First Nations of Canada

1. First Nations of Canada Grade Five Social E. Larson

2. Who are the First Nations? • They were the first group of people or nation to live in Canada. • They are the aboriginal or indigenous people in Canada. They include the Inuit and the Metis. • They were mistakenly called “Indians”, because the early explorers thought they had discovered India.

3. How did they get there? • They arrived 20 000 years ago. • They crossed a land bridge that was created around the ice age, between Alaska and Siberia. The ice age was a time in which all of the Earth was covered in Ice. • Humans migrated from Asia into North and South America. They settled into all parts of the continent.

4. First Nation Lifestyle • Over the years, many different and unique groups of first nations developed with their own unique and distinct lifestyle. • Many different tribes of first nations inhabited all parts of Canada and North America. • Each of their lifestyles depended on where they lived. What the land was like and what it provided for them to survive.

5. What does lifestyle include? • Housing- what they used for shelter • Transportation-how they got from place to place • Diet- what foods they ate • Lifestyle- how they gathered food, whether they were nomadic or settled • Clothing- what type of clothes did they wear

6. Groups of First Nations • There are over 200 distinct groups of First Nations • Each has its own distinct culture and way of life. • Many are similar and also very different. • Each developed depending on the land in which they lived.

7. Inuit

8. Inuit • The Inuit lived in the arctic and subarctic regions of Canada. • They were nomadic, as they needed to move with the animals. • It is very hard to find food and their diets are high in protein and low in fruits and vegetables.

9. Housing • They lived in igloos. Igloos are homes made up of snow and ice.

10. Diet • The Inuit are primarily hunters and fishers. They hunt walrus, seal, muskox and polar bear.

11. Transportation • The Inuit used sleds, pulled by husky dogs to get around in the winter. They also used kayaks to travel around in the water

12. Inuit Clothing • Inuit clothing is warm because of the cold and harsh conditions of living in the arctic. • The clothes are made of animal fur and animal hide. • They wore moccasins on their feet.

13. Inuit Hunting Tools

14. Haida • The Haida are found in the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia

15. Haida- Housing • Haida lived in cedar plank homes. • Cedar is cut into planks and • The front of the home is craved in an intricate design.

16. Haida Lifestyle • The Haida are a settled, rather than nomadic. • They primarily get there food from the ocean. They are excellent fisherman. • They also grow their own crops, so they were gardeners or farmers. • They traveled around the islands in cedar canoes. The canoes are made by carving large cedar trees.

17. Cedar Canoes

18. Haida Art • The Haida are famous for their totem poles. Each totem pole represent a family group, history or wards off evil spirits.

19. Haida Clothing • Their clothes were made out of wood fibers and wool. • They are known for their wide brim hats that protected them from the sunlight.

20. Blackfoot • The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi (meaning "original people"; c.f. Ojibwe: Anishinaabeg and Quinnipiac: Eansketambawg) is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta.

21. Blackfoot Lifestyle • A group of 10 to 30 lodges(families), lived together as a band. • There was one leader, a male, who was respected. • They were a nomadic people, who traveled across the plains with the buffalo.

22. Blackfoot • The Blackfoot used all of the buffalo. They used most of it for food, but also for many tools, clothing and shelter. • They were very intelligent when hunting. They often forced the buffalo to jump off a cliff. Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump is a historical site in Alberta.

23. Diet • They ate primarily buffalo. They were hunters and gatherers. They also feed on plants, berries, that they could find nearby. • They made pemmican, a dried meat and berry mixture, that could be eaten in the winter.

24. Housing • Because they were nomadic, the Blackfoot lived in teepees. They could be easily transported to a new site.

25. Clothing • The clothing was made out of tanned animal hide. • They were decorated with feathers, beads, bones, etc.

26. Cree • The Cree people are the largest First Nation group in all of Canada. • They can be divided up into two main groups: The Woodland Cree and the Plains Cree

27. Woodland Cree • They lived in northern Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. • They lived in wigwams. • A wigwam is a teepee like shelter made out of birch bark. • They travelled in birchbark canoes. • They were nomadic

28. Woodland Cree • They were hunters and gatherers • They made clothes out of animal hide and fur. Specifically hare and caribou fur. • They were excellent hunters and trappers and were one of the first aboriginals to trade with the Europeans.

29. Plains Cree • They lived on the plains of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. • They lived very similar to the Blackfoot. • The hunted buffalo, lived in teepees and were nomadic. • There clothes were made of animal hide and they used the bow and arrow.

30. Cree

31. Cree location and clothing

32. Haudenosaunee • Was known as the Iroquois Confederacy- the people of the long house. • This group is made up of six different tribes. As the group conquered another tribe, they incorporated the new tribes customs and traditions into their own, like a melting pot.

33. Housing • They were about 20 meters long and could hold about 20 or more families • Wooden poles (trees) were drilled into the ground and animal hide, grass or bark was woven between the trees.

34. Diet • The Haudenosaunee are primarily farmers, but also fishers and gathers. • There main crops were corn, beef and squash. • They were a settled group, only migrating when the soil lost its fertility.

35. Confederacy • The Iroquois had one of the earliest forms of government. Each tribe had their own land and they made decisions together. • They lived in the lands of southern Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba.

36. Clothing • Each group had their own distinct style. • They used animal hide, feathers, bones and fur to decorate their clothing

37. Mohawk First Nation • The Mohawk, a member of the Haudenosaunee, are easily distinguished by their style of clothing and hairstyle.

38. Huron • This tribe of people were part of the Iroquios Confederacy. • They were the first group to encounter the Europeans, Jacques Cartier. • They culture died out because of disease and war.

39. Beothuk

40. Additional Resources • http://polsonpark.limestone.on.ca/projects/grassroots2003/Ms.%20Blondel's%20Class/index.htm