Preserving The Beasts That Powered The Canadian First Nations
In Canada the term ‘First Nations’ represents the aboriginal communities who draw their origins from the pre-contact era (before the arrival of Europeans) up to the present day. Historians generally describe six main geographic groups of early First Nations who still live in the territory which is today Canada, and while they have similar cultural origins, they have different social organizations, resources, homes, transportation, clothing, and spiritual ceremonies.
First conference between the French and First Nations leaders, by Émile Louis Vernier. (circa 1887) (Public Domain).
Today’s First Nations have become consumed by the motifs of pop culture and for so many people, dream-catchers and T-shirts with wolves howling at the moon is about as deep as their understanding goes. But before the arrival of the first European explorers in the early 17th century, the First Nations’ existence depended solely on the resources of their natural environment and their cultures were all shaped by those creatures most dominant in those environments.
