The First People of Canada

Tribes of Canada: The largest tribes are the Metis (which is the combination of First People and Europeans, mostly French, English and Scots and are now considered their own ethnic group), the Cree, the Ojibwe and the Inuit.  There are dozens of smaller tribes, but for purposes of simplicity, these are the major four.

Meanings of Names: "Metis" is French for "Middle," since the Metis are midway between the First People and the European (specifically French, English or Scots.) The Cree call themselves the "Nehilawe" which means "Those Who Speak Our Language." "Objiwe" means "Those Who Stammer" in Cree. And "Inuit" means "the People."

Locations:  The Metis live all over Canada.  The Cree are found in the Northwest Territories, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.  The Ojibwe live in the Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. And the Innuit live in the Yukon and the Nunavut, as well as in Alaska.

Original or Current Languages:  The Metis speak their own native mother-tongue and/or English, French or Gaelic. The Cree and the Ojibwe speak a dialect of Algonquin. The Inuit speak Inuktitut.

Tribal Affiliations: The First People of Canada traded and for the most part kept the peace with each other and with the French, English, the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Basque and the Scots.

Traditional Enemies:  Because the Metis were the peace-keepers between the First People and the traders from Europe and Great Britain, there was not the level of disagreement between the indigenous tribes and the whites in Canada. However, the Ojibwe, the Inuit and the Cree did not get along.

Traditional Styles of Housing: The Metis sometimes lived in canvas tents, and other times, lived in farmhouses or log cabins, depending on the preference or construction-abilities of their white mates.
The Cree and the Ojibwe, who lived south of the Artic Circle, lived in teepees, wood or skin wigwams, lean-tos, semi-subterranean sod-and-wood, conical lodges, long domed lodges or log cabins, depending on their location. The Inuit, who were nomadic, lived in igloos or teepees made of caribou or sealskin during the long cold season but would gather in villages during the short summers. Some of the Inuit who lived in the slightly less snowy areas, lived in semi-subterranean sod-and-log homes.

Traditional Attire:  The Metis often wore brightly-colored finger-woven sashes around their waists to keep out the cold and were famous for their intricate floral embroidery and beadwork which they applied to everything. The Cree and the Ojibwe wore beaded and fringed buckskin clothing similar to the People of the Plains in the United States. The Inuit made parkas, pants, gloves, stockings, mukluks and boots (three layers of footwear) out of caribou, rabbit, otter, and other furry animals, and layered their clothing to provide as much warmth as possible. The hoods of women's parkas were especially large so that they could carry infants and toddlers. Once the children were too big and heavy for their mother's hood, they would graduate to wearing furry "onesies" or combination outfits.

Traditional Foods: The Cree, the Ojibwe and the Metis hunted or trapped buffalo, porcupine, hare, marten, woodchuck, caribou, musk ox, bear, moose, elk, waterfowl, lots of fish including salmon.  The women of these tribes also gathered raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, wild grapes, hazelnuts, crabapples, tiger lily bulbs, groundnuts, wild asparagus, marigolds, squash, maple syrup, moss, dandelions and made pemmican. They drank pine nettle tea to stave off colds. Instead of fry bread, they ate baked baking-soda bread. The Inuit men hunted seals, walruses, beluga whales, narwhales, caribou, musk ox, arctic fox, polar bear, arctic hare, fished for whitefish, char, salmon, trout and trapped birds.

Position of Women: Inuit women did the cooking, the making of clothing and the childcare. Men made the houses and did the hunting and the fishing. Women of the subarctic tribes also caught the small game, fished and processed hides while men hunted the big game. Both the Cree and the Ojibwe were patrilineal and patrilocal. It is, however, among the Metis that women had their greatest impact. As Cree and Ojibwe women met, translated for, sewed for, cooked for, guided, and formally or informally married French, English and Scottish fur traders, their children became part of a mixed-race tradition which did not gain formal and somewhat legal recognition until the end of the twentieth century. They, in turn, became a bridge between European traders and the indigenous people of Canada in language translation, customs, business and government service.

First People Courtships: None that I found that were distinctive of Canadian Inuits, Ojibwe, Cree or Metis.

Interesting Tidbits: The Cree and the Ojibwe used wampum belts as currency and to record historical events, and the Inuit have been known to eat their meat raw.

Traditional Religions: Animism, Shamanism, Catholicism, Anglican, Pentecostal.

The First People and Slavery: It depends on how you feel about the "country marriage" in which the Cree, Ojibwe and Inuit women cooked, cleaned house for, made clothing for, took care of, and helped obtain, clean, and tan pelts for the white English, French and Scots trappers, hunters and traders without pay. Inuit people have been know to either enslave or be slaves. It could also be that the indigenous women of Canada as well as the indigenous women of the American colonies and western territories were kidnapped by other Native American tribes, along with their children, and then sold into slavery to trappers in Canada. (See entry for the Sauk and Fox tribes.)

Current Population: There are roughly 450,000 registered Metis, 200,000 registered Cree, 154,000 registered Ojibwe and 118,000 regisitered Inuit in Canada.

Current Sources of Tribal Revenue: Logging, fishing, trapping, tourism, and Cree casinos. The poverty rate for the Cree, Ojibwe and Inuit is still pretty high.

Famous First People of Canada: None that I have heard of, but I am not Canadian.