1. Early Years of Independence People of the Prairies

2. Who First Lived in the Prairie Region?  First Nations lived in the Prairie region for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Their way of life was very different from the Europeans in the East.  The expansion to the West would bring many changes to the lives of the First Nations people

3. The First Nations People and ways of life  First Nations people had a deep connection to the land and a respect for the natural world.  They had many legends revolving around people’s responsibility to preserve the environment.  Each First Nation group evolved differently  Lifestyles were dependent on the region, environment, and resources that were available.  In Southern Alberta there were three distinctly different groups.

5.  Prairie First Nations were NOMADIC people, meaning they moved wherever they could find resources they needed.  As a result, they developed a close knowledge of nature and animal life. This would be a key feature of their culture.

6.  Roles were commonly assigned by gender.  Men – Hunters and Trappers  Women – Gatherers and Made clothing or tents  The Blackfoot were regarded for their high- quality pemmican. They traded with groups further north where bison were not common.  In return they received antelope and caribou hides

7. European Contact  The first contact between Europeans and the Blackfoot people took place around 1754  Alexander Henday (an HBC explorer) tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Blackfoot to trade with the company  The Blackfoot felt they had everything they needed trading locally  As the expansion west continued, that eventually changed

8. The Horse  The wild horse lived in North America until them became extinct about 10 000 years ago  They were re-introduced when the Spanish began exploring Mexico in the 1520’s  There moved northward through trading and escape  The First Nations captured and tamed some of them, using them to assist in hunting and trading

9. Blackfoot Confederacy  The Blackfoot Confederacy was an alliance between several different groups or ‘Clans’ of Blackfoot people. Mostly a military alliance, it was greatly feared by its enemies on the Prairies. It was in place and actually controlled much of the Prairie region before European contact.

10. The Métis  The Métis were descendants of European fur traders and First nations. By 1750, they had a large enough population to be recognized as a separate group of people.

11.  They were different than the French and First nations: Bilingual: spoke French and Cree or Blackfoot Religious: Roman Catholics, but celebrated Aboriginal traditions Both farmers and hunters

12. They were different than the Eastern Settlers as well

13. Time to Think!  Read pg H 77 from the text as a class:  “Metis Culture and Lifestyle”.  In pairs, discuss Q#2 in THINKING it Over ( bottom, right corner of the page ).