Chapter 1: Aboriginal Societies

1. Chapter 1: Aboriginal Societies

2. Culture • A way of being that is shared by a group of people. • Includes: • Knowledge • Experiences • Values • All shared by a group

3. Examples of culture • Languages • Relationship with nature • Government • What do you think are elements of Alberta culture?

4. Pluralistic Society • A society made up of various groups • Groups maintain their own identities, ideas, cultures and ways of seeing the world • We respect and value the individual and collective opinions and identities of all

5. First Nations We’ll Look At: • Mi’kmaq (MIG-mah) • Haudenosaunee (hah-duh-nuh-SAH-nee) • Anishinabe (a-nih-shih-NAH-bee) • These are the first nations to come into contact with the Europeans

6. Activity: Values and Beliefs • Look at page 5 in the text, there are examples of the values and beliefs of various First Nations groups. • With a partner, examine one of the quotations. • Question: Are these values represented in Canadian society? Give an example.

7. What’s wrong with the picture? • On page 6 in your text there is a picture of a Haudenosaunee village – can you spot the problems? • What does this tell us about bias when it comes to history?

8. Diversity • How did the First Nations cultures develop? • The Natural World

9. Core Values • Important ideas or beliefs about how people should live • Many First Nations peoples shared values, despite having different cultures • Creator • Natural world • Themselves

10. Values • People are not separate from nature or from the non-living world. Everything on earth is connected to everything else • Wisdom and experience of the Elders is highly valued; deserve respect • A spiritual world exists • People must live in harmony with each other and in balance with nature • WHAT DO THESE MEAN?

11. Indigenous • Original people of the land • Each First Nations group had unique beliefs about how the earth was created • Convey this message through traditional teachings • Pg. 9 – Mi’kmaq traditional teachings

12. This statue is of Kluscap (or Glooscap). It is located near Truro, Nova Scotia. Notice anything about the women in the teaching? (page 9)

13. The Elders • Most respected members of the community • Help others make decisions • Language, traditions, ceremonies, laws and skills and histories are passed on through the elders • “It takes a village to raise a child” • Elders continue to play an important role...why do you think?

14. Legends • Page 11 in your book has an example of a Swampy Cree legend • Are there any legends that are passed on through your family?

15. Petroglyphs (Mi’kmaq) This story illustrates two women who married stars. The Story of Jumping Mouse http://www.shunpiking.com/mikmaq/story-teller.htm

16. Ethnocentric Europeans • Judging other cultures and ideas according to European values • Example? • Christopher Columbus thought he reached India when he landed in North America, so he dubbed those people “Indians”

17. First Nations Europeans

18. Recognized Groups

19. The Mi’kmaq • Live on the East Coast; therefore they made first contact with the Europeans • Hunter-Gatherer society (hunters, fishers, gatherers) • Lived in small villages of extended families called clans; helped society to cooperate • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvjsi4A4aDg

20. Mi’kmaq and Nature • Humans are equal to everything in nature; we’re not separate from nature • Treated all living things with respect (didn’t destroy animals unless they needed to); never took more from nature than they needed

21. Mi’kmaq Government • Style of government allowed people to live harmoniously • Each clan had a leader called a sagamaw (a good hunter and knew how to search for game) • Sante Mawiomi (Grand Council)

22. Decision Making By Consensus • Leaders were chosen because they were able to reach a decision • All members of the council discussed the issue until they reached a decision of what to do

23. The Role of Women • Responsible for ensuring their families had what they needed to live a good life • Raised the children, took care of the home, collected and prepared the food, hunted small game for food and clothing • Women voice their concerns in all matters (with respect to government decisions)

24. Think time! • In your books, page 16 – there are three questions. Let’s take a look at those!

25. The Haudenosaunee (Northern Woodlands) • Includes six different first nations groups (Mohawk, Oneida [oh-NY-duh], Onondaga [on-on-DOG-uh], Cayuga [kay-OO-guh], Seneca [SEN-uh-kuh] and Tuscarora [TUS-kuh-ror-ruh] • Shared similar language (algonquin) and some traditions, each nation had distinct culture

