C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Reading Like a Critic: Understanding and Responding to Texts

How History Shapes Texts by First Nations, Métis and Inuit Creators

C3.7 A3.2 A3.3About 70 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe the historical periods, cultural experiences and socio-political conditions connected to texts by First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators.
I can compare how these conditions influenced two or more texts, in both content and form.
I can explain how the texts relate to current lived experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit individuals and communities.
I can discuss these histories accurately and respectfully.

Words to know

historical period
A span of time with its own events, laws, beliefs and conditions.

socio-political conditions
The social and political situation of a time: laws, government policies, public attitudes, movements.

residential schools
Government-funded, mostly church-run schools that Indigenous children were forced to attend, often far from home, to separate them from their families, languages and cultures. The last federally run school closed in 1996.

Sixties Scoop
The removal of large numbers of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children from their families by child welfare authorities, mainly from the 1960s to the 1980s, often to non-Indigenous homes.

White Paper (1969)
A federal government policy proposal to end Indian status and the Indian Act; First Nations leaders strongly opposed it, and it was withdrawn.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
A commission (2008 to 2015) that heard from residential school Survivors and released 94 Calls to Action in 2015.

resilience
The strength to recover, adapt and continue, individually and as communities.

intergenerational
Passing from one generation to the next, such as the effects of trauma or the strength of cultural knowledge.

About this lesson

This lesson was written for this website, not by First Nations, Métis or Inuit creators. It describes real texts without quoting them. It deals with serious and painful history, including residential schools and the Sixties Scoop. Take breaks, ask questions, and talk with a trusted adult. There's no "Just for fun" box in this lesson.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you compared how history shaped the work of Pauline Johnson, Chief Dan George, Tanya Tagaq and Cherie Dimaline, from the 1890s to today. In Grade 9 you'll compare three texts (two from the last lesson and one new play) and use skills from earlier lessons (form, point of view, credibility) to explain how history shaped both what these creators wrote and how they wrote it.

Why history matters to reading

Every text is made at a particular time, by a particular person, in particular conditions. For First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators, those conditions often include government policies that tried to take away lands, families, languages and cultures, and the resistance and resilience of their communities. Knowing that history doesn't replace reading the text, but it shows you why the text matters and what it is responding to.

A timeline of the historical conditions (plain rows) and the texts and editions in this lesson (highlighted). Each text was created in, and responds to, a different moment. Rows are evenly spaced, not to scale.

Three texts, three moments

**1. Halfbreed (1973), memoir by Maria Campbell (Métis)**

Conditions: after 1885, many Métis families lost land and lived in poverty, some on narrow strips of land along road allowances. Métis people faced racism from many directions. The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of rising Indigenous activism, including strong opposition to the 1969 White Paper.
Influence: Campbell told her own story in the first person, at a time when few Canadian readers had heard Métis people describe their lives in their own words. In 2019, a new edition restored pages that had been missing from the original, a reminder that what was allowed into print in 1973 was shaped by who held power in publishing.

**2. Someday (published 1993), play by Drew Hayden Taylor (Ojibway, from Curve Lake First Nation, Ontario)**

Conditions: the Sixties Scoop: children taken from their families by child welfare workers and raised far away, often by non-Indigenous families. By the 1990s, many adults who had been taken were searching for their birth families.
Influence: at Christmastime in a fictional Ojibway community, Anne Wabung longs to see the daughter who was taken from her as a toddler about 35 years earlier. When they finally meet, neither woman's hopes are fully met. Taylor, known for his humour, uses comedy alongside heartbreak, showing humour as a form of resilience.

**3. Indian Horse (2012), novel by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe, from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, Ontario)**

Conditions: the residential school system, whose last federally run school closed in 1996. The novel was published while the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was hearing Survivors' testimony across Canada.
Influence: the novel is shaped as an adult's life story told for healing, echoing the importance of telling and being heard during the TRC. Hockey shows both joy and the racism Saul faces.

How historical and socio-political conditions influenced each text's content and form. Reading down each column shows the influence; reading across lets you compare.

Worked example

Let's compare how history influenced two texts

Compare how historical periods and socio-political conditions influenced Halfbreed (1973) and Indian Horse (2012).

Different periods: Halfbreed came out of the early 1970s, an era of activism when Indigenous voices were only beginning to reach mainstream publishers. Indian Horse came out during the TRC, when Canada was formally listening to Survivors.
Different conditions they respond to: Campbell's memoir responds to Métis land loss, poverty and racism; Wagamese's novel responds to residential schools and their lasting effects.
Form: Campbell chose memoir: her own true story, a direct act of testimony. Wagamese chose fiction told as a life story: a novel lets him create Saul, a character whose experiences reflect many Survivors' without being one person's record.
Similarity: both centre a first-person voice and both move through pain toward healing and identity. Both show that telling one's story is a powerful act.
Audience and reception: Campbell wrote for readers who mostly didn't know Métis history, and her original edition was cut. Wagamese wrote for a country that was, at least officially, ready to listen. The restored 2019 edition of Halfbreed shows how conditions for Indigenous voices have changed.

Both texts are acts of telling, but history shaped them differently: Halfbreed broke silence in the 1970s as a true memoir, while Indian Horse used fiction during the TRC era to tell a story many Survivors shared. Comparing them shows how who is heard has changed, and what has not.

