Countering Stereotypes of Indigenous Peoples - Microcredential Series

Foundations of Stereotypes: Systems Thinking

NOTE: This course is a prerequisite to registering for Representations: Application and Collaboration and/or Systems: Leadership and Institutional Change

Using introductory psychology and critical Indigenous Studies, this microcredential introduces learners to the foundations of anti-Indigenous stereotypes in North America. Stereotypes are not simply offensive insults, they also reveal crucial information about how Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples experience our society differently, both historically and today.

This microcredential outlines how the brain develops and perpetuates stereotypes within North America’s settler colonial context and covers basic steps to interrupt those stereotypes when they arise in diverse situations. While the course covers some of the most prominent stereotypes, this microcredential includes some foundational stereotypes and concepts that are essential to understand before moving forward.

The material outlines the social and political functions of anti-Indigenous stereotypes, essentially exploring who is invested in these stereotypes and concludes by deconstructing two significant stereotypes. First, that the Canadian State is a benevolent entity, and second, that Indigenous peoples get everything for free and are largely unemployed.

The sub-sections thread history into the present day to give learners a comprehensive presentation of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships to stereotyping.

Representations: Application and Collaboration

This microcredential examines historical and contemporary representations of Indigenous peoples in mainstream media, pop culture, and social discourse. These lectures connect how settlers have chosen to portray Indigenous peoples: as exotic, savage, noble, dehumanized, threatening, disappearing, one with nature, etc. with the real world impacts of those portrayals – including violence against Indigenous women, psychological harm, appropriation, and the justification of ongoing settler colonialism.

Each sub-section further explores how Indigenous creators, scholars, and activists are pushing back against stereotypical representations, and how students can support this work and/or make interventions of their own.