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Grade 5 · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 7

Learning from the Past

Past wrongs, apologies, reconciliation

What your child practises

An age-appropriate, factual look at the Chinese Head Tax, the Komagata Maru, the internment of Japanese Canadians and residential schools, with a focus on apologies, redress and reconciliation. No graphic detail.

NWT Curriculum learning standard: Past discriminatory government policies and actions, such as the Chinese Head Tax, the Komagata Maru incident, residential schools, and internments

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Put these events in order, oldest first.

    • 💵The Chinese Head Tax begins
    • 🕊️Canada apologizes for the Chinese Head Tax
    • 🧡The first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
    • 🏚️Japanese Canadians are forced from the BC coast

  2. Question 2

    During the First World War, thousands of people, many of them Ukrainian Canadians, were interned. What does 'interned' mean?

    • sent on holidays
    • given free land
    • held in camps because of where they or their families came from
    • hired as office interns

  3. Question 3

    About how long were the passengers kept on the ship in Vancouver's harbour?

    The Komagata Maru

    In May 1914, a ship called the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver's harbour. It carried 376 passengers from India, which was then ruled by Britain. Most were Sikhs, and others were Muslims and Hindus. As British subjects, many believed they had a right to come to Canada.

    But Canada had a rule that immigrants must arrive by a 'continuous journey' from their home country. There was no direct ship route from India to Canada, so the rule was really a way to keep people from India out.

    The passengers were kept on board for about two months while they waited. Only 24 were allowed to stay. In July 1914, the ship was forced to leave and sail back to India.

    In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in the House of Commons for what the government did. Today, a memorial in Vancouver helps people remember.

    • about two months
    • about two days
    • about two hours
    • about two years

  4. Question 4

    In which year did the last federally run residential school close?

    • 1996
    • 1945
    • 1920
    • 1867

  5. Question 5

    Was it a discriminatory policy, or a step toward making things right? Tap an item, then tap its basket.

    Sort into: ⛔ discriminatory policy · 🕊️ step toward making things right

    • 🗣️the 2016 apology for the Komagata Maru
    • 🕊️the 2008 apology for residential schools
    • 💵the Chinese Head Tax
    • 🤝the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement
    • 🏚️forcing Japanese Canadians from their homes
    • 🏫the residential school system

  6. Question 6

    Most passengers on the Komagata Maru in 1914 were people from…

    🚢
    • Japan
    • China
    • France
    • India, most of them Sikhs

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