Aboriginal Groups of CanadaPre Contact

The Plains 200 CE- 1700CE.

Arrival?• According to the Beringia Theory Nomadic hunters

followed Mammoth herds over the bearing straight, and later, came to live in the Plains region 10,000 years ago, but they migrated south. Around 200 AD a group of Natives from the Mississippi area migrated northwest, settling in semi-permanent villages in the Plains region.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTln59YZj8 - North American First Nations Creation story.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLpAMTZROFY&feature=related - Bering strait vs. Creation story.

Religion• Plains Indians believed in a great god (Monotheistic) , the Sioux

called that god the ‘Wakan Tanka,’ meaning the Great Spirit. The Plains believed all animals, plants, trees, stones and clouds possessed spirits and that the Earth was the mother of all these spirits, and that they each could be prayed to. People who were blessed or ‘wakan’ were called Shamans, and they were healers who had received a sign from the Great Spirit. Ceremonies were usually held during the warmer months, when nomadic groups united.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AJ7N2-j4oo&feature=related Did you know Part II- A small history of Aboriginal spiritual ceremonies, especially the Potlach ceremony.

Division of Labor

• While men hunted, women would do the cooking, sew the clothing, and make tools, while tending to the children.The women were also in charge of constructing the tipis and hauling wood and water to the campsite.

A Souix Family

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izvk8H9nMl0&feature=related Did you know. A description of social structure of Aboriginal societies. This section focuses on levels of Gender equality within FN culture

Social Structure

• Within each nomadic group, there would be a band chief who was supported if the band could catch enough game for food, and were protected from enemies. Chiefs would advise, then a council of elders would come to a decision - Generally the leader was wise and patient or showed other qualities of leadership, or had a good deal of wealth. Public shame was the form of punishment or discipline. When food was scarce, bands would split into even smaller groups and go separate ways. The Stoneys had their own systems of government, where each leader had certain powers like the keeper of the whip, or the keeper of the knife, or keeper of the staff. The leaders were often prophets, Elders, valiant warriors, or wealthy persons and they each performed specific duties.

Political Relations• There were no boundaries, such as the one that now

exists between Canada and the United States. But each tribe recognized the traditional hunting areas of other tribes. Tribes recognized some others as allies, and others as enemies. The Blackfoot tribes maintained kinship by intermarrying within the other’s tribe. The Blackfoot Confederacy tribes were known allies and fought others like the Assiniboine, the Cree, the Sioux, the Crow, the Shoshoni and the Kootenay tribes to the North. The Assiniboine and the Cree were allied together, and helped each other fight tribes from the Blackfoot Confederacy.

• British Proclamation 1763

Post Contact- 1700’s- Today

• Treaties- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhwZQdaPdo0&feature=related - A 10 minute clip on the history of treaties in Saskatchewan.

We are all Treaty People…

Indian Act- 1876

• Residential Schools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7bHDBAK4iM&feature=related Did you know Part 4- Residential Schools. Describes a bit about the horrifying history of Residential Schools.

Residential Schools across Canada…

School at Lebrett

Gleican Alberta School