Here we are making
an attempt to explore the history of the First Nations. At this time
we can but use antiquarian resources to tell their story but we'd be
more than happy to bring this more up to date should any of Canada's
First Nations people wish to provide information for the site by way
of text, pictures or videos.
As you read the
early history of Canada you'll find that the First Nations people
fought for the French against the British while others fought for
the British against the French. They were also involved in fighting
for Canada in the war with the USA. And of course many also fought
for Britain in both World Wars. This means as you explore the
history of each Province you'll come across many accounts of the
First Nations people.
In this section of the site we're
bringing you more specific information on the First Nations as we
find it so do also feel free to contact us if you have information
to contribute. We would add that in here we show information on the
First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
Our Home on Native Land - Wikwemikong
A special one-hour documentary on the First Nations Reserve of
Wikwemikong. Located on Manitoulin Island in Georgian Bay in
Ontario, Wikwemikong is one of Canada's largest reserves with a
population of over 7,000. Many in the community are scarred from the
legacy of residential schools, and unemployment and drug abuse are
high, but there is a concerted effort made within the community to
improve their lives.
From Statistics Canada
We bring you some recent statistics
from Statistics Canada which tend to show that Aboriginal peoples
living on Reserves are worse off than their counterparts living off
reserves. In particular the First Nations people seem to do worse
that the Métis and Inuit.
Aboriginal population surpasses the
one-million mark
A total of 1,172,790 people identified
themselves as an Aboriginal person, that is. North American Indian
(hereafter referred to as First Nations people in this report),
Metis or Inuit in the 2006 Census of Population. The census counted
976,305 Aboriginal people in 2001 and 799,010 in 1996. There were
nearly 700,000 First Nations people identified in 2006 as well as
approximately 390,000 Metis and just over 50,000 Inuit.
Ghost Dance - Native American -
Power Drums - Spirit Pride
Fast paced, heart pounding beat. Ghost Dance by Apurimac III
Nature Spirit Pride and beautiful art photos by J.D. Challenger,
Frank Howell, and Howard Terpning.
Understanding Aboriginal Identity
Understanding Aboriginal Identity explores the complex issue of
self-identification for Aboriginal people. Today, Aboriginal
identity remains inextricably linked with past government
legislation and the continued stereotyping of Aboriginal people in
the media and Canadian history. From a Metis farm in rural Alberta
to the offices of Canada’s leading scholars, Understanding
Aboriginal Identity examines the factors that shape who we are.
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada [external link]
Indigenous Services Canada [external link]
A List of First Nations Tribes can be found here [external link]
Portal: Aboriginal peoples in Canada [external link] First Nations in Canada (pdf) The Buffalo Lake Métis Site
A Late Nineteenth Century settlement in the Parkland of Central
Alberta (1988) (pdf) Aboriginal
Affairs and Northern Development Canada [external link]
AANDCis
one of the federal government departments responsible for meeting
the Government of Canada's obligations and commitments to First
Nations, Inuit and Métis, and for fulfilling the federal
government's constitutional responsibilities in the North. Assembly of
First Nations
[external link]
The story of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is one that remains
unknown to most Canadians. It is the story that is lived each day by
the First Nations peoples of Canada. It is the story of a struggle
for self-determination and human dignity. It is a story that must be
told. The Métis
Nation of Ontario
[external link]
Prior to Canada’s crystallization as a nation, a new Aboriginal
people emerged out of the relations of Indian women and European
men. While the initial offspring of these Indian and European unions
were individuals who simply possessed mixed ancestry, subsequent
intermarriages between these mixed ancestry children resulted in the
genesis of a new Aboriginal people with a distinct identity, culture
and consciousness in west central North America – the Métis Nation. The Inuit / Eskimo People
Bear Witness: a film by BC's Coastal
First Nations
New Caledonia (1977)
Fort St-James is a small town In northern British Columbia. A
community of Carrier Indians are living nearby grappling with drugs
and alcohol.
