Canada Past & Present

INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCES OF CONTACT

Around five hundred years ago, many people from Europe started coming to the place we now call Canada. At that time, there were hundreds of different groups of Indigenous peoples living there. Each group had different experiences when they first encountered European explorers, settlers, or missionaries. Even Indigenous peoples within the same group often had different experiences when they first contacted Europeans. Sometimes ‘contact’ did not mean meeting Europeans. It could also mean having new experiences because of the arrival of Europeans, like catching a disease, for example. Here are a few of their stories. Mi’kmaq: The Mi’kmaq live in the area that’s now called Atlantic Canada. They were one of the first Indigenous peoples in North America to contact Europeans. Contact changed life for the Mi’kmaq in many ways. Smallpox and other diseases were new in North America. About half the Mi’kmaq died between 1500 and 1600, as a result of these new diseases brought by Europeans. Before contact, the Mi’kmaq survived by hunting and gathering food, but after contact many became fur traders. The Mi’kmaq frequently encountered European missionaries. In 1610, a Mi’kmaq man called Henri Membertou became one of the first Indigenous Catholics. The Mi’kmaq fought with the French against the British in many conflicts, but later they signed a treaty with the British. Today, there are around 60,000 Mi’kmaq living in Canada. Cree: The Cree are the largest First Nation group in Canada. They lived mostly in the northern Prairies and northern Ontario and Quebec, and many Cree still live there today. Many Christian missionaries contacted the Cree starting around 1640 and tried to convince them to become Christians. Fur traders began to use the lands where the Cree lived for hunting beavers. The Cree were mainly hunters and trappers before contact, but guns and horses from European traders changed the life of the Cree a lot. Cree on the Plains hunted large numbers of bison and traded the pelts to Europeans. Diseases brought by Europeans also killed many Cree. Today, there are around 360,000 Cree in Canada. Baffin Island Inuit: The Baffin Island Inuit have lived in the far north, in the area that’s now called Nunavut, for thousands of years. In the 1500s, a British explorer named Martin Frobisher took some Inuit captive and brought them to England. The Inuit captives all died a few months later from European diseases. Through the 1700s and 1800s, the Baffin Island Inuit culture changed a lot because of new trade items like guns and wood. The Baffin Island Inuit hunted whales and foxes to trade with Europeans. Many Baffin Island Inuit died from diseases brought by Europeans. Changes in diet also caused problems for the Baffin Island Inuit. Today, there are around 15,000 Baffin Island Inuit in Canada. Work with a partner to answer these questions based on what you’ve learned from the above readings: 1) What are some examples of what ‘contact’ means? Is it only meeting face-to-face?

2) What did missionaries try to convince many Indigenous people to become?

3) What happened when Indigenous peoples came in contact with European diseases? Give an example.

4) Who did the Mi’kmaq originally side with? What happened later?

5) What did the Mi’kmaq mainly do before contact with Europeans?

6) What kinds of animals were hunted by Indigenous peoples for trade with Europeans?

7) Which of these groups had members who were kidnapped and brought to Europe?

8) What new items changed the lives of the Baffin Island Inuit?

9) What new items changed the lives of the Cree?

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