Canada's First Nations

The sweep of Canada's history is both broader and deeper than standard texts reveal. When Europeans first came to Canada, they did not find a wilderness; rather, they encountered a complex and rich society composed of 57 individual nations - the Native peoples of Canada. But because these societies were predominantly oral rather than literate, Canadian historians generally have found it easier to ignore the early existence of Native peoples. "Canada's First Nations", by contrast, begins with the first appearance of humans in the Americas and, using an inter-disciplinary approach, restores the full history. Although Canada's Native peoples preceeded European arrival, their lives were radically altered thereafter. At first, American Indians and Inuits co-operated with and even aided the Europeans, but the newcomers' encroachment knew no bounds. The opening of the West to fur-traders and white settlers, the land-cessation treaties, the Klondike gold rush, the eventual commercial exploitation of northern resources - all eroded the Native peoples' fundamental place on the land.
Early trade relations were complicated by effots to mould the Indians and Inuits to fit European cultural patterns; later, Canada even inaugurated a campaign to legislate Native cultures out of existence. Far from being overwhelmed, American Indians and Inuits have responded to persistent colonial pressure. Co-operative enterprises and periodic episodes of resistance characterized their early response; today they employ politically sophisticated methods to preserve territories and traditional values. The revitalization of the Native community in the continuing fight for land claims and sovereignty - dramatically expressed by the Mohawks at Oka in 1990 - reminds us that an accurate perception of the past may be essential to Canada's peaceful, successful future.