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)