Grade by Grade
A. Heritage and Identity · Interactions of Indigenous Peoples and Europeans prior to 1713

Many Nations, Many Relationships: Before Europeans Arrived

A3.1 A3.2 A2.3 A3.7About 45 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can name major First Nations and Inuit who met European explorers and settlers before 1713, and find their homelands on a map.
  • I can describe how nations traded, made alliances and made peace with each other before Europeans came.
  • I can explain that wampum belts record agreements.
  • I can describe some differences among Indigenous nations.

Words to know

Indigenous peoples
The first peoples of a land and their descendants. In Canada: First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
nation
A people with its own name, language, lands, laws and ways of governing.
contact
The time when two peoples first meet. Here, when Indigenous peoples and Europeans first met.
trade network
Many trading partners linked together, so goods can travel very far, from hand to hand.
alliance
An agreement between nations to help and support each other, often in trade and in war.
confederacy
A group of nations joined together to make decisions and keep peace.
wampum belt
A belt woven from small white and purple shell beads. Its patterns record agreements, laws and history.
homeland
The lands where a people has lived for a very long time.

Remember from Grade 4

In Grade 4 you met the Haudenosaunee, whose ancestors lived in longhouses and planted the Three Sisters, and who follow the Great Law of Peace; the Anishinaabe, many of whose families traditionally moved with the seasons and travelled by birchbark canoe; and the Thule, ancestors of Inuit, in the Arctic. In Grade 5 we look at what happened when these nations, and others, met Europeans, up to the year 1713.

Let's start with a question

Imagine you live beside a big river 500 years ago. You have never seen a metal pot or a sailing ship. But you do know your neighbours. You trade with them, visit them, make agreements with them and sometimes argue with them.

That is how it was in North America before Europeans arrived. There were many nations, each with its own language, lands, laws and leaders. They had been building relationships with each other for thousands of years.

A birchbark canoe rests on a rocky shore beside a wide, misty river lined with pine, birch and maple trees.
Rivers and lakes like this one were the highways of North America long before Europeans arrived. Nations travelled them by canoe to trade, visit and make agreements with their neighbours. AI-generated image

Nations Europeans met before 1713

Here are some of the major nations that met European explorers and settlers in what would one day become Canada. All of these nations are still here today.

  • Mi'kmaq: on the Atlantic coast, in Mi'kma'ki (today's Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and parts of New Brunswick, Quebec and Newfoundland).
  • Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet): along the Wolastoq (Saint John River) in today's New Brunswick.
  • Innu: on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and in Labrador. The French called them Montagnais.
  • Wendat (Huron): between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe in today's Ontario. Today the Huron-Wendat Nation lives at Wendake, near Québec City.
  • Haudenosaunee: south of Lake Ontario. In this time there were five nations in the Confederacy (the Tuscarora joined in the early 1700s).
  • Anishinaabe nations: such as the Algonquin along the Ottawa River, the Nipissing, the Odawa and the Ojibwe around the Great Lakes.
  • Cree: across a wide area of the north, including around James Bay and Hudson Bay.
  • Inuit: in the Arctic, including Labrador and the coasts of Hudson Bay.
  • St. Lawrence Iroquoians: the people Jacques Cartier met in 1535 at the villages of Stadacona and Hochelaga. By the early 1600s their villages were gone. Historians are still not sure why.
AnishinaabeAlgonquinWendatHaudenosauneeInnuMi'kmaqInuit (far north)HochelagaStadaconaGeorgianBayLake OntarioOttawa RiverSt. Lawrence RiverGulf ofSt. Lawrence
A simple sketch map (not to scale) of where some nations lived around 1600. Blue is water and green is land. Find Georgian Bay (top left), Lake Ontario, the Ottawa River, the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The two dots are Hochelaga and Stadacona, villages Jacques Cartier visited in 1535, where Montréal and Québec City are today. Inuit homelands are farther north, off this map.

Words matter

First Nations and Inuit are different peoples. Inuit are not a First Nation. And First Nations are many different nations, not one group. When you can, use a nation's own name, like Wendat or Mi'kmaq.

Trading before Europeans came

Nations traded long before Europeans arrived. Goods travelled along rivers and lakes by canoe, passing from nation to nation in big trade networks.

  • The Wendat were farmers. They grew lots of corn. They traded corn, cornmeal and fishing nets to Anishinaabe nations such as the Nipissing and Algonquin.
  • In return, the Anishinaabe traders gave furs, dried fish and meat, from their hunting lands to the north.
  • Archaeologists have found copper from around Lake Superior and seashells from the ocean far from where they came from. This shows goods travelled very far.

Trade was about more than goods. It built friendships and alliances. Gifts were exchanged, and visits included feasts and speeches.

Wendat(farmers)Nipissing andAlgonquin (hunters)corn, cornmeal, fishing netsfurs, dried fish, meatEach had extra of what the other needed, and trade built alliances.
Trade before Europeans: Wendat farmers traded corn, cornmeal and fishing nets; Nipissing and Algonquin traders gave furs, dried fish and meat.

Alliances, peace and conflict

Nations also made agreements with each other.

  • The Haudenosaunee Confederacy joined five nations under the Great Law of Peace.
  • The Wendat were also a confederacy of several nations.
  • Many nations around the Great Lakes, including the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, know an agreement called the Dish With One Spoon. It means the land is like one dish of food that everyone shares. Everyone takes only what they need, and keeps the dish clean for others. People give different dates for it. It is still honoured today.
  • Agreements were recorded in wampum belts and remembered through oral history: knowledge passed down by speaking and listening, often by Elders.

