Canada: A Peoples History

Aboriginal Peoples Q&A

Episode 1: When the World Began

1. What Aboriginal group originally inhabited Newfoundland? Beothuk
2. Why were they referred to as the Red Indian?
Covered their bodies with red Ocher
3. What does one legend say The Creator did after he made the world?
Creator made the world and then went to rest. His stone image looked like a man. The creator
breathed life into the stone and it came alive.
4. How many languages existed in the area that was to become Canada? 50
5. What were the roles of the First Peoples?
Villagers, nomads, hunters, warriors, peacemakers
6. How did the Aboriginal People pass on the knowledge of how the world came to be? Story telling
The Crossing
7. How did these different societies believe they came to be?
A. Iroquois:
C. Blackfoot:
st
1 people fell out of the sky on
old man moulded them from clay and water
A back of a turtle
B. Haida:
D. Salish:
Raven released them from a
a long trek across a large body of water. Cold wind
Giant clasp of a clam
gave them ice, so they could cross and ice
melted so
Enemies could not follow.
8. Why did the First Peoples cross the land bridge?
In search of food, following the herds of caribou
9. Describe the route followed by the First People as they inhabited North America.
From land bridge they moved south, when the ice receded they moved north east
10. How many years ago did they reach the shores around Labrador? 7000
11. What is this area on the coast of Labrador known for? Land of the Walrus
12. Describe the burial site of the 12 year old boy.
Along the coast of Labrador, stones and arrows placed over the body, with the body facing
downward
Women and Men
13. What did the Blackfoot of the Plains refer to their Creator as? Napee
14. A. According to legend, how did the women perceive the men?
They were dirty, uncivilized, out of control
B. How did the men perceive the women?
They were dangerous
15. Describe the role of the men in the village? The role of the women?
Lineage = mothers bloodline
Women = farming, butchering animals, taking care of children
Men = warfare and hunting
16. What was the purpose of a vision quest? Describe the process.
Boy would bathe and live alone for 3-5days without food. Animals tested courage; voice tells him to
stay a certain # of nights and at the end the voice will tell him what his protector would be and now
he is a warrior

Running Across the Sky

17. From where and when did the Inuit trace their heritage? By sea and from the west
18. Describe the lifestyle of the Inuit.
They used everything to survive, nothing was wasted, had a stubborn will to survive, used fat for
fuel, skins for clothing, followed migrating animals.

War
19. Describe the purpose of songs and dances to the Aboriginal People.
Story tellers, there was a dance for every aspect of life, from puberty to war, to defend ancestral land

20. The Huron of the Great Lakes area were Farmers and the Iroquois were Warriors.
21. Describe the worst fate of a warrior.
Captured alive was worst fate, victor performed rituals over the captor, Death songs were song,
captor would endure pain and suffering for days, it was public ceremony.

Cycle of Warfare and Death

22. Name the five warring camps of the Iroquois.
Oneida, Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca.
23. Describe the Alliance that made the Iroquois the strongest political and military force in eastern North
America.
Union meant they were stronger, arrows together could not be broken = tribes together could not be
broken. The Iroquois Confederacy.