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First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies

NAC1O

Expressions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Cultures

This course explores various arts disciplines (dance, drama, installation and performance art, media arts, music, storytelling, utilitarian or functional art, visual arts), giving students the opportunity to create, present, and analyse art works, including integrated art works/ productions, that explore or reflect First Nations , Métis , and Inuit perspectives and cultures. Students will examine the interconnected relationships between art forms and individual and cultural identities, histories, values, protocols, and ways of knowing and being. They will demonstrate innovation as they learn and apply art-related concepts, methods, and conventions, and acquire skills that are transferable beyond the classroom. Students will use the creative process and responsible practices to explore solutions to creative arts challenges.

Tuition

$580

One Ontario credit, enrolled online.

Grade
9
Credit
1.0
Delivery
Online

No prerequisite. Open to all eligible students.

Tuition

$580

About this course

This course explores various arts disciplines (dance, drama, installation and performance art, media arts, music, storytelling, utilitarian or functional art, visual arts), giving students the opportunity to create, present, and analyse art works, including integrated art works/ productions, that explore or reflect First Nations , Métis , and Inuit perspectives and cultures. Students will examine the interconnected relationships between art forms and individual and cultural identities, histories, values, protocols, and ways of knowing and being. They will demonstrate innovation as they learn and apply art-related concepts, methods, and conventions, and acquire skills that are transferable beyond the classroom. Students will use the creative process and responsible practices to explore solutions to creative arts challenges.

What you'll learn

  1. Create and present work across visual art, music, media, drama, dance, and storytelling, grounded in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artistic traditions.

  2. Examine how these art forms connect to identity, history, values, protocols, and distinct ways of knowing and being.

  3. Analyze finished works, including your own, using the concepts and vocabulary of arts criticism.

Curriculum expectations

The overall expectations set by the Ontario curriculum, grouped by strand.

A. Artistic Expression and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit World Views

  • A1demonstrate an understanding of the spiritual interconnectedness of people, the land, and the natural world in First Nations , Métis , and Inuit world views, analysing how spiritual and personal connections to the land are expressed through various art forms and arts disciplines
  • A2demonstrate an understanding of the role of spiritual, individual, gender, and collective identities in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit world views, analysing how identity is expressed through various art forms and arts disciplines
  • A3demonstrate an understanding of the role of sovereignty , self-governance , and nationhood in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit world views, analysing how self-determination is expressed through various art forms and arts disciplines

B. Creating and Presenting

  • B1apply the creative process individually and/or collaboratively to create art works, including integrated art works/productions, that draw on their exploration of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives to express their own personal world views, histories, or cultures
  • B2apply key elements and principles from various arts disciplines, as reflected in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art forms, when creating, modifying, and presenting art works, including integrated art works/productions
  • B3use a variety of traditional and contemporary materials, tools, techniques, and technologies to create art works, including integrated art works/ productions, that demonstrate creativity
  • B4present and promote art works, including integrated art works/ productions, for a variety of purposes, respecting First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultural protocols and using appropriate technologies and conventions

C. Foundations

  • C1demonstrate an understanding of, and use proper terminology when referring to, elements, principles, and other key concepts related to various arts disciplines, as reflected in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art forms
  • C2demonstrate an understanding of past and present themes and influences associated with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art making, as reflected in a variety of art works/ productions
  • C3demonstrate an understanding of conventions and responsible practices associated with various arts disciplines, and with art making within First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures, and apply these practices when experiencing, analysing, creating, and presenting art works/productions
  • C4demonstrate an understanding of the critical analysis process by applying it to the study of art works/productions from various arts disciplines, including their own works, the works of their peers, and works by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists

D. Art and Society

  • D1demonstrate an understanding of how past and present First Nations, Métis, and Inuit art forms reflect the societies and periods in which they were created
  • D2demonstrate an understanding of how art making and art works can promote renewal and healing in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities and reconciliation and dialogue with non-Indigenous communities
  • D3describe the skills developed through creating, presenting, and analysing art works that explore First Nations, Métis, and Inuit perspectives, including integrated art works/productions, and identify various opportunities to pursue artistic endeavours beyond the classroom

How you'll study

DeliveryOnline
Delivered fully online through Vaughan College's learning platform, with live teacher support. Online students can also call into the live in-person classroom through Google Classroom anytime they want extra guidance.
Fast-trackAvailable
Complete the credit in a condensed schedule. Useful for upgrading, course recovery, or summer acceleration.
Credit value1.0 OSSD credit
Counts toward the 30 credits required for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

Assessment and evaluation

Every Vaughan College course follows Ontario’s Growing Success policy. Assessment is continuous: teachers gather evidence of learning through observation, conversation, and student work, and give feedback that helps a student improve before the work is graded.

