CBC Archives

Have students identify what they know about the relationship between Canada and its Aboriginal people. Record their thoughts on the board and mediate any discussion.

In small groups, have students look on a Canadian news Web site (such as canoe.ca) for a recent article about an issue affecting Aboriginal people. Have each group summarize its article and present its findings to the class.

Divide the students into groups of two or three. Have each group browse the media clips about the Pope’s visit to Fort Simpson and make notes on the important facts and points in the clips. As a class summarize the Pope’s thoughts regarding Canada’s Aboriginal people and his overall attitude towards their plight and history.

Remind the students of the Pope’s call for Aboriginal self-governance during his 1984 visit. Discuss this concept with the class in light of the stories that they explored in the preceding section.

Divide the class in four groups and assign each group a topic from the list below.

1. Voters Choose a N.W.T. Split
2. Dene Oppose Nunavut Boundaries
3. One Step Closer to Nunavut
4. Happy Nunavut Day

Direct the groups to the Creation of Nunavut topic in the Politics and Economy category of the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web . Have each group watch its respective media clip and prepare a short presentation for the rest of the class. Have the groups present their findings in the order indicated in the list of presentation topics. How does the information they found relate to what they learned about the Pope's views on the Aboriginal people and on Aboriginal self-governance? To what degree do students think the Pope's visit impacted on the eventual creation of Nunavut?

In role as an Aboriginal person, students can write a journal entry describing how he or she felt on the first Nunavut Day. Alternatively, students, in role as an Aboriginal person, can write a journal entry describing how her or she felt in 1984 when the Pope did not visit Port Simpson, and then in 1987 when he finally did visit.