B1. Social, Economic, and Political Context
Specific Expectations
B1.1
compare aspects of the way of life in some First Nations and Inuit societies prior to 1500 in different regions of what would be called North America (e.g., with reference to hunting, gathering, and agricultural societies; seasonal rhythms; gender constructs and roles; family life and childrearing; housing; spiritual beliefs; health and medicine; law and justice; values relating to wealth/prosperity and/or land and land ownership; knowledge transfer and education; community life; craft skills and production; practices related to birth, marriage, and death)
- What are some ways in which First Nations or Inuit in different regions differed from each other with respect to food production and diet? What factors account for these differences?
- What natural resources were available to peoples in these regions? How did these resources influence the types of material goods they produced?
- Why might the craft skills of various peoples differ?
- What were some differences in the housing of Plains, Eastern Woodlands, and Northwest Coast First Nations?
- What are some ways in which geography and climate shaped the lives of First Nations and Inuit and their relationship to the environment?
- What is the Seventh Generation Principle? What are some ways in which First Nations tried to sustain natural resources for the benefit of these future generations?
B1.2
analyse key issues, trends, and/or developments in the economies of some First Nations and Inuit societies prior to 1500 in what would be called North America (e.g., in relation to food sustainability and security; access to trade routes and types of items traded; gift giving to redistribute wealth; divisions of labour; implementation of peace and friendship protocols when war threatened trade relations; the economic impact of alliances and confederacies; the use of land and natural resources)
- What types of materials/resources were traded among First Nations prior to sustained contact with Europeans? What nations were major trading partners? What were the most common trade routes? Why?
- What types of trade existed between peoples of the Arctic and the Subarctic?
- How do we know that Inuit traded with First Nations to the south in precontact times?
- What role did gift giving play in the economies of some First Nations?
B1.3
identify key political pacts, treaties, alliances, and confederacies among First Nations prior to 1500 in what would be called North America, and explain their purpose (e.g., the Great Law of Peace solidified the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and served as a covenant with respect to representation and good governance; peace and friendship treaties represented in wampum belts among the Three Fires Confederacies helped members gain access to trade routes controlled by Haudenosaunee nations)
- What conditions prompted First Nations to develop pacts, treaties, and alliances with each other during the precontact period?
- What role did the commodities trade play in the development of alliances between nations?