First Nations

Photo of a totem pole with a bird carved into it and painted in bright colours

Foto: © Steve Stedman/dreamstime

First Nations

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First Nations

Imagine that 20,000 years is the same as one hour. That would mean that the Europeans came to Canada just one and a half minutes ago. The people already living in Canada then were the Inuit and various aboriginal peoples, who are now known as First Nations. It’s not possible to establish the exact year they first came here, but 20,000 year old animal bones and tools have been found in caves in the northwest of Canada. So it’s quite a long time.

First Nations were well-organised communities. Some were hunters and some were farmers. Farming communities built houses to live in all year round, rather than moving from place to place. All First Nations cultures had close links to the natural world, and wooden totem poles are a good example of this. Animals and birds were carved into them and painted in bright colours, and each social group or family had its own special animal or bird sign. The poles were used in different ways. They were a kind of history book, a memorial to ancestors, a notice board and also a decorative entrance to houses. The tallest house poles could be over 20 metres high.

What happened when the Europeans arrived? There were far more violent conflicts between Native Americans and colonists in the USA than between the colonists and First Nations in Canada. However, this does not mean the First Nations were always treated with respect. For a long time the official policy was to force them to leave their culture behind. Many children were sent to residential schools to take them away from the influence of their families and local communities. They didn’t see their families for months or even years. They weren’t allowed to follow their own beliefs or speak their own languages at school, not even at break time. Many children at these schools were treated very badly, and many died of illnesses like tuberculosis. This system has been called: “Killing the Indian in the child”.

However, the situation for First Nations improved considerably in the late 20^th century. Their cultures are now celebrated and their rights are written into the Constitution of Canada. There are 634 officially recognised groups or “bands” of First Nations, consisting of about a million people in total. Several of their languages, such as Chipewyan, Cree and Gwich’in, are now official regional languages. In June 2008 the Canadian Prime Minister formally apologized to First Nations leaders for the way their people had been treated. This was an important step in the healing process.

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First Nations

First Nations

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