Evaluation — the judgement that produces a mark — measures achievement of the Ontario curriculum expectations across four categories: Knowledge and Understanding, Thinking, Communication, and Application. A student’s grade reflects how well they have met the expectations, with greatest weight given to their most consistent and most recent work.

The final grade

The final percentage grade is based on two parts. Seventy percent comes from work completed throughout the course, weighted toward more recent and more consistent achievement. The remaining thirty percent comes from a final evaluation near the end of the course — an examination, performance, essay, or other culminating task suited to the subject.

Grades are reported against the provincial standard, where Level 3 (70 to 79 percent) represents the standard expected of students at that grade. A grade of 50 percent or higher earns the credit.

The report card

Achievement is reported on the Ontario Provincial Report Card, which records the percentage grade and the credit earned for each course. Grades for completed credits carry forward onto the Ontario Student Transcript, the official record used for graduation and post-secondary admission.

The report card also reports six learning skills and work habits, separately from the academic grade: responsibility, organisation, independent work, collaboration, initiative, and self-regulation. These describe how a student approaches their learning, and universities and colleges do read them.

Considerations for program planning

The Ontario curriculum asks every course to account for a set of cross-curricular considerations — the ways a subject connects to students’ broader development and to the world beyond the classroom. They shape how each course is planned and taught.

Students with special education needs

Teachers plan for the full range of learners. Where a student has an Individual Education Plan, the accommodations, modifications, or alternative expectations it sets out are built into how the course is taught and assessed, so the student can demonstrate learning in the way that works for them.

English language learners

Students who are still developing their English receive scaffolding — adjusted materials, extra time, and language support — while working toward the same curriculum expectations. Assessment separates what a student knows and can do from their stage of English acquisition.

Environmental education

Wherever the subject allows, coursework draws connections to the environment and sustainability, helping students understand how the topics they study relate to the natural world and their responsibilities within it.

Healthy relationships

Every course contributes to a school culture built on respect. Students practise the communication and collaboration skills that underpin healthy, equitable relationships with peers and teachers.

Equity and inclusive education

Materials and discussion reflect a range of experiences and perspectives so every student sees themselves in the work. An inclusive classroom holds high expectations for all learners and treats difference as a strength.

Financial literacy

Where it fits the subject, students apply mathematical and analytical thinking to real financial questions — budgeting, credit, and informed decision-making — so the skills carry into life after graduation.

Literacy, mathematical literacy, and inquiry skills

Reading, writing, oral communication, numeracy, and structured inquiry are developed in every subject, not only in English and mathematics. These are the cross-curricular skills that make learning in every other course possible.

Critical thinking and critical literacy

Students learn to weigh evidence, question assumptions, and interpret what they read, watch, and hear — distinguishing fact from opinion and recognising point of view and bias.

The role of the school library

Library and information resources support research and independent reading. Students learn to locate, evaluate, and use sources responsibly, building the research habits that post-secondary study assumes.

Information and communications technology

Technology is used to support learning and to build the digital skills students need, alongside an understanding of how to work online safely, responsibly, and with attention to their own well-being.

Education and career/life planning

Coursework helps students connect what they are learning to their goals beyond high school, so each credit is a step in a deliberate plan rather than an isolated requirement.

Cooperative education and experiential learning

Where a subject supports it, hands-on and experiential learning connect classroom study to real settings, giving students a clearer sense of how the material is used in work and in the community.

Health and safety

In any course involving activity, equipment, or materials, safe practice is taught and expected. Students learn the procedures that protect themselves and others.

Ethics

Many subjects raise questions of right and wrong. Students learn to examine ethical issues thoughtfully, consider more than one position, and support a view with reasons — including academic honesty in their own work.

Teaching and learning at Vaughan College

Courses are taught in small classes, which lets teachers adapt to how each student learns. A single lesson might combine direct instruction, discussion, independent practice, collaborative work, and hands-on or inquiry-based tasks, chosen to suit the material and the students in the room.

Students receive regular, specific feedback and can move at a pace that fits their goals, whether they are working ahead, recovering a credit, or balancing school with other commitments. The aim is that every student understands not just what they are learning, but why it matters and where it leads.

In-class learning, from anywhere

Be in the classroom from anywhere in the world.

Some of our online courses run alongside a live class in our Vaughan classroom, and which ones changes each semester. When a course offers it, you’ll see a Live now tag on the course or a Hybrid toggle on its page. Turn it on and you can join the real in-person lesson through Google Classroom instead of a separate online-only section, with the same teacher as it happens. Add it when you enrol or anytime after; in-person students can join the same way on the days they study from home.

How it works

Next Step

Ready to add this credit?

Add the course to your cart for enrolment, or speak with our admissions team about pathway sequencing, prerequisites, and credit equivalency from a previous school.

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