Activities about Canada's first nations

1. EXPLORING OUR
CANADIAN PAST
Discussion:
1) How can we find out about our past?
2) How do we know about the first peoples
that lived in Canada?
3) Why is it important to know and understand
the past?

2. OUR PAST
Have a look at the following photographs. In pairs, discuss how the
following artifacts can help us out understand the past.

3. THE TIME CAPSULE
1) Have you ever heard of a time
capsule?
2) What is it?
3) Why do you think time capsules
are important?

4. BUILDING OUR TIME
CAPSULE
What would you like the future generations to know about
our present time?
Think about all the important things of today’s life. Make a list
of 12 things which, from your point of view, are essential to
today’s society (Example: cars)
Explain your choice.
Write down all your artifacts and if you feel like, draw them,
print them out, etc.!

5. BUILDING YOUR TIME
CAPSULE
Put the piece of paper with
your list of objects inside
the bottle.
If you prefer, draw those
objects and put them
inside the bottle.
Finally, label your bottle.

6. Hello, class!
My name is
CMROIOD (I
know, it’s difficult to
pronounce!)
I come from the
year 200000
and have
arrived in a land,
which,
apparently, was
called Canada.

7. HISTORY OF
EARTH

8. DEAR STUDENTS,
We regret to inform you that you are no
longer students, but in fact, you are
aliens. I know this might come as a
shock, but it’s okay. We have a plan for
you.
Each of your groups has found different
artifacts in your travels across Canada.
You need to go back in time, using a time
machine, to find out the stories behind
these artifacts.
By doing this, you will find out more
about what makes Canadian identity
unique. This will help you blend in to
your new home: Canada.

9. BEFORE YOU GO
Each of your groups belongs to a different race of aliens, so
you need to think of a name so that the other groups know
what to call you.
Since you have spent so much time in your human form, you
all speak English and Spanish relatively well; however, your
native (first) language is unique. Therefore your group name
should also be unique and probably not in English, Spanish,
or any other earthen language.

10. ALIEN RACE
NAME:
PLANET WHERE YOU LIVE:
WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE:
LANGUAGE YOU SPEAK:
-Please, introduce yourself in your language

12. BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY
Now that your time machine is ready to go, you need to set it
to the correct time and place.
For your first trip, each group will be going to roughly the
same time, but to different places across Canada to discover
the origin of your artifacts.
Haida – West Coast of Canada
Inuit – Northern Canada
Blackfoot – Western Canada
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) – Eastern Canada
Mi/kmaq – East Coast of Canada

13. FIRST TRIP
Each of your groups has found different artifacts, an object and a
legend, in your travels across Canada and you need to go back
in time to find out who owned it and why it is important.
Who might have owned or used this artifact?
What might this artifact be (what was its use)?
Where might it have been used?
When might it have been made or used?
Why is this artifact important?
Make sure you provide evidence—background knowledge or
specific details such as shape, colour, texture or markings on the
artifacts—to support your inferences (conclusions/findings).
1

14. (ALIEN) COUNCIL MEETING
Each group will complete research on their artifacts and then
will have to share their findings with the group; however,
there is a problem…
Since each group belongs to a different Alien Race many of
the words that you would use to explain your artifact, its
historical and cultural significance, and importance to the
First Nations group do not exist in the language you share,
(English).
Due to this, you will have to create some pictographs of key
terms in your presentation to help the other races
understand your trip.

15. PICTOGRAPHS ON EARTH

16. ABORIGINAL
PICTOGRAPHS
• What do you see?
• How do the pictographs
connect to the story?
• Do they show every
word or key ideas?
Why?

17. COMMUNICATING THE PAST
WITHOUT USING WORDS

18. TOTEM POLES

19. TOTEM POLES

21. CREATE YOUR OWN
TOTEM POLE
Having read the symbolism of the different colors and
animals used, you are going to create your own totem pole.
Be ready to explain to your classmates your choice of colors
and animals according to ancient beliefs.

