Nationhood[edit]

First Nations by linguistic-cultural area: List of First Nations peoples First Nations had settled across Canada by 40000 10000 BC. Hundreds of tribes had developed, each with its own culture, customs, legends, and character.[23] In the northwest were the Athapaskan speaking peoples, Slavey, Tli Cho, Tutchone speaking peoples and Tlingit. Along the Pacific coast were the Haida, Salish, Kwakiutl, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nisga'a and Gitxsan. In the plains were the Blackfoot, Kainai, Sarcee and Northern Peigan. In the northern woodlands were the Cree and Chipewyan. Around the Great Lakes were the Anishinaabe, Algonquin, Iroquois and Wyandot. Along the Atlantic coast were the Beothuk, Maliseet, Innu, Abenaki and Mi'kmaq / Micmac. The Blackfoot Indians reside in the Great Plains of Montana and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.[16]:5 The name 'Blackfoot' came from the colour of the peoples' leather footwear, known as moccasins. They had dyed or painted the bottoms of their moccasins black, but one story claimed that the Blackfoot Indians walked through the ashes of prairie fires, which in turn coloured the bottoms of their moccasins black.[16]:5 They had not originally come from the Great Plains of the Midwest North America, but rather from the upper Northeastern area. The Blackfoot started aswoodland Indians but as they made their way over to the Plains, they adapted to new ways of life and became accustomed to the land.[24] They learned the new lands that they travelled to very well and established themselves as Plains Indians in the late 18th century, earning themselves the name "The Lords of the Plains."[25]

Squamish woman

The Squamish history is a series of past events, both passed on through oral tradition and recent history, of theSquamish indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Prior to colonization, they recorded their history through oral tradition as a way to transmit stories, law, and knowledge across generations.[26] The writing system established in the 1970s used the Latin alphabet as a base. It was a respectable responsibility of knowledgeable elders to pass historical knowledge to the next generation. People lived and prospered for thousands of years until the Great Flood. In another story, after the Flood, they would repopulate from the villages of Schenks and Chekwelp,[27] located at Gibsons. When the water lines receded, the first Squamish came to be. The first man, named Tseknchten, built his longhouse in the village, and later on another man named Xellten, appeared on his longhouse roof and sent by the Creator, or in theSquamish language keke7nex siyam. He called this man his brother. It was from these two men that the population began to rise and the Squamish spread back through their territory. [26]:20

A traditional Iroquoislonghouse.

The Iroquois influence extended from northern New York into what are now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec.[28] The Iroquois Confederacy is, from oral tradition, formed circa 1142.[29] Adept at the Three Sisters(maize/beans/squash), the Iroquois were able to spread at the expense of the Algonquians until they too adopted agricultural practises enabling larger populations to be sustained.