Lesson Four

What are you Anyway?

Outcomes addressed:
Determine the complexity of identity for people in general, and for Aboriginal people in particular.
Analyze the effects of external labels on Aboriginal peoples.


Instructions:
Read the terminology listed below. Highlight key words in each of the definitions so that they are simplified and more clear for your
understanding of the meaning.

Terminology

The following definitions are taken from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Definitions, March 2000. Reproduced with the
permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2002.

Aboriginal Peoples: The descendants of the original inhabitants of North America. The Canadian Constitution recognizes
three groups of Aboriginal people- Indian, Metis and Inuit. These three separate peoples with unique heritages,
languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.

Indian: A term that describes all the Aboriginal people in Canada who are not Metis or Inuit. Indian Peoples are one of the
groups of people recognized as Aboriginal in the Constitution Act, 1982.

There are there legal definitions that apply to Indians in Canada: Status Indians, Non-Status Indians and Treaty Indians.

Status Indian: An Indian person who is registered under the Indian Act. The
act sets out the requirements for determining who is a status Indian [ex: 6(1) or
6(2)]

Non-Status Indian: An Indian person who is not registered as an Indian under
the Indian Act. This may be because his or her ancestors were never
registered, or because he or she lost Indian status under former provisions of
the Indian Act.

Treaty Indian: A status Indian who belongs to a First Nation what signed a treaty with the Crown.

First Nation: A term that came into common usage in the 1970s to replace the word Indian. Although the term First
Nations is widely used, no legal definition exists. Among its uses, the term First Nations peoples refers to the Indian
people in Canada, both Status and Non-Status.

Many First Nations people have adopted the term First Nation to replace the word band in the name of their community.
[For instance, Fishing Lake Indian Band is now known as Fishing Lake First Nation].


(Lesson Four Continued)
Instructions:
Read the short story, So What are You, Anyway? by Lawrence Hill. Read through the questions before reading the story so that
you know what to focus on while reading. Once youre finished reading the story, answer the questions below.

1) Summarize what happens to Carole on her plane trip. Write your summary in point form and in the order the events
occurred. In your summary include the 5Wand H (who, what, when, where, why and how) about what happened. Your
goal is to summarize the story between 5 and 10 points.










2) Why do you think Henry Norton and his wife behave the way they do with Carole?







3) How would you have reacted had you been a passenger on the plane and witnessed the Nortons treatment towards
Carole? Explain your response.







4) Do you think much has changed in relation to stereotypical attitudes in Canadian society since 1970? Explain your
response.