Canadians of Long Ago
The story of the Canadian Indian by Kenneth E. Kidd (1951) Canadian Indian
Volume 1, October 1890 (pdf)
Shingwauk Letter Book 1887-1888
By Edward F. Wilson {external Link - Very poor scan but might be
able to unpick it and clarify the text] Our Words, Our Ways
Teaching First Nations, Métis and Inuit Learners. This resource will
help classroom teachers and staff better serve the needs of their
Aboriginal students. The process of development was one of
consultation, information gathering, drafting, more consultation and
re-drafting. The contributors to this resource include Aboriginal
Elders, teachers and psychologists as well as other members of
Alberta’s Aboriginal communities. (pdf) Report on the affairs of the Indians in
Canada. Section III
By Canada. Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Affairs of
the Indians in Canada (1847) (pdf) Social Organisation of the Blackfoot
Indians
By Rev. John Maclean, M.A., Ph.D. (1892) (pdf) Picture-Writing of the
Blackfeet
By Rev. John MacLean, PH.D. (1891) (pdf) A set of 6 Indian and Eskimo
children's books (1900) (pdf) The History of the Five Indian Nations of
Canada
Which are dependent on the Province of New York, and are a Barrier
between the English and the French in that part of the world by the
Hon. Cadwallader Colden in two volumes (1904) Indian Legends of
Vancouver Island
By Alfred Carmichael (1922) (pdf) The Story of the Totem Pole
Or Indian Legends by William Shelton (1923) (pdf) My Friend the Indian
By James McLaughlin (1910) (pdf) The Book of Indian Crafts
and Indian Lore
By Julian Harris Salomon (1928) (pdf) The
Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada
By Frederick H. Abbott, Secretary of the Board of Indian
Commissioners. Report of an investigation made in 1915 under the
direction of the Board of Indian Commissioners (1915) (pdf) Indian Days in the Canadian
Rockies
By Marius Barbeau, Illustrations by W. Langdon Kihn (1923) (pdf) Stories from Indian
Wigwams and Northern Camp-Fires
By Egerton Ryerson Young, author of "By Canoe and Dog-Train", "Oowikapun",
etc. (1893) (pdf) Annual Reports of the Department of
Indian Affairs
By the Dominion of Canada Canadian Indians
The following letters, article, and editorials were written in
the hope that good might come from the writing. (1911) (pdf) The Battle of the Bears
Life in the North Land by Egerton R. Young (1907) (pdf) Indian Life in the Great North-West
By Egerton R. Young, Missionary to the North American Tribes North
of Lake Winnipeg (1840) (pdf) By Canoe and Dog-Train Among the Cree
and Salteaux Indians
By Egerton Ryerson Young (1808) (pdf) The Native Races of North America
Edited by W. H. Withrow, D.D., F.R.S.C. (1895) (pdf) Oowikapun
How the Gospel reached the Nelson River Indians by Egerton R. Young,
Author of "Canoe and Dog-train," "Indian Wigwams and Northern
Camp-fires" (1895) (pdf) Children of the Forest
A Story of Indian Love By Egerton R. Young (1904) (pdf) A Teaching Resource
Unit
On the Role of the Indian in Canadian History for the Grade Ten
Alberta Social Studies Program by Frances E. Duperron (1975) (pdf) The
Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-West
Territories
Including the Negotiations on which they were based and other
information relating thereto by The Hon. Alexander Morris, P.C.,
Late Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, the North-West Territories and
Kee-Wa-Ten (pdf) Early Life Among the Indians
Reminiscences from the Life of Benj. G. Armstrong. Treaties of 1835,
137, 1842 and 1854. Habits and Customs of the Red Men of the
Forrest. Incidents, Biographical Sketches, Battles, &c, dictated and
written by Thos. P. Wentworth (1802) (pdf) Western Scenes and Reminiscences
Together with Thrilling Legends and Traditions of the Red Men of the
Forest to which is added several narratives of adventures among the
Indians (1853) (pdf) An historical account of
the expedition against the Ohio Indians, in the year 1764
Under the command of Henry Bouquet, Esq; colonel of foot, and now
brigadier general in America. Including his transactions with the
Indians, relative to the delivery of their prisoners, and the
preliminaries of peace. With an introductory account of the
preceeding campaign, and battle at Bushy-Run. To which are annexed
military papers, containing reflections on the war with the savages;
a method of forming frontier settlements; some account of the Indian
country, with a list of nations, fighting men, towns, distances and
different routs. The whole illustrated with a map and copper-plates
by William Smith (1765) (pdf) Chiefs Journey
The summer and fall of 1886 saw a flurry of ‘loyal’ Plains
Indigenous leaders pay visits to Central Canada. Report on the Affairs of the Indians
in Canada
Laid before the legislative assembly 20th March 1845 (pdf) Whispered Gently through Time
First Nations Quality Child Care: A National Study. Study sponsored
by the Assembly of First Nations, Office of the Regional Vice Chief.
