A1. Application: The Impact of Interactions
Specific Expectations
A1.1
describe some of the positive and negative consequences of contact between Indigenous peoples and European explorers and settlers in what would eventually become Canada (e.g., with reference to the impact of European diseases on First Nations; the impact of Europeans’ belief that they had the right to claim First Nations territory for themselves; intermarriage between First Nations women and European men and the ethnogenesis of the Métis; competition between different First Nations peoples, Métis, and European settlers for land and resources; alliances among First Nations and between First Nations and European settlers; the introduction of alcohol and European weapons; the contribution of First Nation ideas about democratic community governance systems), and analyse their significance
- What were some of the major short- and long-term consequences for the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe people of contact with European explorers and settlers?
- If you look at the consequences of interactions between First Nations and European settlers and explorers, which were of greatest significance to the settlers? To explorers? To First Nations? Which are most significant to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians in the twenty-first century? Why does the assessment of the significance of an event or development depend on the perspective of the group you are considering?
- What impact did European missionaries have on First Nations’ traditional beliefs, spiritual ceremonies, world views, ways of life, and/or attitudes about the importance of the land? What reactions did First Nations people have to the beliefs, teachings, and/or practices of the Jesuits?
- What were some of the short- and long-term consequences of the fur trade for both First Nations and Europeans?
- Why did Leif Erikson, Martin Frobisher, and/or John Cabot come to the northeastern coast of what became Canada? What was the impact of their arrival on Inuit?
A1.2
analyse aspects of contact between Indigenous peoples and European explorers and settlers in what would eventually become Canada to determine ways in which different parties benefited from each other (e.g., early European settlers, slave owners, coureurs de bois, and European fur trade company employees benefited from First Nations and Métis ways of knowing, including their knowledge of land-based subsistence with respect to hunting, medicines, foods, geography, modes of transportation appropriate for local conditions, and established trade routes; the imperial government in France benefited economically from the fur trade and from alliances with First Nations, who aided them in their conflict with the British; First Nations benefited from some of the new materials and technologies introduced by Europeans; First Nations and European peoples benefited from the cultural knowledge, social ties, and language skills of the Métis)
- What are some First Nations items, beliefs, traditions, customs, and/or world views that were adopted by European explorers and settlers? What are some European settlers’ and explorers’ items, beliefs, and/or world views that were adopted by First Nations and/or Métis peoples?
- How were New France and Britain connected to the fur trade during this period? What was the significance for the Métis of European involvement in the fur trade?
A1.3
explain some of the ways in which interactions among Indigenous peoples, among European explorers and settlers, and between Indigenous and European people in what would eventually become Canada are connected to issues in present-day Canada (e.g., with reference to land claims; treaty rights and responsibilities; treaty-making processes and people excluded from these processes; environmental stewardship and relationships with the land; resource ownership, extraction, and use)
- How do First Nations today view early treaties entered into with the French? How does the government of Canada view those treaties? How would you account for differences in these points of view?
- Why did early settlers rely on the Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) of First Nations people? In what ways might the IEK of today’s First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit be relevant to an environmental issue such as climate change?
- What were the differences between First Nations and European settlers in what would become Canada with respect to views on land use and ownership? How have some of these differences led to conflict in present-day Canada over Indigenous land rights?
- What role did friendship, respect, and peaceful co-existence play in relations between First Nations, Métis, and Europeans prior to 1713? What lessons can we learn from the spirit and intent of these early relations?
- What impact did contact between First Nations and Europeans at this time have on the traditional roles of First Nations women? What connection might there be between changes in these roles and present-day violence against Indigenous girls and women?