Awareness of Aboriginal peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador: Memorial's first‐year students (2013) speak

Abstract

Key Messages When invited to identify what they know about Aboriginal people, Memorial students reveal racism and stereotypes, and cannot describe the specificity and diversity of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Those able to perform best on our test tend to be less prejudiced. Although the students perform badly on our test, most consider it a good measure of their knowledge.

What do first‐year university students in Newfoundland and Labrador know about Aboriginal peoples and topics?

“…Recent research has demonstrated that culturally relevant pedagogy that generates teaching, curricula, and texts in which students see themselves, their experiences, and their history fosters engaged learners (Ladson-Billings 1998. Our findings here, in the Queen's University pilot study (Godlewska et al 2013), and in our qualitative analysis of the Memorial University data (Godlewska et al 2017b, this issue) also suggest non-Aboriginal students do not see Aboriginal people, cultures, or histories as part of their own landscape.…”

“…This sense of Indigenous people vanishing comes from many sources, including abiding 19 th ‐century ideology, well‐meaning concern for Indigenous cultural survival, perhaps a general sense of ecological decline in which Indigenous people tend to be clumped, and a more troubling sense of cultural superiority combined with a survival of the fittest mentality—all reinforced in the curriculum. This is discussed further in our analysis of the text responses to the questionnaire (Godlewska et al , this issue).…”

“…Even so 13.0% maintained that some form of full payment of post-secondary education was provided. These results suggest that there is a sense of Aboriginal rights as privilege, especially with regard to education, rather than as based in treaty and constitutional obligations (more evidence of this in the textual responses, see Godlewska et al 2017b, this issue). The school system is supporting and promoting that prejudice (Godlewska et al 2017a), and because students appear to strongly believe what they are taught in school, education at all levels has an important role to play in addressing prejudice, misinformation, and general unawareness about Aboriginal people.…”

“…The misinformation and racist characterization present in the curriculum and texts go some way towards explaining the powerful prejudices of the first‐year Memorial University students who responded to the questionnaire. These students are arguably among the most interested and engaged by the topic because they not only responded, but also took the time to complete the questionnaire (Godlewska et al , this issue). School curricula, texts, and classrooms may be particularly important in Newfoundland and Labrador, as approximately 85% of students enrolled at Memorial University graduated from a high school in the province.…”

The Impact of Indigenous Identity and Treatment Seeking Intention on the Stigmatization of Substance Use

“…One of the biggest concerns regarding the modern cultural suppression of Indigenous peoples in Canada is related to a blatant lack of understanding among the general population regarding the lives and history of Indigenous peoples, which in turn hinders public knowledge of the challenges specifically faced by Indigenous populations today. This knowledge gap was showcased by the results of The 2013 Aboriginal Awareness Survey conducted to assess knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit in Canada among three hundred and ten first year university students in Newfoundland and Labrador (Godlewska et al, 2017b;Godlewska, Schaefli, Massey, Freake, & Rose, 2017c). The questionnaire examined what the students have learned about Indigenous peoples, where they learned this information, and their social attitudes towards these groups.…”