Glossary

Anthropology – is a form of study which aims at describing and understanding the customs, beliefs, languages, institutions, and life ways of peoples of the world.

Ethnography – is a form of anthropological research where you are describing what you see, hear, and experience while immersed in a cultural group or social activity. Researchers generally use writing, tape recording, photography, and film while studying and engaging with people.

First Nations – is a term used in Canada to refer to the Indigenous groups (except for Inuit, Inuvialuit, and Métis) that existed in North America before the arrival of European explorers. First Nations can refer to an individual who is Aboriginal, a single band, a cultural group, or to Aboriginal people in general. Although some apply this term to all Aboriginal people of Canada (Indians, Inuit, Inuvialuit, and Métis), many Aboriginal people prefer to be recognized by the First Nation or specific band to which they belong. Others like to be identified according to tribal or cultural grouping.

Historical documents – can be anything from photographs of your grandparents, to maps and books. There are often original documents that serve as proof of a certain period. Today it is common to categorize some kinds of stories and oral histories as historical documents. Museum collections are also a kind of historical document.

Historical thinking (Benchmarks) – your ability to think critically about the facts of past events in your life enables you to interpret, analyze, and use the information, rather than memorizing names, dates, and places.  Hence, you are using historical thinking.

Indigenous knowledge – is described as contextual, relational, storied, experiential, and holistic. A story, ritual, or song orally passed from one generation to another is an example of Indigenous knowledge, also known as traditional knowledge.  Indigenous knowledge can be passed on within a region or local community.

Indigenous people – are citizens of a large number of distinct and well-defined Aboriginal cultures and societies, once the sole occupants of the continents of North and South America. Various terms are associated with Aboriginal people, including Aboriginal, First Nations, First Peoples, and Indians, as well as individual tribal or community names. It must be noted that individual preferences may vary and should be respected when known. In Canada, this term applies to status and non-status Indians, Inuvialuit, Inuit, and Métis (as defined in the Constitution Act of 1982). It is also used in other parts of the world to refer to the first inhabitants in a given area.

Oral history – information about your family, friends, or events that was gained in conversation or oral communication generally. You may choose to use an audio recording, video recording or a transcription of the information you learned from several different perspectives, which can then be archived in a personal or public library as part of the historical record.

Oral tradition – differs from oral history, as it traditionally follows a set about objectives of what to include in a story being passed from one generation to another. Also, a person would traditionally be responsible for remembering and communicating the folklore of their community.

Potlatch – is a family or clan gathering of central importance among peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, where ancestors and recently deceased family members are honoured; family wealth in the forms of hereditary names, privileges, songs, and dances are passed on; marriages are witnessed; debts are repaid; family powers strengthened; and family status is enhanced. Potlatches are carried out in accordance with the laws and protocols of the culture of the host family. Although this form of cultural and family event is common to most Northwest Coast First Nations, each culture and family have their own specific ways of giving potlatches. Invited guests to potlatches have the responsibility to witness and remember all that takes place. For this obligation, guests are feasted and given gifts according to their social status and their relationships and contributions to the host families.

Primary source and secondary source – the diary where you record your thoughts, feelings, and goals is an example of an artifact that is a primary source for someone who wants to write your biography. If someone collects information about you from a film based on your life, for example, the film would not be directly from you, nor serve as a direct link to your personal information. The film would then be a secondary source. The facts and information may not be accurate in a secondary source, so care is needed when referencing these.

Regalia – is the ceremonial dress of specific First Nations individuals, groups, or families that shows who they are and from what family or culture they have descended. The types of dress and the decorative motifs on the regalia are the elements that distinguish each cultural group, and the individual families within it.

Reverse engineering – if you take apart your camera, to understand how it functions and as a first step to build another camera then you are engaging in reverse engineering.  You can reverse engineer a device, object, or system to understand and analyse how it functions and to learn how to build it.

Vessel – is a term used for containers that hold something. It can include watercraft–usually those larger than a rowboat.

Watershed – A watershed is an area of land where all of the water that is under it will eventually drain and become part of the same body of water.