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Your Canadian Citizenship
Study Guide
Aboriginal peoples
When Europeans explored Canada they found all
regions occupied by native peoples they called
Indians, because the first explorers thought they
had reached the East Indies. The native people
lived off the land, some by hunting and gathering,
others by raising crops. The Huron-Wendat of
the Great Lakes region, like the Iroquois, were
farmers and hunters. The Cree and Dene of the
Northwest were hunter-gatherers. The Sioux were
nomadic, following the bison (buffalo) herd. The
Inuit lived off Arctic wildlife. West Coast natives
preserved fish by drying and smoking. Warfare
was common among Aboriginal groups as they
competed for land, resources and prestige.
The arrival of European traders, missionaries,
soldiers and colonists changed the native way
of life forever. Large numbers of Aboriginals
died of European diseases to which they lacked
immunity. However, Aboriginals and Europeans
formed strong economic, religious and military
bonds in the first 200 years of coexistence which
laid the foundations of Canada.
Canada’s History
14
The First Europeans
The Vikings from Iceland who colonized
Greenland 1,000 years ago also reached Labrador
and the island of Newfoundland. The remains
of their settlement, l’Anse aux Meadows, are a
World Heritage site.
European exploration began in earnest in 1497
with the expedition of John Cabot, who was the
first to draw a map of Canada’s East Coast.
Exploring a river, naming Canada
Between 1534 and 1542, Jacques Cartier made
three voyages across the Atlantic, claiming the
land for King Francis I of France. Cartier heard
two captured guides speak the Iroquoian word
kanata
, meaning “village.” By the 1550s, the
name of
Canada
began appearing on maps.
(Top)
Indian encampment, fur
trade era
(Right)
John Cabot, an Italian
immigrant to England,
was the first to map
Canada’s Atlantic
shore, setting foot on
Newfoundland or Cape
Breton Island in 1497 and
claiming the
New Founde
Land
for England. English
settlement did not begin
until 1610
Jacques Cartier was
the first European to
explore the St. Lawrence
River and to set eyes on
present-day Québec City
and Montreal