In Todays News, First Peoples Territories

   Before the Europeans discovered North America, Canada was thriving with thousands of different tribes of first nations. Not one group was the same, most had different dialects, worldviews, and ways of life. The Canadian encyclopedia describes the areas by saying "Rather than representing ten distinct cultures, these areas reflect geographic and cultural groupings that are fluid and often intermixed".  North America had ten of these regions in total, but only six of them were inside Canada's borders.
   The six different cultural areas in Canada included...
-Arctic
-Subarctic (Western and Eastern)
-Plateau
-Great Plains/Prairie
-Northwest coast
-Wood lands or Northeast
   Groups that lived in the same geographical areas would of had similar cultural elements, like diets, clothing styles, and housing. Below is a map showing these regions.

Cultural areas of North America Indigenous peoples at the time of European contact (2016) Uploaded by Nikater. Available online at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations#/media/File:Nordamerikanische_Kulturareale_en.png

  During that time there were approximately 50 major language and 12 distinct language families in Canada, on top of that there were countless different dialects spoken by countless unique tribes. Language families are a group of languages that have evolved from one starting language. Although there were so many dialects, 94% of them are at risk of extinction. "As First Nations traditionally preserved and transmitted their culture and history through the oral tradition, no First Nations language in Canada had a writing system prior to European contact." (Quote from the University of British Colombia). It wasn't until the Europeans came over and taught them how did they start writing. Below is a map of the different language families. 

Distribution of language families and isolates north of Mexico at first contact (2016). Uploaded by  en:User:ish ishwar. Available online at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Langs_N.Amer.png

For more visit.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people/  (used for first quote)

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/languages.html   (used for second quote)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations

September.30, 2016

This Reminds Me Of

When I think of "primary" and "secondary" sources, my mind goes directly to museums. To understand why my mind thinks of museums you have to know what "primary", and "secondary" sources mean:

 Primary Sources:

• The "first" source (actual source)
• You have to have a primary source to make a historical assumption
• Examples.) Letter, Contract, Photo, Interview, Diary, Original Video (from original source)

Secondary Sources:

• These are the ones that we use (in school)
• Examples.) Textbook's, You Tube Video, Book's, Film's

Can Create a Secondary Source From...

• Connecting primary sources
• Looking at other secondary sources
• Gathering information from primary, and secondary sources

When Looking At Sources: (This is what workers from Pawn Stars has to do ;))

• Trust the source of information.
• Do they look authentic?
• Are the people who are writing qualified to write?
• Is the story biased?
• Was there any editing/staging done to make the photos/videos look a certain way?

Museums

Definition:
A building where historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are kept and exhibited.
Why do we have museums?
Museums come in all different shapes, and sizes, and are located all over the world. There are a whole bunch of different types of museums. Some are: fine arts, applied arts, craft, history, cultural history, military history, science, technology, children's museums, natural history...and more. Even though there are a lot of different types of museums, they all have the same intentions. There intentions are to share information about the past. Each type of museum distributes there information in there own way, even though there are a few things that they have in common. Some of the things that they have in common are that they all have sources, whether they are primary or secondary. Some museums have primary sources, others have secondary sources, and some have a mix of both. The most common source that you would see in an museum would be a secondary source. The reason is that there can only be one primary source for something, but a whole bunch on replicas of an artifact (primary). Another reason why it is not common for a museum to have secondary sources and not primary sources is that primary sources are very expensive. In fact if you were going to by the famous painting call "the Mona Lisa" then you would have to bring at least 780 million dollars with you.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights (2013) Uploaded by unknown, Historica Canada. Available online at:http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-museum-for-human-rights/

What types of things are in a museum?

All of the things that go into a museum have to be significant
The significance of history depends on:

• If it was important at the time? If so, how important was it?
• If the consequences widespread and lasting?
• How much did the event symbolise an important issue or trend?
• Who it was important to?

Now that you know what primary and secondary sources, and museums are...

Now that you know what primary and secondary sources, and museums are you now should be able to understand why I think of museums when I hear  those words.
In every single museum there has to be either primary sources (the original artifact); secondary sources (a replica of the original artifact); or both. If does not have any of those it is not a museum.

