A3. Understanding Context: Life in Colonial Canadian Communities
Specific Expectations
A3.1
identify various First Nations and some Métis communities in Upper and Lower Canada from 1780 to 1850, including those living in traditional territory and those who moved or were forced to relocate to new areas in response to European settlement, and locate the areas where they lived, using print, digital, and/or interactive maps or a mapping program (e.g., the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe around Thunder Bay; Chippewa land in southern Ontario; Drummond Island – focusing on the history of Métis settlement in the region; new Mohawk settlements in the Bay of Quinte area; the tract of land that the Six Nations gave the Mississauga; Métis communities around Lake Huron)
A3.2
identify various settler communities in Canada during this period (e.g., French along the St. Lawrence River; English and Irish in Kingston, Bytown, and York/Toronto, Upper Canada; Black settlers in the Elgin Settlement in Buxton, Upper Canada; Scots in Nova Scotia and the Red River Valley; Mennonites in Waterloo County, Upper Canada; United Empire Loyalists in Upper and Lower Canada; Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia), and locate the areas where they lived, using print, digital, and/or interactive maps or a mapping program
- “Look how far west the Scottish settlement in Red River is. I didn’t think settlers lived out there then.”
- “There are so many Black settlements in Ontario. I read the map and noticed that a few of them are in southern Ontario. That’s close to where I live, in Chatham.”
A3.3
identify some of the main factors that helped shape the development of settlements in Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, during this period (e.g., the fur trade, the establishment of trading posts based on trade routes and the knowledge of First Nations and Métis peoples; navigable lakes and rivers for trade and transportation; climate; proximity to natural resources; the origins of settlers), and describe how the physical features of the land (e.g., topography, proximity to water, fertility of the soil) and the availability of goods and services (e.g., mills, churches, roads, proximity to sacred sites) can facilitate settlement and enhance community life
- If you were going to establish a farm, what type of land would you look for? What types of resources would you want to have access to?
- Why did precontact First Nations select the locations for their communities where they did? Why were many Métis and First Nations communities located along rivers and lakes? Why are there a lot of settlements along the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes?
- Why would wealthy British settlers want to live near ports and towns?
- What impact did European settlers’ desire to have the best land for their farms have on the location of reserve lands and on First Nations peoples?
- Why might Inuit communities have moved locations throughout the year?
- “If I were going to be a farmer, I would want flat land that had a river nearby so my animals had water to drink. I would not want too many trees. It is harder to plant crops between trees.”
- “I would want to build my house near a town so I could buy things and have someone to talk to.”
- “First Nations communities did not build settlements on sacred sites. They protected those areas instead.”
A3.4
describe some of the major challenges facing communities in Canada during this period, including at least one First Nation, Métis, or Inuit community (e.g., challenges relating to the climate; isolation in rural settlements; competition for resources; European diseases among First Nations; colonial wars and other conflicts; racism; displacement; overfishing of whales)
- How were the Black Loyalists treated in Nova Scotia?
- What would you do for recreation if you lived deep in the woods and had no electricity?
- What types of challenges did settlers face as a result of the climate in Upper Canada?
- What were some of the impacts of the introduction of European diseases to First Nations peoples, such as the impact of tuberculosis on the Beothuk people or the impact of smallpox on the First Nations throughout the Prairies?
- What were some of the impacts of forced relocation on some First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities? Why were Indigenous communities relocated?
A3.5
describe the impact of some different kinds of settlements (e.g., seasonal settlements of some seminomadic First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities; trading posts; resource towns; large-scale farms; large towns or developing cities) on the natural environment and on any existing settlements
- How might a new settlement in the middle of a First Nation’s territory affect how the First Nation used the land during different seasons?
- What relationship did the First Nations, the Métis, and the Inuit have with the land? What was the settler relationship with the land? How did the two differ?
- How did developing towns deal with garbage and sewage?
- Who was living in Lower Canada when British Loyalists were given land grants there? What effect did the new settlers have on existing peoples?
- What are the positive and negative effects of clearing land for farms?
