Module 1 The Original Peoples of Canada

Indigenous Population: descendants of the people who first moved into a territory or were discovered there Canada’s earliest known inhabitants are known as Aboriginals: Native peoples or First peoples (Indians). First Nations is the preferred term to describe the group as a whole.

How did they get the name “Indians”? In 1542, Christopher Columbus sales the ocean blue Columbus didn’t know North American People exist When he reaches Canada, saw dark people, and therefore thought he was in India = Indians

Métis: people of mixed racial origin Result of marriages between First Nations women and white men Not the other way around Population of white women was low, white women couldn’t marry native men

How Did the Natives Get Here: Land Bridge Theory The aboriginal people of North America are believed to have arrived on this continent some years ago after crossing the Bering Straight. They did so because they were hunters following their food source (mammoths, mastodons, elk and camel). At the time there was an ice age and sea levels dropped, creating a land bridge between Asia and North America. As the ice caps began to melt, a land corridor opened up and the hunters moved down the corridor to reach the south.

Asia Pacific Ocean NorthAmerica Bering Strait Europe

Crossing the Bering Strait

Watercraft Hypothesis Some Aboriginals moved across Pacific coast from Eastern Asia through Alaska to the west coast of North America. Sea provided food, warmer than the corridor

Conceptions of the World Mother Earth is very important. Had to be respected. Used everything in nature for all their needs: land, water, trees, plants, animals, and fish Collective Ownership: individual members had no individual ownership. Belonged to everybody, anyone could use it. Spirituality: Supernatural Spirits (Manitous) controlled the world around them, were part of everything in the natural world. Elders: older men or women, passed on traditions orally, advised the young Shaman: medicine man, interprets dreams and visions Oral Tradition: No system of writing, all knowledge and wisdom passed down orally

The First Arrivals in North America Iroquoian: Natives of the St-Lawrence Lowlands- Great Lakes (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga Algonkian: Natives of the Canadian Shield (Cree, Ojibwa) Inuit: Northern people (Innu)

Where did they settle??? Inuit –settled in the northern part of Quebec Algonquians –settled in the Canadian Shield Iroquoians –settled in the St. Lawrence Lowlands

Iroquoians Farmers: Grew crops during long summers Plenty of food, berries, nuts and rice were gathered Fishing: spring and fall Hunting: fall and winter, deer and bear, traps for smaller animals Sedentary: remained in one place for a long time Villages: longhouses, people in each, palisade or wooden stockade surrounding the village of longhouses Matriarchy: women were the head of families Oral traditions

Where they settled Inuit Algonkians Iroquoians

Algonkians Hunters and gatherers Short growing seasons, long cold winters, short summers Nomadic: moved around often in search of food Men hunted moose and caribou. Fishing was important Few possessions Shelter had to be easy to transport: Wigwams and teepees/ tents Patriarchy: men were the leaders Believed in spirits Oral traditions

Innuits Last aboriginal group to arrive Fishers and hunters Vegetation was not good, weather was very harsh, land could not be cultivated Lived close to water In winter, caught fish and seals (provided food, oil, fur and bones) In summer, collected and stored as much as possible. Caught salmon and char, walrus and seals, caribou. Collected berries. Shelter included tents in summer and snow houses or igloos in winter. Warm clothing was essential Nomadic: moved onto ice in winter, and closer to coast in summer followed migration of animals Patriarchy: small groups led by older male Oral traditions and spirits

Algonkians vs. Iroquoians

Help Remember the difference between Iroquoian and Algonkian MISS atriarchy ◦ Matriarchy roquois ◦ Iroquois edentary ◦ Sedentary t. Laurence Lowlands ◦ St. Laurence Lowlands Longhouses Longhouses Agriculture Agriculture PANN atriarchyPatriarchy Algonquian Nomadic Northern Quebec /Canadian Shield Teepee (Wigwams) Hunting and Fishing

Inuit's PINN Patriarchy Inuit's Nomadic Near Water: Northern Quebec Tents, snow houses and igloos Fishers and hunters

Trade and Alliances Subsistence Economy: self-sufficient, grew and hunted everything on their own, shared between their members. Worked together. Each group provides for their own needs: food, shelter, clothing Trade between Algonkians and Iroquoians Barter: exchange goods with no money War over land and hunting, had boundaries

Canada’s Aboriginal People today Have maintained their cultural identity Moved to areas reserved for their use only Reserve: land set aside for the exclusive use of Status Indians Band: community of Indians living on a reserve 65 languages spoken: 53 in danger of extinction, starting to lose culture Social Problems include transportation: expensive, infrastructure: inadequate water filtration, unemployment: job are scarce, youth suicides, crime: drunkenness, fighting, drugs, rape, conjugal violence, and theft.