There was also conflict. Nations sometimes fought over hunting lands or to settle wrongs. Then they used councils, gifts and speeches to make peace again.

First Nations and Inuit

In places where their lands met, such as Labrador and around Hudson Bay, Inuit and First Nations such as the Innu and Cree met each other. Sometimes they traded, and sometimes there was conflict. Each people had a different way of life suited to its own land.

NationMain foodsHomesSome ways of governing
WendatFarming corn, beans and squash; fishing; some huntingLonghouses in villagesCouncils of chiefs from each nation; clan mothers had an important voice
Algonquin (Anishinaabe)Hunting, fishing, gathering; wild rice in some placesBirchbark wiigiwaams, moved with the seasonsLeaders (ogimaa) respected for wisdom and generosity; councils
InuitSeals, whales, caribou, fishSnow houses or sod houses in winter (depending on the region), skin tents in summerFamilies and camps led by respected, experienced people
Mi'kmaqFish, shellfish, seals, moose, berriesWigwams, moved between the coast and inlandDistrict chiefs and a Grand Council (Sante' Mawio'mi)
Nations were different from each other. Each one's way of life fit its own land.
Worked example

Let's read the map together

Use the sketch map. Which nation lived closest to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and which lived near Georgian Bay?

  1. Find the Gulf of St. Lawrence: the wide blue area on the far right, where the river meets the sea.
  2. The label just below it says Mi'kmaq.
  3. Now find Georgian Bay: the tall blue oval on the far left.
  4. The label just below it says Wendat.
  5. Check with the list: Mi'kma'ki is on the Atlantic coast, and the Wendat lived between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe.

The Mi'kmaq lived near the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Wendat lived near Georgian Bay.

Worked example

Let's follow a trade

A Wendat village has extra corn. A Nipissing family has extra furs and dried fish. How could a trade help both?

  1. The Wendat land is good for farming, so they grow more corn than they need.
  2. The Nipissing land to the north is rocky with short summers. It is better for hunting and fishing than farming.
  3. Each nation has extra of something the other needs.
  4. They trade. Both get food and goods for the winter, and they become allies.

Both nations get what they need, and the trade builds a friendship and alliance.

Map fun

Map-reading tip: the sketch map says not to scale. If it were drawn to real size, you'd need a sheet of paper as big as the Great Lakes, and a very long arm to point at Georgian Bay!

Hands-on activity

Make a paper wampum-style agreement

You need: a strip of paper about 30 cm long, a pencil, and two markers or crayons (one dark, one light).

  1. Agree with someone at home on a promise you both will keep, such as "We take turns choosing the bedtime story."
  2. Draw a grid of small squares on the strip, like beads.
  3. Design a simple pattern that stands for your promise, using the dark and light colours. For example, two figures holding hands.
  4. Each of you explains what the pattern means, out loud. Say it again tomorrow without looking at notes.

Talk about it: wampum belts are real, sacred records for nations. Yours is only a model to help you understand how a pattern plus spoken words can keep a promise remembered.

Your turn

1

Name three nations that met Europeans before 1713.

2

Where did the Wendat live around 1600?

3

What did the Wendat trade to Anishinaabe nations, and what did they get back?

4

What is a wampum belt?

5

What does the Dish With One Spoon agreement mean?

6

Are Inuit a First Nation?

7

Name one way nations kept peace with each other.

More practice: warm-up

1

Who were the first people living in what is now Canada?

2

What did the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace join together?

3

What is oral history?

4

Which nation lives along the north shore of the St. Lawrence and in Labrador?

5

What did people use to travel along rivers and lakes for trade?

More practice: on your own

1

Why did copper from Lake Superior turn up far away?

2

Why was trade about more than just goods?

3

Give one difference between Wendat and Algonquin ways of life.

4

Why should we say "First Nations" (plural) and not treat them as one group?

5

Where did Inuit and First Nations meet each other?

Challenge

1

Why do you think the Wendat became important traders?

2

Someone says, "Before Europeans came, nothing much happened here." Use evidence from this lesson to answer.

3

Why might two sources give different dates for the Dish With One Spoon?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which nation lived between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe around 1600?

2.

What is a wampum belt used for?

3.

What did the Wendat trade to Anishinaabe nations?

4.

Which statement is true?

5.

The Dish With One Spoon teaches people to...

6.

Which of these is a trade network?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Before Europeans arrived, this land was home to many nations with their own governments, trade networks and agreements (A3.1, A3.2). This lesson also uses a map (A2.3) and compares nations (A3.7).

How to help at home:

  • Look at a map of Ontario and Quebec with your child. Find Georgian Bay, the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River, and talk about who lived there.
  • Find out whose traditional territory you live on (many school boards and municipalities share land acknowledgements). Native Land Digital (native-land.ca) is a starting point; it says itself that it is not an official source.
  • Ask: "How do we know?" Point out that oral history, archaeology and written records all give evidence.

Common difficulties:

  • Treating all Indigenous peoples as one group: encourage nation names (Wendat, Mi'kmaq, Innu).
  • Talking only in the past tense: remind your child that all these nations are living communities today.
  • "Indian" or other outdated words: you may see them in older books; explain why we now use the names nations use for themselves.
  • The St. Lawrence Iroquoians are a real historical puzzle; it is fine to say "historians are not sure."