- “In order to farm they had to cut down all the trees. Now the animals that lived in those trees do not have a place to live. Some animals died, and some went somewhere else to live, but the farmers needed to be able to grow their crops to feed their families and communities.”
- “The settlers were looking to make money from the land. The First Nations people only took what they needed to survive.”
- “The First Nations, Métis, and Inuit looked at the Earth as sacred and alive with spirit. They applied ecological knowledge and intergenerational knowledge to support activities like agriculture, hunting, trapping, harvesting, and foraging for berries and other foods and medicines.”
A3.6
describe some key aspects of life in selected First Nations, Métis, and settler communities in Canada during this period, including the roles of men, women, and children (e.g., with reference to diet; how food was obtained; clothing; housing; recreation; education; the division of labour between men, women, and children)
- What might a child’s responsibilities be and how might they differ from season to season?
- How did men and women in some First Nations work together to ensure the survival of their families and/or communities?
- How did Haudenosaunee women and men both play an important role in leading their nations?
- How would settlers have divided chores between men and women, boys and girls?
- What happened to families if the husband/father died or was seriously ill? What happened to families if the wife/mother died or was seriously ill?
- “In some communities girls and women gathered nuts, berries, vegetables, and medicines.”
- “In Ojibwe communities men, women, and children worked together to build the wigwams.”
- “There are some different teachings and ceremonies for both boys and girls. There are also two-spirit teachings.”
- “Some settler girls worked in the home sewing, cleaning, and cooking while some boys worked on the farms doing chores and planting and harvesting crops.”
- “It would be hard moving to a new community that was just being created. Black settlers took on a lot of different roles to build the community. I learned that Josiah Henson was an important leader.”
A3.7
identify a few key treaties relevant to Indigenous people in their region during this period, including wampum belts exchanged (e.g., Two Row Wampum), and explain how some of these agreements affected various peoples and communities in that region and beyond (e.g., with reference to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 1784; the Haldimand Proclamation, 1784; the Jay Treaty, 1794; the Treaty of Greenville, 1795; the Selkirk Treaty, 1817; the Huron Tract Treaty, 1827; the Saugeen Treaty, 1836; the Mississaugas of New Credit Land Cession Agreements; the Manitoulin Island Treaties, 1836; the Robinson-Superior and Robinson-Huron Treaties, 1850)
- What agreements were made between First Nations communities on this land before the settlers came? What does it mean to honour the treaties?
- How did First Nations people view their relationship with the land? Why did the settler governments want to use and have access to the First Nations land and territories? In what ways did the relationship with the land differ between the First Nations people and the settler governments? How might these differences have had an impact on each of their understandings of the intent of a treaty?
- “I think treaties, like the Treaty of Niagara, were meant to be good for protecting First Nations rights to land.”
- “Many First Nations people believe that land is cared for by the community, and that every person has a right to use it or be a part of it. It’s like being partners, where people take care of the land for future generations. The Haudenosaunee used wampum to show that they had talked about it with the settlers and made an agreement.”
A3.8
describe how some different communities in Canada related to each other during this period, with a focus on whether the relationships were characterized by conflict or cooperation (e.g., cooperation between First Nations and settler communities with respect to the sharing of medicines and technologies; intermarriage between First Nations women and European men; cooperative efforts to establish farms and villages; conflicts as settlers impinged on First Nations lands and Métis communities; conflicts between various religious or cultural groups)
- What types of things could newcomers have learned from the First Nations and Métis peoples who were already living in the area on the land where the newcomers were settling? Why do you think there was conflict between the newcomers and the people who already lived in the area?
- How did Europeans interact with First Nations peoples? What type of strategies did Europeans use to change and assimilate First Nations peoples?
- What are some of the ways in which First Nations peoples and European settlers cooperated with each other?
- How did settlers in Nova Scotia view the arrival of Black Loyalists?
- “I think the First Nations peoples really helped settlers survive on this land. They taught them things, like how to make maple syrup and how to make medicine from plants.”