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Map of Canada |
"It really amazes me, when I think of my ancestors, how they survived in Canada's North, where the weather has no boundaries. They had to be brave and creative to use whatever resources were available to them. Who in the world would ever think of building a shelter out of snow? The Inuit people were architects and engineers"
- Levinia Nuqaalaaq Brown, Inuk Elder Rankin Inlet, Nunavut (Shaping Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson) Why does Levinia Nuqaalaaq Brown state that the Inuit people were architects and engineers? How might other groups have been engineers?
Task: In pairs, present information about one of the six First Peoples’ Cultural Areas. Only 1 group can research each area.
Arctic Plateau Western and Eastern Subarctic Northeastern Woodlands Northwest Coast Great Plains
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“Today many First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples’ communities are recording their oral histories as a way of ensuring their preservation. How is the work of a historian affected by using translated, written version of stories from a community’s oral tradition, rather than stories told in their original language by a community member?” (Shaping Canada)
Read the Creation of Turtle Island. Think, then discuss: “Imagine that you are a member of an Anishinaabe community back in the time before the arrival of Europeans and that an Elder is telling you this story. How would the story help you understand yourself and your people? Compare two Creation Stories using a Venn Diagram. Exit/Entrance Slip “what’s in a Name” -- Evidence |
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Jacques Cartier, navigator (born between 7 June and 23 December 1491 in Saint-Malo, France; died 1 September 1557 in Saint-Malo, France). From 1534 to 1542, Cartier led three maritime expeditions to the interior of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River. During these expeditions, he explored, but more importantly accurately mapped for the first time, the interior of the river, from the Gulf to Montréal. For this navigational prowess, Cartier is still considered by many as the founder of “Canada”, even though, at the time, this term described only the region immediately surrounding Québec.
Cartier’s orders for his first expedition were to search for a passage to the Pacific Ocean in the area around Newfoundland and possibly find precious metals. He left Saint-Malo on 20 April 1534 with two ships and 61 men and reached the coast of Newfoundland 20 days later. During his journey, Cartier passed several sites known to European fishers; he renamed them or noted them on his maps. After skirting the north shore of Newfoundland, Cartier and his ships entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence by the Strait of Belle Isle and traveled south, hugging the coast of the Magdalen Islands on 26 June and reaching what are now the provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick three days later. He then navigated towards the west, crossing Chaleur Bay and reaching Gaspé, where he encountered Iroquois-speaking Aboriginal people from the region of Québec, who had come to the area for their annual seal hunt. After the planting a cross and engaging in some trading and negotiations, Cartier’s ships left on 25 July with two of the Iroquois chief Donnacona’s sons and returned to France by following the coast of Anticosti Island and re-crossing the Strait of Belle Isle. (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jacques-cartier/) |
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During the eighteenth century, Britain and France began to intensify their fight for land and power in North America.
General James Wolfe (pictured left) sailed from England in 1759 with a mission to conquer all of Nouvelle-France. He brought with approximately 15,000 soldiers. Almost immediately, the general and his troops began bombarding the town of Quebec. This started July 12, 1759 and continued for 9 whole weeks. They destroyed homes, churches, businesses as well as many farms and livestock surrounding the town. These attacks culminated to The Battle of the Plains of Abraham. |
By September, Wolfe's situation seemed desperate. Quebec was still resisting, and winter was fast approaching. The young general decided to make a daring move and transport 5,000 of his soldiers upstream from Quebec at night to face the French army and the Canadian militia. In the night of September 12, 1759, his soldiers climbed a cliff using a steep goat's path and took their positions on fields belonging to farmer Abraham Martin.
Montcalm was downstream in Beauport, anticipating an attack there. His 3,500 men, primarily Canadian militiamen, were on watch all night. Montcalm led them on foot towards Quebec and the British forces. At 10:00 pm, his exhausted army came face-to-face with Wolfe's. Fighting began instantly. The Canadians and French rushed the British lines. But the Canadian militiamen were unaccustomed to organized fighting. Their advance soon deteriorated into retreat. Twenty minutes later, the battle was lost. Within a day, General Wolfe and General Montcalm would both die as a result of wounds they received on the battlefield. In the spring of 1760, Canadian militiamen led by Lévis attacked the British army on the Plains of Abraham. They won, and forced the British to retreat to Quebec. When the river was free of ice, the first ship to reach Quebec was British; it was followed by many others. Montreal was forced to capitulate and New France became a British possession. (http://www.cbc.ca/history/LESSONSSE4EP4CH1PA10LE.html) |
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.Before we start.. Why furs?
Prized for their warmth, luxurious texture, and the longevity of fur as a material, furs have played a large role in clothing people since the beginning of human history. For everyday use or costume and decoration, furs have been used for the production of outterware such as coats and cape, garment and shoe lining, a variety of head coverings, and ornamental trim and trappings In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, beaver hats were produced for sale domestically in the French and British markets, as well as for export. The French domestic market included military and naval contracts, as well as consumer products sold on the general market. The majority of their exports were shipped to French colonies in the Caribbean, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Spanish South America. This economic need for furs drove the British and French to push further into North American territory to hunt Beaver and obtain pelts. It was a lucrative trade that was participated in by not only Europeans but also the First Peoples of Canada, creating even more contact between the two groups. (http://cwh.ucsc.edu/feinstein/A%20brief%20history%20of%20the%20beaver%20trade.html) History is full of unintended consequences. In 1611, Henry Hudson sought a passage to Asia through the Arctic. He failed in his quest, but his journey brought Hudson Bay to the notice of Europeans. This journey set the stage for a fierce competition for that would last for more than one hundred years and that would involve Britain, France, First Nations and Metis peoples across the North West. (Shaping Canada, McGraw-Hill Ryerson)
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Primary Sources
Quebec Act 1774 - scroll down Constitutional Act 1791 - Canadian Encyclopedia includes excerpts Royal Proclamation 1763 Rebellion of 1837 - letters and newspapers Lord Durham's report The Act of Union 1841 - scroll down |