Three of Canada’s First
Nations
Mi’kmaq
Haudenosaunee
Anishinabe
Chapter One
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Questions to Look At:
• What were the different ways in which
Mi’kmaq, Haudenosaunee and Anishinabe
societies structured?
• How do environment and geography affect
culture and identity?
• How can connections to the past be
important to identity?
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Why these groups?
These were some of the first groups to have contact with the
European colonists; they were very affected by them!
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Focus Area
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Mi’kmaq Society
A look into how their tribe is set up!
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Seven Districts
• Each district has local
leaders (Saqamaws) who
are chosen/advised by
elders
• There are district council
meetings
• Each district sends a rep to
a Grand Council
• The Grand Council meets
once a year
– Advises where to hunt, fish,
set up camps
– Manage relations with other
First Nations
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Seasonal Movement
• Lived close to coast in
summer, in the forest
in the winter
• Made best use of
resources of the land
• Fit their way of life to
suit the land
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How different do you think your life would be if
you moved for the seasons?
How do you think this has changed their worldview?
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Mi’kmaq Society
• Get respect in the tribe through
accomplishments
• Hunting is very important
• Have respect for elders and for the different
districts
• Used foot, canoe, and toboggan to travel
and transport goods
• Lived in wigwams
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Mi’kmaq Cont’d
• Used all the resources around them (using
evergreen branches to make mattresses)
• Had mass amounts of respect for each district
and would help each other out
• Were religious – prayed and believe in the
Creator
• Men and women had different roles
• All roles were viewed as important because it
contributed to the whole
• Sharing and support were extremely important
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Questions
• How did they make decisions?
• What is the role of women?
• How did geography/environment affect
them?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oynNPwFRQH8
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Anishinabe
A look into their society!
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Dodems (clans)
• Society made up of clans who each had
different responsibilities
• Clans worked together and provided balance
• Joined the clan of your father
• People in your clan were considered your
brothers and sisters
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Clans/Duties
Clan
Duty
Explanation
Crane, Loon
Leadership
Provide balanced government.
Wouldn’t always agree, so all
decisions were made carefully.
Fish
Teaching, scholarship
Taught skills and values, would
also help solve fights between the
Cranes/Loons.
Bear
Policing
Patrolled villages/camps and
would identify useful plants for
medicine.
Hoof
Community needs
Made sure there was housing
and recreation . Opposed
violence, were often poets.
Marten
Defense
Hunters, warriors, and military
strategists.
Bird
Spiritual needs
High level of spiritual
development and well-being
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Midewin Society
• Men AND women who had special
spiritual/healing gifts
• People respected them
• Had eight levels of secret training
• Believed in having a good life, healed people,
interpreted dreams/visions, and passed on
sacred teachings/songs
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Anishinabe Society
• Believe in respect for all living things
• Used different camps between Summer
and Winter
• Gather together to meet/make friends,
exchange goods and food, do
sports/ceremonies, and arrange marriages
with different tribes
• Men hunt, women would garden and cook
• Ogimauh is the leader of the Anishnabe
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Anishinabe Cont’d
• Decisions were made by being voted on
• Would make alliances by arranged marriages
• Have councils which discuss and make
decisions
• Respect creation because thought that the
Creator was present in everything
• Do not accumulate wealth, they take what they
need
• Had special buildings for meetings; men and
women were at them, sat in a circle
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Questions
• How did they make decisions?
• What is the role of women?
• How did geography/environment affect
them?
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Anishinabe Oral Tradition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_9s6Shmtyg
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The Haudenosaunee
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The Great Law of Peace
• Created a confederacy of six nations; the
Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
Seneca, and Tuscarora
• Spoke different languages/lived in different
areas and had own clans/councils
• Set rules of government, each member
nation had an equal voice/status
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Commitment to Peace
• Represents the Great
Law of Peace
• The branches
represent the nations
• Roots represent peace
and strength
• The weapons is buried
so there is no hostility
among the nations
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Grand Council
• Made confederacy decisions
• Were a council of 50 chiefs
• Were called the Hoyaneh
• Were chosen by the clan mothers
• Made decisions like whether to go to war, enter
into trade, sign treaties, etc.
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Clan Mothers
• Family tree is traced through mothers
• Unites the nations as relatives
• Were very powerful
• Could also remove Hoyaneh from power if
they were failing
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Haudenosaunee Society
• Lived in year round settlements in long
houses
• Several families would live together
• Were an agricultural community
• Would only move when the land would not
produce food
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Longhouse
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Haudenosaunee Cont’d
• The Peacemaker (brought the Great Law
of Peace) was deeply respected (taught to
respect all things)
• Use dreams to help make decisions
• Clan mothers bring decisions to the
Hoyaneh who then make the final decision
• Looked to the tribe to approve big
decisions
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Questions
• How did they make decisions?
• What is the role of women?
• How did geography/environment affect
them?
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Haudenosaunee Society
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5mma0j17tQ
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