This Reminds me of:

In our grade 11 History course, the topic of Leaders came up when talking about the First Peoples. As we learned about the ways of the First Peoples, I couldn't help but notice how similar their societies functioned to ours (in the sense of "government" or "leadership"). In Canada, we have what is called a democracy. We as people, have a lot of freedoms in speech and are free to speak our opinions. Different areas also happen to have personal representatives, chosen by voting. Although our country does happen to be represented by one person (prime minister), it doesn't necessarily mean that we are controlled.

The First Peoples also happened to have someone to represent their groups. This person was elected through various ways, but often in a group decision. In order to be a leader nowadays, you have to have something to offer. It’s more than just randomized choosing. This was the same back when the First Peoples were around too. Things like family ties, area, physical abilities, and other things played a role in who would be appointed to be the leader. We look for different things in a leader, but the idea if having some type of plan or direction for the group remains the same. We as people try to find someone who will benefit everyone. Not only that, but we look for someone to represent us in a good way. Things like gender roles have no real meaning back when the First Peoples were still around. In our communities and work places, gender roles aren't a big deal (anymore). The whole idea of government and working together for the people's benefits happens to also be a similarity. 

 Both we as people now and back then focused hard on making sure that everything stayed in working order and that everyone was happy. In both people, the majority of decisions are/were made in the hopes of bettering both the community and the people who live in it. To be important in the community back then, you had to be smart. The same idea applies now. There are certain qualifications as to who gets chosen to represent the peoples. Which happens to be very smart if you think about it; it shows that the First Peoples and our societies are alike in a good way. Governing a town or city is quite difficult and stressful, as would governing a colony or group of people. The person in charge would have a lot of responsibilities. This didn’t change over time ether, because our government is very important nowadays and are needed for decision making. Without a type of government or system, both peoples would have struggled greatly to strive. Things like when to hunt, who hunts, where they hunt, what animal to hunt, etc... Are the types of decisions that the leader of the group may have had to make. For our society it would be things like: making/enforcing laws, politics, taxes, etc… Both peoples had a very organized system, and everyone is open to helping.

The first people

We learned about the first people and how they lived, how they held onto peace and prosperity.
The first peoples of Canada signed treaties to band together and hunt larger herds of animals for the benefit of everyone.

We also learned about worldview and sourcing of historical evidence, such as sorting it into primary and secondary sources and how "presntism" can impact the world.

Primary sources are mainly recordings or journals from the event itself while the secondary sources are pretty much anything else.

The First Peoples-Lifestyles

Today in our History class, we continued to learn about the first Peoples of Canada. We took notes on things like Justice and conflicts, Relationships, and Leaders.




Justice & Conflict
-everyone works towards the good of the community
-everybody shares their stuff with each other, so there wasn't nearly as much theft as there is now
-people who broke the customs were seen as "out of balance" (customs could be mental, spiritual, physical, or emotional)

-the people offended were consoled by elders to make amends and restore harmony

-the event of a serious crime (like murder) was considered a responsibility of the whole community(supervision, guidance, or isolation for a period of time)




Relationships
- All communities practiced self-governance
-most group decisions happened through consensus
-decisions needed to be for the good of everyone (in present + future/ humans, animals and nature)




Leaders
-decided in any ways depending on the group or family (family ties, abilities like hunting/ negotiating)
-Could change often depending on: >community confidence >season >community status (peaceful, in conflict, in crisis, etc...)




The First Peoples (2007). Uploaded by Goldi Productions Ltd.
Available online at: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_groups_overview.html






 Historical Quotes Of The Day:

"Our greatest glory is not never falling, but in rising every time we fall" ~Confucius

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past" ~Thomas Jefferson

Both quotes: History Quotes (2001-2016). Uploaded by unknown. Available online at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_history.html



Cultural languages

cultural area. (2007). uploaded by  Goldi Productions Ltd. avahttp://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_groups_languages.htmllibale online at

In Todays News

Today in class we talked about Rupert's land, New France, and 13 Colonies.  We started off with talking about New France. New France is a very interesting topic, the population started off at 15 000 in the year 1700 and in sixty years the population jumped up to 65 000 people.(that's a lot of people in sixty years). News back then was passed down from the main head person to different levels of people. Rupert's land is the smallest colony out of the 3, with New France being the next biggest. There was not very many people in Rupert's land so they all had to do work in the colony. 13 Colonies is the biggest colony out of the 3. This colony had enough people to not fall behind in  their work so the elders could  sit down and rest while the younger people could go and work for the day.



http://blogdev.learnquebec.ca/societies/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/nggallery/new-france-1645/Fur_traders_in_canada_1777.jpg
Taken off google

Ethan

In Today's News..

