Introduction

Introduction to Indigenous History and Culture for EAP was commissioned by the English for Academic Purposes Program, Liberal Arts Department at Georgian College in 2024, Barrie, Canada. It is meant for the learners in the program and is used for the elective course EAPC1014 titled Indigenous History and Culture. It is a textbook that can be accessible to our learners, simple to understand, and convenient to use. It is also part of Georgian College’s Strategic Plan to “expand and enrich curriculum to reflect Indigenous perspectives, increasing reciprocity among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people” (Georgian College, n.d., p. 9).

This project was the second OER for Sari Martin and Virginia McHardy, and the first time Lisa Henderson created work for an online Pressbook. Given that the course was only 21 hours in total, it became a challenging endeavor to accomplish due to the richness and diversity of Indigenous cultures and history. The content had to be vetted and compressed, as well as align with the course outcomes for EAP. The aim was to create an introductory elective course that touched upon many important topics but didn’t oversimplify the complexities of Indigenous cultures and related contexts. However, while preparing for the weekly lessons, it was discovered that since there was an overwhelming amount of Indigenous history and culture, a “Part 2” would have to be created in the future. This OER is truly an introductory text that does not dive deep into the many layers of Indigenous history.

During the whole process, Sari, Lisa and Virginia read, attended workshops and presentations and joined several Indigenous events. They discovered there is much more to learn, so it will be a lifelong journey. Acknowledgements go out to Jen Booth, Georgian College Librarian, Tiffany McCue, Indigenization Initiative Lead at Georgian College, and Michele O’Brien, Program Coordinator for Indigenous Studies at Georgian for all the consultations, advice and support. They were both very accommodating and quick to respond to the many questions and comments throughout the months of this project.

Chi-Miigwetch!