THE ORIGINS OF CANADA’S FIRST NATIONS

Oral Traditions, Archeology & History

WHAT ARE ORAL HISTORIES?

Many cultures world wide did not use writing to record their histories

Instead in First Nations’ culture, histories are passed down through stories from generation to generation

Historians debate extensively whether or not to use oral histories as reliable primary sources

SIMULATION 1

In you tables you will get into partners and sit back to back

Each person will be given a simple picture

DO NOT show the picture to your partner

You’ll have 2 minutes to write a description of your picture

Next, you will give your description to your partner

Based on the description alone, you will have to try and recreate the picture

SIMULATION 2

This time you will have to sit in rows of 4 or 5

The person at the back of the row will be given a drawing

They will have 1 minute to describe it to the person in front of them

After hearing the description, you will repeat it as best as possible to the person in front of you

The person at the very front will have to draw the image as it is described to them

DEBRIEF:

Which method was more reliable? Was there a huge difference?

What, if anything, does this show us about the reliability of oral histories?

CANADA A PEOPLE’S HISTORY

To what extent does the Origin Story of the Salish line up with archeological theories?

Do you think Oral Histories are reliable?

MULTIPLE THEORIES?

While the Bearing Straight migration theory has been popular, and taught for years, there are some alternatives.

Read up further on the Bearingian Migration, as well as on an alternate theory that has been proposed in the last 20 years

Use the worksheet to guide you through

SO WHO’S RIGHT?

Which theory seems the most compelling to you? Why?

WHAT WE DO KNOW

We do know that Aboriginal peoples have been in North America for AT LEAST 12,000 years

North America is home to many different language an cultural groups

MORE CONFUSING: THE MOUND BUILDERS

The Mound Builders were an ancient culture that lived near current day Ohio

They built giant burial mounds, fortifications and maybe cities

Existed around the year zero

No one is too sure what happened to them

TERMINOLOGY

Aboriginal = First Nations, Metis & Inuits (all encompassing)

First Peoples = Same as aboriginal

First Nations = All native groups excluding the Inuit (the modern term for “indians”

Inuit = The culturally unique people of Canada’s arctic (they are NOT First Nations)

Metis = Descendants of First Nations people & French

Indians = Old Fashioned (not to be used)

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

Aboriginal Peoples are often named, and classified by their language group

There are over 50 unique languages that were spoke in Canada alone

CULTURAL/LIFESTYLE DIVERSITY

Aboriginal Cultures very greatly across North America

Largely influenced by their environment & climate

FIRST NATIONS OF EASTERN CANADA

The First Nations people of Eastern Canada fall into the grouping “Eastern Woodlands”

These are the groups we will focus in on:

Iroquois Confederacy

The Huron (Wendat)

The Algonquin

CONCLUSION

Many theories exist as to where the Aboriginal people came from, though they have been here for thousands of years

Before contact with Europeans they had complex and varying cultures and languages

Oral Tradition can be an interesting source of historical information