marrow Thieves (2017), which won the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report in 2015. Nunavut was created in 1999.

Avoid stereotypes: treating all Nations as the same, speaking only in the past tense, and using sacred songs or designs as decoration.