Graded Concept Application Exercise: Martha of the North
To consolidate your understanding of the effects of colonial and neo-colonial policies on First Nations and Inuit peoples in Canada, for your first graded concept application exercise, watch the required documentary, Marquise Lepage’s Martha of the North (2009), which describes the forced relocations of several Inuit families from Inukjuak, Northern Québec, to Grise Fiord, Ellesmere Island, and Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, in 1953. After watching the documentary, write a short essay answering the following questions. Note that to answer these questions and succeed on this assignment, you are strongly advised to watch the documentary more than once and take notes as you watch it.
In your own words and drawing on the textbook and the unit notes, explain the concept of holism and its limitations. Next, explain how the concept of holism would help account for the effects of the relocations of the Inuit from Northern Québec to the High Arctic. Drawing on the unit notes’ comments about the limits of holism, discuss what aspects of the Inuits’ experience holism might not account for.
To answer this first question, you will need to explain the following dimensions of the forced relocations. How were the relocations of Inuit families justified by the Canadian government? What do Inuit activists argue were the real reasons for the relocations? How did the policies of the Canadian government as well as the change in environment brought on by the relocations affect the physical and psychological health, social relations, and economic or subsistence practices of Inuit families? How did these various factors interrelate with and affect one another? Make sure to relate your answers to these questions to the concept of holism and its limits.
Your papers should take an essay form. In other words, they should include a brief introduction with a clear thesis statement explaining your central argument. Your paper must also be broken into separate paragraphs organized around one central sub-point clearly explained in a topic sentence that links back to your thesis statement.
Arguments from the unit notes and the textbook should be either paraphrased or cited using the Chicago Style author-date system found here (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html). References to the documentary can be made by citing the documentary with all bibliographic information at least once in a sentence in your essay, for example: In Marquise Lepage’s documentary, Martha of the North (2009). . .” After this first reference, you may cite the documentary by an abbreviated title, such as Martha of the North. Provide a reference for the documentary in your reference page as follows:
Lepage, Marquise. 2009. Martha of the North. Montreal, Canada: National Film Board of Canada.
Your paper should be 2-3 pages long, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, using a 12-point Times New Roman font.
See the grading rubric for further points on how to organize your papers.
This paper is worth 10% of your final grade.
Make sure to include your full name and student number in the title of your document and in the document itself.
Submit your papers to the instructor using the Dropbox.
