You can identify and compare different cultural aspects of various First Nations and Aboriginal people.

• villages and houses
• the potlatch
• art, drama, music and games
• trade and warfare.

Indigenous Peoples at http://www.civilization.ca/ orch/ www06g_e.html#arts

The pattern of society was based on a series of communities or villages, each with chiefs and a local hierarchy, loosely associated through language, blood, kinship and tradition.

First Nations were close knit units who traded amongst themselves and entered into warfare with their enemies. They valued the family unit and defended their territories with vehemence.

To help you do this, find out:

• what a First Nation village looked like:
  • where they were usually constructed
  • what the houses were made of
  • what decorations were on them
  • how many houses were sometimes in a village.

1. Create a 11" x 17" (or a size agreed upon with your teacher) of a First Nations village.

Use this site or search using one of the search engines listed on this page to learn about a First Nation's village:

• Tsimshian Village at http://www.civilization.ca/ aborig/ tsimsian/vilintre.html

This Tsimshian house represents a style of house which stood in Tsimshian villages in the mid-1800s. In construction, it is similar to Haida houses, with a structure of massive cedar posts and beams and removable vertical wall boards, set into grooved timbers top and bottom. The houses of high-ranking people had central fire pits, with broad steps leading down from the main floor. The steps were wide enough to accommodate meal preparation and other domestic activities.

The house of Chief Wakas, a nineteenth-century chief who was descended from both the Owikeno and Nimpkisk peoples. From the Grand Hall at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Village settlement patterns show evidence of ranked social structure, with the house of the highest ranking chief standing in the centre of the house row, and the houses of lesser lineage chiefs extending out in both directions in descending order. The houses of village chiefs were larger and more elaborate than the others.

A picture of Kitwanga, a Gitxscan village.

The Village at Blunden Harbour near Alert Bay, Vancouver Island. A Kwakwaka'wakw village on the seashore.

• save the images as jpgs
• include them in a presentation document, with a short description of the pole
• AND list the web site where you found the image.

Use the following sites to help you:

• Totem Poles - from BC Archives at http://collections.ic.gc.ca/time/galler07/ frames/ totems.htm
• Totem Pole at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Totem_pole

B. By finding out about Aboriginal cultures, tell whether you think that different peoples lived in an environment that met all their needs and therefore where art, social gatherings, drama, games and warfare could take place.

To help you answer this question complete the following activities:

1. A potlatch was an important part of the culture. It was a means of meeting with distant family and friends, to celebrate marriages, alliances or for a funeral.

In a few sentences describe a potlatch and discuss:

• the importance of totem poles during a potlatch
• what happened during a potlatch
• who was invited
• the importance of a copper
• find images of coppers and include them in your presentation.

Use the following sites to help you:

• Civilization.ca- Tsimshian Prehistory - at http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/ tsimsian/weafe01e.html
• Potlatch at http://www.peabody.harvard.edu/ potlatch/page4b.html
• Coppers at the Canadian Encyclopedia at http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params= A1ARTA0001909

It was a way for First Nations groups to trade for things they didn't have, as a meeting place where they talked together about what was going on in other places and how these events would effect their group, as a time to celebrate a marriage, or as part as a funeral.

Weddings and births were celebrated, people danced, ate, friendships were renewed and new relationships developed.

Many gifts were given away. First Nation people considered it important to give away all their property to secure alliances and relationships between people.

Copper Collection and all things about Potlatch history for U'Mista Cultural Society at Alert bay at http://www.schoolnet.ca/Aboriginal/ umista2/index-e.html

Coppers were put together by trading goods and services. They were looked upon to be the "ultimate" in an expensive item. After a chief had acquired a copper, he would break pieces of his copper apart during a potlatch, and give these pieces away to people he wanted to create a reciprocal relationship with. The receiving people would then have to invite the chief and his village to a potlatch and give away even more goods. In this way the First Nation groups would cement profitable relations with each other.

Find images of art and include them with your project. As art was a part of everyday life, include images of any item that displays art.

Use the following sites to help you:

• First Nations Art and Culture, a look at Bill Reid at http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/FirstNations

It accompanies two legends told by Chief James Wallas:

• "Big Figure"
  as told by Chief James Wallas AND
• "Big Figure and the Smoked Salmon"
  as told by Chief James Wallas

3. Your job is to find examples of each of the following category and save their images. Be sure to include the name of the First Nation group that created the item and what it was used for. All First Nation groups participated in and used:

• Winter Ceremonies
• drums
• rattles
• bullroarers.

The following web sites can provide you with information to solve this investigation.

• Kwakiutl music at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwakiutl_music
• Traditional Music of Kwakiutl at http://encarta.msn.com/media_461531313_ 761563379_1_1/Traditional_ Music_of_the_Kwakiutl.html
• Mythology and Crests of Haida at http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/ haida/ hapmc01e.html

Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) Drum Date Collected:1898
CMC Catalogue Number:
VII-E-50

With the mild climate and abundant resources the people had leisure time in which to pursue the rich life of ceremony and art. The picture is of a Winter Society production.

Atlumhl - Koskimo wolf mask dancer. From Edward S. Curtis "The North American Indian" Vol. 10, pp. 238 Photographer/Artist: Edward Sheriff Curtis Date: 1914

• what they were made of
• how they were used.

Then illustrate a picture (any size) of these games, gambling devices, or toys being used by First Nations people. Decide what you are going to use to colour your picture with and what will be in it.

The following web site can provide you with information to solve this investigation.

• Toys and games from the Canadian Museum of Civilization at http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/ stones/toys/tymenu.htm

Gambling was also a part of First Nations peoples leisure activities. Games using the gambling sticks and dice were common. Tsimshian: Gitksan

From BC Archives Date Collected: 1920-1921
CMC Catalogue Number:
VII-C-788 from CMC

First Nations People traded up and down the coast in large dugout canoes or overland following trails to the interior and up and down the rivers. They traded for food, slaves, shells, and tools on the ocean of B.C.

5. Make a list of any and all trade goods that First Nations people would be likely to trade for.

Trade items included rare stones, such as obsidian, jade and quartz crystal, medicinal substances, rare woods, furs, preserved meats, shellfish and berries.

Eulachon oil from the Nass River was the Tsimshian's main trade item.

At a potlatch, names and stories were shared and traded in the same way we might trade or buy bicycles or computers.

• Tsimshian Society and Culture Trade http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/ tsimsian/ traintre.html
• Trade transporting goods at http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/tsimsian/ tratr01e.html
• Haida: Canoes and Trade at http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/haida/ havct01e.html

• find evidence of warfare by finding images of the tools of war. Save these images and include a short descriptions of them. Don't forget to include the source (URL) of the tool or image.

• create an illustration of First Nations warfare being sure to include aspects of Pacific Northwest Coast culture.

• talk to your teacher about how you will present your project

• talk to your teacher as you go through your assignment

• use different search engines if you can't find the information you need from the sites provided

• save information, URLs and images so that they can be used in your presentation

• be sure to document all the resources you use in your presentation

• Google at www.google.ca
• Yahoo at www.yahoo.com
• WebCrawler at www.webcrawler.com