In the classroom we have been learning all about The First Peoples & Their world.

Territories

There are "6" Cultural Areas in Canada
-Arctic
-Subarctic
     -Western & Eastern
-Northwest Coast
-Plateau
-Great Plains/Prairies
-Woodlands

Map. (2012). Uploaded by Dragonfly Consulting Services Canada. Available online at:
http://dragonflycanada.ca/resources/aboriginal-peoples-terminology/

Language Families

Before the European Contact was made there were about:
        -50 major languages
        -12 distinct language families
        -numerous dialects.
To this day 94% of indigenous languages in Canada are at risk of extinction due to lack of speaking them. (1)The three most used are Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut
(1) https://slmc.uottawa.ca/?q=native_peoples_languages


Manitoba

We have three Cultural Areas in Canada:
      -Subarctic
           -(West/East)
      -Great Plains/Prairies
      -Woodlands
There are also language groups (5 of them)
       -Cree
       -Dakota
       -Ojibwe/Ojibway
       -Oji-Cree
       -Dene

(2) As of 2011, the most popular language spoken in Canada was Algonquian with a total of 144,015 people speaking it.
(2)https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011003_3-eng.cfm

Social structure of the first people

During the class where we discussed the social structure and values of the first people we talked about gender roles, clans, extended families, community size and the elders. The social structures of the first people were usually based on the way a group related to one another based on written or unwritten laws.

The elders where the most respected people in the community or clan because of their wisdom and knowledge. People would go to the elders for advice and guidance. Elders could be a man or women and it did not matter if you were younger or old. To become an Elder you must have experience and you must earn the respect of the community through your wisdom and actions.

The clans were a group of individuals who make a community or are a part of a larger community. Clans were usually determined by common ancestry among the people. The size of the community was based on the amount of resources you have and that already exists in your location, the more resources you had the bigger your community or clan would become.

Extended families and gender roles: the extended families are made up of all the family members including: children, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and your parents all in one house hold. the men of the house usually were the one who would take the role of hunter and they would protector the family and the villages. The men were also the one who went to war if one would ever happen. the women were the one who would remain in the village to tend to meals, harvest crops and organize the people. Children would also remain in the village and help with everyday duties like cooking, sewing, help in the fields.(uploaded by goldi productions in http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_wf6.html)

Leader; the leader or chief of the village was usually determined by the bloodline of the mother. the war chief was determined by position through valor, wealth and courage.  The more an individual had to offer and give away the more their status rose.

(uploaded by goldi productions in http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_wf6.html)

The First Peoples: Social Structure

 Today in Mrs. Thompson's class, we talk mostly about the lives and social structures of the First Peoples. We learned about the different aspects of how the First peoples lived.


Social Structure
-Extended Families
-Clans
-Community Size
-Gender Roles
-Elder
-Education (unfinished)


Extended Families


An extended family was made up of many relatives, like the children, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins.
"Families were important, and extended families shared living quarters."
http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_wf6.html

Clans

A clan is a number of people that made up a society or lived within a bigger society. Common ancestry (human or animal) and geography were what determined clans. A clan can either follow the maternal(mother) side or paternal(father) side.

"Clan membership was always inherited through the mother's side of the family. A person always married outside of their own clan."

More information at:

http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_nwc6.html

First Peoples Historical Overview. Available online at:

http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_groups_overview.html

Community Size

Depending on how much available resources there were determined the size of the community. Lots of food, safety, and shelter meant a big community. The community size also depended on the changing seasons.

"New villages were settled every 10 to 30 years. Every ten or twenty years – whenever the soil got poor, the place got too dirty, or the fish and game became scarce - everyone would move their village to a new place where the soil was richer in nutrients and the fish and game still plentiful."

Settlements and Housing . Available at: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_wf2.html   

Gender Roles

Even though the roles of the women and men were pretty set, the roles were very flexible. In the end it didn't matter what gender you were as long as were contributing to the duties in the community.

"The females were symbols of fertility, and raised the children, and tended to the fields. The males were the hunters and the protectors of the family and the villages."

