Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/92

Contributor - Jeff Kingswood

Title - A Historical Overview (Native Canadians)

Topic - Canada

Did you know that when Solomon was building the temple in Jerusalem, early Woodland culture was establishing itself in what is now Eastern Canada? Or did you know that in the 15th century, at about the time of the establishment of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of the nation state in Western Europe, the Iroquoian peoples had established a representative government involving five native nations? How about the fact that when William the Conqueror was invading Britain in the 11th century, the Dorset people of Canada's far north had developed the snow house or 'igloo' to allow them to adopt a migratory hunting lifestyle in search of seal, walrus, and caribou.

As Canadians our view of history has been very much centred on Europe and Western Asia. High schools and universities routinely offer courses in Ancient and Medieval history where we learn about Alexander the Great, Rome and the Caesars, Hadrian's Wall, the Norman Conquest, serfs, vassals, kings, and all the wars of Europe. But how many of us have learned of the feudal culture of the Pacific northwest which included its own nobility, common class, and slave class? A study of democracy always includes reference to the Magna Carta and English Common Law but do we learn much at all about the Longhouse confederacy with its upper and lower house?

To try and encapsulate the entire history of Canada's native- peoples in a short article is, of course, impossible. At best we can give a short overview that will hopefully whet your appetite for more.

The Inuit (sometimes Eskimo): Native Beginnings

Those who have studied the matter believe North America's native peoples crossed into what is now Alaska some 15,000 to 8,000 years ago (depending upon your source) from Asia across the Bering Strait. Whether this 90 km crossing was over a mid-winter ice pack or by boat is unknown and the subject of many scholarly works.

Whatever the means these Asiatic peoples soon spread into North America and headed in two directions. One group continued eastward in the high Arctic and became what archaeologists call the "Pre-Dorset" people. The others traveled south and from there moved further south and east.

Canada's modern lnuit people are descended from this pre-Dorset culture. The Dorset people were migratory, as we have mentioned, in summer following caribou and in winter, the seal and walrus. This culture gradually gave way to the Thule culture which differed from previous cultures in two respects. The Thule used dogs to increase their ability to move with the hunt and they hunted the whale for its flesh and oil. By about 1750 A.D. this was the basic lifestyle of the northern peoples.

The Dorset first encountered Europeans when the Vikings came to northern Newfoundland around 1000 A.D., but the contact was brief and had no lasting effect. It was the period following Martin Frobisher's explorations in 1576 that saw the greatest effect of European culture on the Inuit. These explorers who sought a North West passage brought with them firearms, cooking utensils and disease. When the European whalers of the 19th century came into contact with these people, the Inuit died by the hundreds of diseases against which they had no immunity. By the early 1900's the bowhead whale was near extinction and whalers moved elsewhere. Meanwhile the Inuit, who had grown accustomed to the convenience of many trade goods, went through a terrible culture shock. The early part of the century saw the fur trade in white fox replace whaling and once again the Inuit became dependent on white trade goods.

Today the Inuit peoples are attempting to come to terms with the conflict between cultures and see a restoration of language, education, social structure and self-government. To accept change and still see their culture survive, and even thrive, is the goal of Canada's Inuit.

Coastal Indians

As the Asiatic peoples moved south the native culture of the Pacific Northwest emerged. This was a stable, stationary culture which was dependent on fishing and whaling for its existence. A tremendous infrastructure of nobility, commoner, and slave was developed, and trade with inland peoples for oil increased the stature of these coastal peoples. As with any culture that is wealthy enough for leisure, art emerged and flourished and to this day the art of the Coastal Indians is prized the world over.

Plains Indians

Those tribes that moved inland went in several different directions. The Plains Indians developed a highly mobile society following the bison which were the primary food source and so developing a culture adapted to this migratory pattern. The tipi, the travois, and after 1730, the horse, are all integral parts of the Plains culture. It is from the conflict between these Plains peoples and the American westward expansion that our prototype movie Indian image has emerged, but to see all Indian peoples in this way is the same as imagining all Europeans were Romans.

Eastern Woodland Indians The other major culture group that emerged among Canada's native peoples was the Eastern Woodland Indians made up of the Iroquois and Algonquin. These peoples were a combination of hunters and farmers. Corn, squash, and beans formed the staple diet and hunting and fishing added to the larder. An area would be farmed for seven to ten years until the land was exhausted and then a new area would be cleared and farmed. The semipermanent wigwam and longhouse were developed by these peoples. These eastern natives also developed the canoe, the snowshoe, and the toboggan.

Because of their stable lifestyle, these peoples were the first in North America to develop a type of government by council and many federations and confederations marked their relationships with each other.

The white man first came into contact with these people in the year 1534 when Jacques Cartier sailed into Chaleur Bay and met the Micmacs. The fur trade fuelled the first interaction between Indian and white but soon the white man came to settle and the conflicts began. We still bear the legacy as land claim issues, native self-government, and residential schools fill the news media.

The legacy for the Church has all too often been a sad one and as we shall see in this issue of the Pioneer, the challenge for the Church is great.

If you would like to learn more about Canada's native people, your Public Library is a good place to start or you may write: Dept. of Indian Affairs, Communications Branch, Room 658, Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere, Ottawa, Ontario KIA 9Z9 and request a free copy of The Canadian Indian, and The Inuit.

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