Funded by the Child Care Visions Program of the Employability and
Social Partnerships Division, HRDC (2020) (pdf) Our Words, Our Ways
Teaching First Nations, Metis and Inuit Learners (2005) (pdf) First Nations, Metid and Inuit
School-Community Learning Environment Project May 2007 - Promising
Practices (pdf) Traditional
Healing Practices Among First Nations Students
Traditional Native healing practices are an important aspect of the
First Nations peoples' conception of health and well-being. The
purpose of this study was to assess post-secondary First Nations
students' attitudes toward traditional Native healing practices.
First Nations adult volunteers were surveyed in several adult
educational settings to appraise their attitudes towards traditional
healing practices in terms of their interest, valuing, and
participation. The majority of subjects reported having participated
in a diversity of Native healing practices. Implications of the
prevalence of these beliefs and practices are discussed and
recommendations for counsellors are offered. (pdf)
Romantic Kent, The Story of a County 1626 - 1952
First 79 pages of the book up to the start of the war with America
in which the Native Indians are first noticed by Victor Lauriston
(pdf) Baptists and First
Peoples of Canada 1846-1976
A History by the Rev. JodiLynn Spargur MDiv., Canadian Baptists of
Western Canada, Presented to: Baptist Heritage and Identity
Commission, Baptist World Alliance, Annual Meetings, Vancouver, BC,
July 7, 2016. History always occurs in context. Not only the context
of the past, but the context of the present in which the story is
being recounted. These realities then, must shape our ways of
looking back. They must shape who we listen to and how. They must
inform our practice of recounting history and must direct our ways
of moving into the present in light of the past. (pdf) Royal Canadian Mounted Police
First Nations Community Policing Services (RCMP - FNCPS) Agreements
- Volume 3 (1995) (pdf)
Treaties and the Treaty Relationship Webinar Series
Canada's History Society have
collaborated with the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba to
create and host the Treaties and the Treaty Relationship webinar
series. [external link] Pow Wow Trail
Documentary about the Pow Wow Notes on the Shuswap People of
British Columbia.
By George M. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., Assistant Director Geological
Survey of Canada (1891) (pdf) The Beothiks or Red Indians of
Newfoundland
By the Rev. George Patterson, D.D. (pdf) The Huron – Iroquois of Canada, a
Typical Race of American Aborigines
By Daniel Wilson, LL.D., F.R.S.E. , President of University College,
Toronto (1884) (pdf) The Literary Faculty of the Native
Races of America
By John Reade (1884) (pdf) Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology
Indigenous or Exotic?
By The Rev. Father A. G. Morice, O.M.I. (1892) (pdf) Some Wabanaki Songs
By John Reade (1887) (pdf) Aboriginal American Poetry
By John Reade (pdf) Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People
Of the Northern Part of Vancouver Island and Adjacent Coasts, made
during the Summer of 1885; with a Vocabulary of about seven hundred
words. By George M. Dawson. (pdf) On the Indians and Eskimos
of the Ungara District, Labrador
By Lucien M. Turner, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
(1887) (pdf) Notes on the early development of
Aboriginal Women in all latitudes
BY Percy W. P. Mathews, LL.D., M.R.C.S.E., Etc., Dominion Coroner
for the N. W. Territories, and Medical Officer to the Honourable
Hudson's Bay Company. (pdf) The Blackfoot Sun-Dance
By Rev. John M'Lean, M.A., Blood Reserve, Alberta (pdf)
Anthropometry, of the Cree and Saulteaux Indians in Northeastern
Manitoba
By J. C. Boileau Grant (1929) (pdf) An Unredeemed Captive
Being the story of Eunice Williams, who, at the age of seven years,
was carried away from Deerfield by the Indians in the year 1704, and
who lived among the Indians in Canada as one of them for the rest of
her life, written by Clifton Johnson (1897) (pdf) Monograph of the Dènè-Dindjiè
Indians
By the Rev. B. Petitot, Oblat Missionary, Etc., Etc. Translated by
Douglas Brymner (1878) (pdf) The Indians of Canada
Their Manners and Customs by John McLean, M.A., PH.D. Third Edition
(1892) (pdf)
Pope Francis visits former
Residential School site in Edmonton Pope Francis meets with residential school survivors
in Maskwacis, Alta., where he issued an apology on his 'penitential
pilgrimage.'
25th July 2020