23. NATIVE CREATION
MYTHS
THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
From the dawn of times, the human being
has been trying to understand the origin
of the universe.
We are going to read native creation myths.
How do they explain the

24. READING
Canadian First Nations
Native Creation Myths
Iroquois - Earth Diver
The first people were the Sky People, they
lived beyond the sky because there was no
earth beneath. One day the chief's
daughter became very ill and no one was
able to provide a cure for her sickness. A
wise elder was consulted and he told them
to dig up a tree and lay the girl beside the
hole that remained. The Sky People
respected the elder and began to dig up
the tree. Suddenly the tree fell down
through the hole and dragged the chief's
daughter with it. As the girl fell she saw that
below was only an ocean of water. Two
swans were alarmed by the girl falling and
decided she was too beautiful to drown so
they swam to catch her. They landed her
on the back of the Great Turtle, and all of
the animals of the earth gathered.
According to the text, who were
the first people?
What was the remedy found for
the chief’s daughter, who was
very sick?
Who saved the girl from
drowning?

25. The Great Turtle councils that the Sky Woman is a symbol of
good fortune. He orders the animals to find where the Sky World
tree had landed in the ocean and to bring it back with its earth-
covered roots. The swans lead the animals to the place where the
tree had fallen into the ocean. First otter, then muskrat, and then
beaver dove in search of the tree. Each animal came back to the
surface without the tree and died from exhaustion. Many other
animals tried but they also died. An elder woman toad
volunteered. She dove and remained below a long time. All of the
animals thought she had been lost, when at last she surfaced and
before dying managed to spit a mouthful of earth onto the back of
the Great Turtle. This earth was magical and contained the power
of growth. The island grew and grew until it was large enough for
the Sky Woman to live on. The two swans set the woman upon
the island and circled it encouraging it to grow into the world
island it is today.
List all the animals mentioned in the text. What did they try to
do?

26. Yet the world was dark. Again the Great Turtle called for the
animals to gather. They decided to put a great light in the sky. A
little turtle volunteered and climbed up to the sky with the help of
the other animals' magic. Little turtle climbed into a black cloud
and crawled around the sky collecting the lightning as she went.
She made a big bright ball from the lightening and threw it into
the sky. Then she collected more for a smaller ball which she
also threw into the sky. The first ball became the sun, the
second ball became the moon. Then the Great Turtle
commanded the burrowing animals to make holes in the corners
of the sky so that the sun and moon could go down through one
and climb up again through the other as they circled. So there
was day and night.
How does the myth explain the origin of day and night?

27. The Sky woman lived on the island on top
of the Great Turtle's back. She gave birth
to twins, one good called Tharonhiawagon,
one evil called Tawiskaron. From the
breast of Sky Woman grows three sisters
corn, beans, and squash.
Why do you think the myth mentions these 3 crops:
corn, beans and squash?

28. READING
Mi'kmaq - Two Creators and their Conflicts
(6.3)
Before the earth was new, the sun was
all that existed in the great universe. The
sun divided the earth into several parts
separated by many great lakes. In each
part he caused one man and one woman
to be born. They bore children and lived for
many years. Wickedness pervaded in this
family, and slowly they killed one another.
The sun wept and wept with grief. The
tears became rain that fell from the skies
until water covered the entire earth. The
family had to set sail in bark canoes to
save themselves from the flood. A violent
wind overturned their boats. All perished in
the sea, but the old man and the old
woman, who were best of all people, and it
was they who populated the earth.
After reading the text, check
whether the following
statements are TRUE or
FALSE:
1) There was darkness in the
universe before the earth
existed.
2) The sun divided the earth
into several parts with
lakes.
3) The first families lived
peacefully and in harmony.
4) The tears of the Sun were
the origin of rain.
5) The best people populated
the earth.

29. CREATE YOUR OWN
CREATION MYTH
Having read these creation myths, now it’s your turn to make up one!
You are going to write your own creation myth to explain the origin of….
(YOUR CHOICE)
a) The Earth
b) The sun
c) The moon
d) The stars
e) The rain
f) Human beings
After writing your texts, you will share your story with your classmates.