Social Studies Grade Five

Module Two - Canada's First Peoples

• history, Aboriginal, First Peoples, origin

Students will know that:

• First Nations peoples have been living in what is now called Canada for tens of thousands of years.
• First Nations peoples developed technologies to meet their needs.
• there is great diversity among First Nations peoples .

Students will:

• access, organize, and present information.

Students will:

• appreciate and value the cultures and traditions of First Nations peoples.

Students may:

• participate in a simulation activity.

• Study a map of Canada showing where Indian peoples lived during the pre-contact period. Identify various natural and traditional boundaries that separated one group from another.
• Explore origin theories. With the Asian land bridge theory, trace possible routes and explore timelines. Learn about creation stories of various Indian peoples of Canada. Compare the theories, identifying similarities.
• Learn about oral history. If possible and appropriate, invite an "oral historian" from an Indian or Métis community to share information in the tradition of oral history. If an oral historian is not available, select a suitable story. As the teacher reads it to the class, have the students raise their hands each time the story communicates historical information. Discuss the connections.
• Review natural features, climate, and vegetation of the various regions. Use a simulation to develop understandings.
• Use literature and other resources to develop understandings about the cultures of Canada's First People.
• Have students work in small groups to research historical lifestyles of various Indian and Inuit peoples. Research may include technologies (e.g., means of transportation, tools, weapons), art forms, clothing, shelter, and beliefs/values. Make connections between the environment and the way the technologies evolved.
• To organize and present information, the groups may choose to do one of the following:
  • contextual drama;
  • story - "Day in the Life of .....";
  • story in the oral history tradition;
  • display; or
  • interview.

Module 2: Activity Guide

Some pertinent ideas and information that may be incorporated in this module include:

• according to the Asian land bridge theory, the Indian peoples originated in Asia and migrated to the Americas;
• according to Indian and Inuit peoples' record of their history, the Indian and Inuit peoples have always lived on this continent;
• we learn about the lives of pre-contact Indian and Inuit peoples through their artifacts and oral histories;
• we also have learned about Indian and Inuit peoples through a European point of view;
• Indian and Inuit nations, that consisted of hundreds of unique cultures, recognized boundaries that separated their nations;
• the Indian and Inuit nations were diverse in languages, values, beliefs, technologies, and lifestyles;
• Indian and Inuit peoples lived in virtually every region of Canada:
  • Arctic,
  • West Coast,
  • Central forest region,
  • Prairie,
  • Eastern Woodlands,
  • East Coast.
• pre-industrialized North America was rich in natural vegetation, clean water, and abundant wildlife;
• an important value for most Indian and Inuit peoples was/is to live in harmony with the environment;
• different cultures evolved in different environmental settings;
• Indian and Inuit peoples developed technologies to meet their needs; and
• Indian and Inuit Peoples developed unique art forms that expressed their values and beliefs.

The ways in which a people are referred to determine how they are perceived by others. Use of specific terms, over time, can create a mindset that will either support or detract from the way a people wish to be perceived.

Terms that reflect how people think of themselves in their own languages are evolving. It is important to determine the appropriate, contemporary terminology used in each area. People in the local community are often the best judge of what terms apply and when.

Commonly Used                 Names in Their
Terms                         Own Language 

Eskimo                        Inuit
Sioux                         Dakota   
Sioux                         Lakota    
Assiniboine                   Nakota
Blackfoot                     Siksika
Chipewyan                     Dene
Blood                         Kainai   
Sarcee                        Tsuu-t'in
Peigan                        Pikuni
Stoney                        Nakoda
Saulteayx\                      
Plains Ojibway                Anishinabe
Montahfais                    Innu 
Naskapi                       Neenoilno
Beaver                        Dunne-za 
Cree                          Nehiyawak 

First Nations is the term used by the Assembly of First Nations and Métis is the term used by the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan to refer to their members. This has grown in use in recent times.

The term Native has been used as a term of convenience to refer to all Aboriginal groups, regardless of legal, historical and political distinctions. The term can also be used to refer to people who are born in this country. There is a question about the usefulness of this term in some contexts.

Aboriginal is defined by the Constitution Act (1982) and refers to Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.

Indigenous peoples is a term that is used when an all inclusive term for an international context is required.

It is preferred and appropriate, when speaking about a specific Indian nation, to refer to the group according to its national origin. In Saskatchewan, the Aboriginal peoples are: Cree, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota (Assiniboine), Dene, Anishinabe (Saulteaux/
Plains Ojibway) and Métis.

Reminder: Indian and Métis peoples, as do all other peoples, maintain the right to their own names, regardless of how others define or label them.

The diversity of the original cultures of Canada is rich in tradition. More than eighty distinct First Nations existed in Canada at the time of initial contact with Europeans. These nations have been categorized by historians and anthropologists into cultural and linguistic groups.

The six generally accepted cultural groupings in Canada are:

• Northwest Pacific Coast
• Interior Plateau
• Plains
• Eastern Woodland
• Subarctic
• Arctic

Saskatchewan has within its boundaries a diverse linguistic collage. The Indian languages represented are the Algonkian, Athapaskan and Siouan language families. Further analysis reveals nine dialects of the languages within these families. In addition, there are the Michif languages.