How the texts relate to lived experiences today

These texts are about the past, but they connect to present lives:

Truth and reconciliation: the TRC released 94 Calls to Action in 2015. Since 2021, September 30 has been the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Many people also wear orange that day for Orange Shirt Day, which grew from Survivor Phyllis Webstad's story of the new orange shirt taken from her on her first day at residential school.
Families and child welfare: in 2017 the federal government reached a settlement with many Sixties Scoop survivors (First Nations and Inuit survivors; Métis and non-status survivors were not included in that agreement), and a 2019 federal law affirms the right of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities to make their own child and family services laws, which connects directly to Someday.
Identity and language: many people whose families were affected are reclaiming languages, names and cultural practices, supported by communities and, since 2019, by the federal Indigenous Languages Act.
Creativity today: First Nations, Métis and Inuit writers, playwrights, filmmakers and musicians are creating new work now, often for and with their communities.

Worked example

Let's relate a text to current lived experiences

How does Someday relate to the current lived experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis families?

The text: a mother hopes for reunion with a daughter taken decades earlier; the meeting doesn't fix everything.
Then: child welfare authorities often removed Indigenous children with little respect for their families, communities or cultures.
Now: many adults affected by the Sixties Scoop are still reconnecting with families, languages and Nations. The 2017 settlement and the 2019 child welfare law show public recognition and change, led by Indigenous communities.
Insight: the play's honest ending reflects a real truth: reunion doesn't erase loss. Healing is ongoing, and it happens in families and communities.

Someday relates to today because the effects of the Sixties Scoop are still being lived, and because communities are now asserting control over their own child and family services. The play's mix of humour and honesty mirrors the resilience of families who continue to reconnect.

Hands-on activity

Then and now: a comparison chart

You need: paper, a pencil, and, with a grown-up, reliable sources such as the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation website, your public library, or a local Indigenous friendship centre's public resources.

Make a chart with three columns: Text | Historical conditions | Connection to today.
Fill in a row for each text in this lesson.
With a grown-up, find one current news story (from a reliable source) about one of these topics: language revitalization, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, or Indigenous-led child and family services. Add it to your Connection to today column.
Write a paragraph comparing two of the texts: how did their different time periods shape what and how the creators wrote?
Reciprocity: find out whose traditional territory you live on, and how the Nation or Nations there are present and active today.

What to look for: accurate historical conditions, a news connection from a reliable source, a comparison of form as well as content, and respectful, present-tense language.

Your turn

What historical condition does Someday draw on?

Why is it significant that Indian Horse was published in 2012?

What happened to Halfbreed in 2019, and what does it suggest?

Compare the forms of Halfbreed and Indian Horse.

How does Drew Hayden Taylor use humour in a play about a painful history?

Name one way these histories connect to current lived experiences.

Why should you say First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are rather than were?

More practice: warm-up

When did the last federally run residential school close?

When did the TRC release its 94 Calls to Action?

What date is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

Which creator in this lesson is Métis?

What form is Someday?

More practice: on your own

Explain what socio-political conditions means, using the 1969 White Paper as an example.

How might the audience in 1973 differ from the audience in 2012 for a book about Indigenous experiences?

Why might a writer choose fiction rather than memoir to tell a story about residential schools?

What does the ending of Someday suggest about reunion after the Sixties Scoop?

Give one example of resilience connected to these texts.

Challenge

Write a comparison paragraph (6 to 8 sentences) on how history influenced all three texts, including both content and form.

Explain how the restored 2019 edition of Halfbreed connects to credibility, reliability and significance (Lesson 10).

Choose one current issue (language revitalization, child and family services, or the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) and explain how one text from this lesson helps you understand it better.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Someday by Drew Hayden Taylor draws on the history of...

Indian Horse was published during the time when...

What did the 2019 edition of Halfbreed add?

Which statement best compares the forms of Halfbreed and Indian Horse?

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on...

Which is the most accurate way to describe First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: Grade 9 students compare the ways in which historical periods, cultural experiences and socio-political conditions and events have influenced two or more texts by First Nations, Métis and Inuit creators, and how these relate to current lived experiences (C3.7). They explore identity and belonging in historical context (A3.2) and First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives (A3.3).

Please note: The lesson was written for this site and describes real texts without quoting them. Please read or watch the real works together when you can.

Reading and viewing advice: Halfbreed includes violence, sexual violence and addiction: for older teens, with an adult to talk to. Indian Horse (novel and 2017 film) includes abuse at a residential school: preview first. Someday deals with family loss and includes mature themes: preview first.

Sensitive topics: Residential schools and the Sixties Scoop caused deep, lasting harm, and many families live with the effects today. Keep explanations honest and simple, give your teen space for feelings, and check in afterward. If your family has a personal connection, you know best how to share. The Hope for Wellness Help Line (1-855-242-3310) offers support to Indigenous people across Canada, 24 hours a day.

Facts used: The federal residential school system expanded from the 1880s; the last federally run school closed in 1996. Many Métis families lost land after 1885. The Sixties Scoop took place mainly from the 1960s to the 1980s. The federal White Paper (1969) proposed ending Indian status and was withdrawn after strong opposition. Maria Campbell's Halfbreed was published in 1973; a restored edition with missing pages appeared in 2019. Drew Hayden Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation) wrote Someday, published in 1993, set in a fictional Ojibway community, about a mother whose daughter was taken as a toddler about 35 years earlier. Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse appeared in 2012. The TRC heard testimony from 2008 to 2015 and released 94 Calls to Action in 2015. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Sept. 30) has been observed federally since 2021; Orange Shirt Day grew from Phyllis Webstad's story. A Sixties Scoop settlement with First Nations and Inuit survivors was reached in 2017; a 2019 federal law (An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families) affirms Indigenous jurisdiction over child and family services; the Indigenous Languages Act was passed in 2019.