1. The First Occupants (circa 1500)
Chapter 1
The First Occupants
(circa 1500)

2. Let’s start with a video:

3. Today in Quebec First arrived in North America about 30 000 years ago.
Spread out over the territory & gradually became distinct cultures
(ex. Algonquins, Crees, Mohawks, Innu, Inuit)
Major issue today for them: to reconcile their ancestral cultures with today’s world.
Today in Quebec

5. Look at p. 4 of your textbook (Panoramas A).
What do you notice about the location of the different Aboriginal nations in Quebec?
Why do you think this is?

6. Indian Act The federal Indian Act (1876)
Federal government assigns territories, called reserves, for the Aboriginal people to live on
The reserves are therefore owned by the Canadian government, but managed by the band councils (political institutions of the different nations)
¾ of Aboriginal people in Quebec live on reserves
This act restricts the Aboriginal people economically and politically (not free to do what they want)
As a ‘compromise’, this act also grants Aboriginal people a special status.
Ex. Those that live on reserves are exempt from paying taxes
Indian Act

8. Native Political Institutions
Each nation has their own political system and institution.
For example, the Crees have the:
Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee)
Native Political Institutions

9. The Grand Council has twenty members:
The Grand Council of the Crees is the political body that represents the approximately 18,000 Crees or “Eeyouch” (in 2012).
The Grand Council has twenty members:
a Grand Chief and Deputy-Grand Chief elected at large by the Eeyouch
the chiefs elected by each of the nine Cree communities
one other representative from each community

11. Some Demographic Facts
High birth rate
Population with a majority of young people
Some Demographic Facts

12. Their life expectancy is 6 years less than the national average
Their suicide rate (youth) is 3-4 times higher that the national average
More than 60% do NOT complete high school (compared to 31% in the rest of Canada)
They have 3 times higher unemployment rate than the rest of Canada
Approx. 40% of their families live in poverty
It’s a hard life…

13. ensure the respect for Native rights and treaty rights
To help solve some of these problems, the Aboriginal nations are trying to:
ensure the respect for Native rights and treaty rights
have political autonomy
encourage the youth to value their heritage, history and culture.
Ex. NAIG (North American Indigenous Games)
They are working with federal and provincial governments.

15. Question for you: What do you think their life was like before the Europeans arrived to North America?