Vision and mission

• Document and make available the views of First Peoples on their own history, past and present, and to contribute to the education of younger generations.
• Value First Peoples' perspectives and stories for effective transformation of history teaching.

The Canadian history taught in most schools carries certain persistent prejudices and retains important gaps in relation to the First Peoples. The project History in Canada: First Peoples Perspectives / Histoire au Canada. First Peoples Perspectives aims both to increase access to the stories and perspectives of First Peoples themselves and to position Indigenous perspectives and experiences as valid reference points and fundamental sources of cultural identity in Canada. This tool, First Peoples Confluence, proposes an innovative approach in the sharing of knowledge and teachings associated with historical and contemporary realities (see the history of the project).

Our approach consists of bringing together strong teams of Indigenous community members and their living memories, school networks and their partners. This posture recognises that the expertise of use and fieldwork in Indigenous communities is both legitimate and fundamental to addressing history. This work of truth allows access to erased narratives, amplifies the life experiences of marginalized members, communities, and groups, and provides access to unpublished or little-known content and methodologies developed by the First Peoples of various nations in Canada and elsewhere. This vast undertaking rests on the commitment of the nations themselves to their narrative sovereignty in this process of historical affirmation and self-determination.

Indeed, the collection tool developed here offers new capabilities to First Peoples to preserve, archive, study, produce and disseminate their own resources while keeping full control over the content offered and the ways in which these stories and perspectives are disseminated. The dissemination of this unprecedented body of work and the educational materials presented generates a more inclusive and respectful history of First Peoples in Canada. The proposed tools and social technologies thus make it possible for communities, students and educators to participate in the decolonisation of historical narratives and in the production of a more complete vision of the different historical interpretations in the country.

The content offered is diverse and complementary. There is a variety of content, from images of material heritage to oral histories to pedagogical methods. We offer participatory and interactive academic tools that will contribute to the transformation of First Peoples history teaching in the classroom and more broadly in society. Everyone will be exposed to a diversity of historical narratives and interpretations that will allow them to look critically at the past and their own perspective to better understand the history and reality of First Peoples.