The linguistic groupings of Aboriginal peoples in Saskatchewan are:

Algonkian

Cree (y, n, the dialects)

Anishinabe (Saulteaux/ Plains Ojibway)

Siouan

Nakota (Assiniboine)

Dakota

Lakota

Athapaskan

Dene (t,k dialects)

Michif

Métis

Aboriginal: This term is used to refer to Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada as defined by the Constitution Act (1982).

Registered Indians: This term is used to refer to those persons registered with the federal government through the Department of Indian Affairs and its authority as granted in the Indian Act. The Indian Act passed, in 1876, and later revisions, applies to all Indian people the government registers as Indians. The federal government did not register the Inuit or the Métis. As treaties were signed, the government kept adding names to the Indian register. Where no treaties were signed, a special census was taken to get names for registering. As children were born to registered Indians, their names were also added to the Register.

Treaty or Status Indians: Sometimes people in this registered group are called Status Indians, and where treaties have been signed, the term Treaty Indian is often used. All Registered/Status/Treaty Indians have special rights as defined in the Indian Act.

Non-Status Indians: Prior to the enactment of Bill C-31, the Indian Act provided for the removal of names from the Indian register and their rights as Registered/Status/Treaty Indians. Removal of status occurred when Indian women married non-Indian men. Other Indian people who are Non-Status Indians include those who were never registered or persons who had been allotted Métis scrip.

Reinstated Status Indians: This term is used to refer to people who have regained their status on the Indian Register as per the Bill C-31 amendment made to the Indian Act effective April 17, 1985. They are required to make further application to specific Bands, usually the Band from which they were disenfranchised, to receive Band membership. In reference to this group of people, the term Status Indian is sufficient.

Métis: The Métis are the descendants of European fathers and Indian mothers. In present day Canada, the reverse is also true. These people have evolved into a distinct group with a unique culture. The Métis, as a distinct cultural group, are also unique in a legal sense. The Indian Act states that some people may not be registered as Indians, the Métis are a major group treated as such. Rather than signing treaties with the Métis and setting up reserves for them, the Federal Government allotted scrip. This occurred only in the prairie provinces, the Yukon, and parts of the Northwest Territories. Some were regarded as Indian either as whole communities or individuals.

Most Indian and Métis people believe that it is the people themselves who should define who they are. Being something is how you feel about yourself. It is something that is inside of you. This feeling does not always agree with the law or what other people say you are. It is generally accepted that people of Indian and/or Métis ancestry have the right to define who they are, themselves.

Adapted from: Saskatchewan Education. (1994). Indian and Métis Staff Development. Regina: Saskatchewan Education.

Review natural features, climate, and vegetation of the various regions. Assign regions to groups of students. Have them imagine that they, with a small group of families are the first explorers. They have migrated to the region and need to establish a home. List basic needs and tell how they might meet them in their particular area. Develop understandings about adaptation. Use atlases. Decisions made about meeting basic needs should reflect the sustainable lifestyle of Indian and Inuit peoples who understood that their survival depended upon abundant and unpolluted resources.

Research

Using a variety of resources, have the students research to learn about the experiences of the first groups of Indigenous peoples to enter the various regions of Canada. Discover how these people used their logic, knowledge, and wits to make homes in the new environment.

Develop understandings about adaptation as students learn about ways these groups of people developed technologies to use the environment and its resources in the least harmful and most conserving ways. Consider the use of the natural resources of the area including water, plant life, wildlife, and minerals.

Design an organizer for students to take jot notes. To plan the project the Student Information Page: A Project Organizer may be used or adapted.

With the students, establish a specific way to organize and present their information.

Suggested Resources
(listed in other bibliographies and catalogues)

Connecting Canada: A Resource for Canadian Students (distributed to every school board office) Unit 1 Module 1 contains background information, stories, and teaching suggestions related to origins of the Indian peoples.
The First Nations (MHP, V3089)
The First People (MHP, V3272)
The Living Stone (MHP, V3466)
A Mission In The Woods (MHP, V3260)
Native People (MHP, V3274)
Salish Life (MHP, V3273)

Student Information Page: A Project Organizer

Student Information Page: A Sample Project Evaluation

_____Rough draft

___( ) sketched layout plans

___( ) jot notes for sentences, paragraphs, articles or labels

_____Visual information

___( ) Design, Organization, Format

-Spacing (well balanced)

-labels, headings (adequate number & size)

-general impression (neat, eye catching)

___( ) Graphics, Pictures, Illustrations

-enhances written information

-appropriate for the topic

-original (made your own) or copied (from sources)

___( ) Colour (effective use, clear)

_____Written Information Supporting the Visuals (developed from jot notes)

___( ) Mechanics

-neatness

-paragraphs/sentences/point form (correct structure)

-perfect spelling, grammar, capitilization

-use of labels, graphs, charts, tables, maps

___( ) Written Information (meets the objectives of project)

-enough facts & details

-suitable & correct facts & details

___( ) Listed sources used

_____Use of class time/workhabits

___( ) good use of time, stayed on task

___( ) followed directions

___( ) completed project on time

___( ) positive attitude, desire to improve skills, made corrections

___( ) cooperated with student(s) and teacher(s)

___( ) cleaned up woek areas

_____Total

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