Family. More info at: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_wf6.html

Elders

An Elder was someone who was very well respected, had great wisdom and knowledge. An Elder could be a person old or young, man or women, but the must have much experience in many different things. These people were who all the other people would come to for help regularly. They were not taught how to lead, so they were naturally like this.

"The Elders held the wisdom and were greatly respected. The eldest female was the master of the longhouse. The elder grandfathers were the storytellers."

Family. Available at: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_wf6.html

Education

For education everyone in the community were the teachers, and the children learned by action. Their education system is based on guiding children to learn what they wanted. Everyone had different skills and so they learned by watching and practicing with other members who did that skill (hunters went hunting with long time hunters.) Although everyone in the community was meant to know the groups history, spiritualty, and basic skills.

"Children’s games, like those of the Sarcee, taught life skills."

Children. Available at:  http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_plains6.html   

 

                                            (Continuing more on Education next class) 

In Today's News..

Today In Mrs. Thompson's class, we leaned about the different cultural areas in Canada and the different Indigenous language families in Canada.

Cultural Areas
There are "6" Cultural Areas.
-Arctic
-Subarctic
  -Western and Eastern
-Northwest Coast
-Plateau
-Great Plains/Prairie
-Woodlands

Cultural groups were separated this way because of (1) “groups that are or were similar in culture and history,” For example they had the same style of clothes, houses and food sources.

Aboriginal Cultures Groups Map. (2011). Uploaded by O, Canada!. Available online at: https://1eonsauce.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/aboriginal-culture-groups-map-best.png

(1) http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people/


Language Families

Prior to the first European contact (2) (France in 1534) there were approximately 50 major languages. They were 12 distinct language families but countless dialects.
Language is arguably the most important part of the First People's culture and history.
Roughly 94% of Indigenous languages are at risk of extinction.


(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_France


Manitoba

Manitoba is a part of 3 Cultural Areas.
 -Subarctic (East & West)
 -Great Plains
 -Woodlands
Manitoba is also a part of 5 language families.
 -Cree
 -Dakota
 -Ojibway
 -Oji-Cree
 -Dene

WHO CARES?

In class, we learned to rate exactly how historically significant events from the past were.

"Historical significance is the process used to evaluate what was significant about selected events, people, and developments in the past. Historians use different sets of criteria to help them make judgements about significance." http://facingthepastshapingthefuture.com/teacher-guidance/teaching-learning-strategies/history/historical-significance/


Every event ranges in significance and its historian's jobs to determine that. They have to determine whether or not an event is worth sharing with others. Historians have to think about many things when they determine historical significance and weigh the overall importance of an event.


Historical significance depends on many things.....
          Importance of event at the time
          How widespread and lasting were the consequences of event
          How much the event/incident symbolized an important issue or trend
          Which group deems it important... it usually isn't important to everyone

All these aspects of historical significance deem things important but it is crucial to recognize when events aren't important enough to share with a nation. Not everything needs to be remembered, but some things certainly do in order to not repeat history. The things that need to be remembered are considered historically significant. Not all historically significant events are well known and it's our job as a human being to recognize it and do our best to share it with the world, but sometimes we remember things we really don't need to. After all, eating a really good pb&j sandwich might be important to you at the time, but I don't think the council of world leaders would really care. Meanwhile, everyone wants know if there's a new leader because it could initiate all of the things that make an event important... especially if there's a leader as attractive as Justin Trudeau.
"Very simply put. Something of historical significance is anything that had a bearing on the situation at the period of time it took place. For example, gun powder being used in a cannon for the first time changed history. so its significance was real. Another example was at the battle of Hastings 1066 the English cavalry could not use their lances at full speed as they had no way of staying on the horse when contacting the enemy. The reason..Their didnt have stirrups to help support them in the saddle. The Normans did have them. They were invented by the Mongols and slowly spread across Europe. So stirrups were of historical significance at Hasting..They helped win the battle." -Howard Prothero

(https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-historical-significance)

The First Peoples- Clans

Iroquois Wars. (Accessed 2015). Uploaded by the Canadian Encyclopedia. Available online at: https://tce-live2.s3.amazonaws.com/media/media/1ddef9e7-e3c5-4510-9e9c-e1994ac29434.jpg