26. Haudenosaunee World View • Some values that are important to this nation: • Collective thinking; thinking of the future generations • Decision making by consensus • Sharing labor and the harvest • Duty to family, clan, nation and Iroquois confederacy • Equality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlBsBbn1Xw4

27. The Three Sisters • Corn, beans and squash were called “the Three Sisters” • Origin is linked to the Haudenosaunee people • Earth began when the first human (Sky Woman) fell to the ground, she was pregnant before she fell. She landed and gave birth to a daughter. The daughter died later while giving birth to twin boys. Sky woman placed the leaves and plants that she fell from the sky with into the grave of her daughter. Soon after, corn, beans and squash started to grow from the gravesite

28. Share work, share rewards • The haudenosaunee people were some of the first farmers in Canada • Gardening and tending to the crops was a woman’s job so they worked together • All resources began to the entire community; they were shared according to need: children, elders, women and men

29. Women’s Roles • Matrilineal society – the head of each longhouse was a woman: the clan mother • Women owned all the possessions • When a marriage took place, husbands moved into the longhouse of the wife • Life givers – women’s role was equal to men’s because of their role birthing children and growing food from mother Earth

30. Question: how do you think Canada would look if a woman was Prime Minster?

31. Government • Alliance – the Iroquois confederacy • A union in which groups agree to trade and help each other resolve disputes • A peacemaker arrived in a stone canoe, long before the arrival of the Europeans • The great law of Peace: Gawyehnehshehgowa [gahn-YEH-neh-seh-go-wah]

32. Making Decisions • Women played an important role – the Clan Mothers chose the male members of the government • They could veto any of the decisions the men made

33. The Seventh Generation • The Haudenosaunee looked 7 generations into the future – whenever they made an important decision, they tried to guess that impacts this decision would have on the following 7 generations to come. If it could harm their descendents, they would reconsider the decision.

34. Time to work! • In your books, page 21 please do question number 1 and 3

35. The Anishinabe • Lived in Northern and Central Ontario and southern Manitoba. • Name means “the people” • Europeans called them “Ojibway” and “Saulteaux”

36. Anishinabe World Views • Wisdom: to cherish knowledge • Love: to know peace • Respect: to honor all of Creation • Bravery: to face your foes • Honesty: to face a situation • Humility: to know yourself • Truth: to know all these things

37. Cycle of Life • Also hunter-gatherers • Had wild rice (mamomin) • See: seasonal cycle of Anishinabe pg. 22 • The Seven Grandfathers legend (pg. 23)

38. The Role of Women • Believe in equality and balance • Women looked after children and maintained the lodge; they also hunted small game and harvested crops • The wild rice crop was claimed by using stocks tied with different colored twine; the maple trees were marked with a unique series of axe markings

39. The Harvest • Only women and children took part in the harvest; men were hunting and trapping wild game • Communal • Traditional harvesting techniques had to be used • Leave enough untouched so that there would be a crop the following year

40. Solving problems/Making Decisions • The Clan system – divided up into seven clans, named after animals • Each clan had a leader, chosen because of courage, good character or skill in hunting • Worked together to make a balanced government

41. Economies and Resources • Hunter-Gatherer economies • Economy based on food source – resources plentiful, life was easier • Must have had an excellent knowledge of the land, climate and cycles of nature in order to do well with this economy • Camps moved as seasons and food supply changed • Did some trading, but they focused more on being in rhythm with the seasons and nature

42. Farming Economies • These societies did not move around like the Hunter-Gatherer societies did • They stayed in the same village year-round • Moved only once soil was depleted • Able to grow more food than needed • Therefore they could store extra food/other goods • These could be used frequently in trade

43. Trading Networks • Haudenosaunee traded corn, tobacco and other crops with neighboring nations, in return they received copper from the Anishinabe and seashells and birchbark to make canoes from the Mi’kmaq • Europeans did not introduce this system, they simply integrated into it

44. Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump • Page 27 in your text • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UMh6HCKIWQ

45. In-Class Assignment