B3. Identities, Cultures, and Self-Determination
Specific Expectations
B3.1
describe some First Nations and Inuit accounts of their origins and early history (e.g., creation stories, migration stories, peace and friendship histories), and analyse some ways in which these accounts have been treated in Canadian history as well as some factors that have contributed to this treatment (e.g., the dominance of Western religious beliefs and political ideologies; power inequalities; imperialism/colonialism; federal/provincial governments’ interest in challenging the validity of land claims or Indigenous rights; scientific practices; conflicting beliefs about what constitutes historical evidence)
- When you consult a source about the origins of Indigenous peoples in North America, are you more likely to find archaeologists’ perspectives or Indigenous creation stories? If both approaches are presented, is one characterized as more credible? If so, why do you think that is the case?
- How were historical accounts documented, maintained, and passed down by Indigenous communities?
- Why might a historical idea, account, or explanation accepted in the past not be accepted today?
B3.2
analyse ways in which social and political structures, including roles and kinship systems, of some First Nations and Inuit societies prior to 1500 in what would be called North America contributed to the identities and well-being of these societies and interrelationships in them (e.g., with respect to the roles of chiefs, council members, shamans, prophets, Elders, storytellers, sewers and garment makers, drum keepers, healers, warriors, hunters, gatherers, farmers; kinship systems such as clans; patrilineal and matrilineal societies)
- What social roles were common to most First Nations? What roles were unique to specific nations?
- In what ways did the social and/or political structures of First Nations of the Northwest Coast tend to differ from those of nations in what is now Ontario?
- What was the role of the Bear clan in Ojibwe societies or the Turtle clan in Haudenosaunee societies? How did the clan support an individual’s place in society and the well-being of the community?
B3.3
describe beliefs and values of some First Nations and Inuit societies prior to 1500 in what would be called North America, with a particular focus on the relationship between people, the land, the spiritual world, and the environment (e.g., beliefs reflected in stories, including creation stories; animist beliefs and respect for the environment; a sense of reciprocity with the spirit world and the necessity to show gratitude for its gifts; the significance of animals in Indigenous stories and traditional practices; how new generations were taught about the natural world), and analyse the significance of these beliefs/values for First Nations and Inuit identities
- What were ‘the Three Sisters’ in Haudenosaunee society? What did practices relating to the Three Sisters convey about environmental sustainability and stewardship among the Haudenosaunee and other First Nations? In what ways are these practices consistent with what we know today about sustainable agricultural practices?
- What are some ways in which traditional Inuit storytelling expresses values and beliefs of Inuit with respect to the environment? In what ways do the beliefs/values in these stories reflect scientific knowledge? How do the stories contribute to the environmental education of listeners?
- What are some ways in which the relationship of First Nations or Inuit with the environment was influenced by spiritual beliefs?
B3.4
describe some artistic and technological developments in First Nations and Inuit societies prior to 1500 in what would be called North America (e.g., pictographs, rock and wood carving, birch bark scrolls, traditional clothing, methods of storing/preserving food, bannerstones, snowshoes, snow goggles, sleds, including dog sleds, combs, canoes, umiaqs, kayaks, moccasins, medicines, weapons such as the bow and arrow, tools such as ulus and harpoons with toggle heads, agricultural developments), and explain their long-term significance as well as what they tell us about the lives of people at this time
- What was the role of artistic expression in the transmission of culture for some First Nations and Inuit communities at this time?
- What does the integration of art and technology reveal about the values and beliefs of precontact Indigenous cultures?
- What was the short- and long-term significance of this technological development?
