Who are the Indigenous peoples of Canada?
Indigenous means "the first people of a place". Canada's Constitution names three groups:
- First Nations: more than 600 communities, such as the Cree, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Haudenosaunee (Mohawk and others), Mi'kmaq and Haida. About 1 million people.
- Inuit: peoples of the Arctic, with their homeland Inuit Nunangat. About 70,000 people. The language is Inuktut.
- Métis: a distinct people who grew from First Nations and European (often French and Scottish) families in the fur-trade era, with their own language, Michif, and culture. About 600,000 people.
Together they were about 1.8 million people (5% of Canada) in the 2021 census, and the population is young and growing. More than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken.
Respectful words
Use the name a nation uses for itself when you can (for example "Anishinaabe"). "Indigenous peoples" (plural) shows there are many nations. Old words such as "Indian" stay only in legal names like the Indian Act. "Eskimo" is not used for Inuit.
Life before contact (before 1500)
Before Europeans came, the land held many nations, each fitted to its environment:
- On the Pacific coast (Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw): cedar plank houses, totem poles, salmon fishing, the potlatch feast.
- On the plains (Blackfoot, Plains Cree): following the bison herds.
- Around the Great Lakes (Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat): farming the "Three Sisters" (corn, beans, squash) and living in longhouses.
- In the Arctic (Inuit and their ancestors): hunting seal and caribou, building snow houses and kayaks.
Nations had their own governments and laws. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy united five (later six) nations under the Great Law of Peace, with clan mothers choosing chiefs. Wide trade networks moved copper, shells and stone tools across the continent. Knowledge was passed on by oral history, ceremonies and wampum belts.
Contact, the fur trade and treaties (1500–1921)
From the 1500s European fishers and traders arrived. In the fur trade, Indigenous people were guides, trappers and partners; Europeans depended on their knowledge to survive. But new diseases such as smallpox killed very many people, and wars over trade grew.
Treaties were agreements between nations:
- Two Row Wampum (Haudenosaunee tradition, 1613): two purple rows on a white belt mean two peoples travelling side by side in their own boats, in peace and respect, neither steering the other.
- Royal Proclamation, 1763: Britain said Indigenous land could be bought only by the Crown, through treaty. The Treaty of Niagara (1764) confirmed this with many nations.
- Numbered Treaties 1–11 (1871–1921): across the Prairies and North, land was shared in return for reserves, payments, schools and hunting rights. Indigenous leaders saw them as sacred promises to share the land; governments often treated them as land sales and did not keep many promises.
In 1869–70 and 1885 the Métis, led by Louis Riel, resisted when their lands and rights were ignored (Red River and North-West Resistance).
The Indian Act and residential schools (1876–1996)
The Indian Act (1876) put First Nations under strong government control. It decided who had "Indian status", set up elected band councils in place of many traditional governments, and limited how people could use reserve land. Some parts banned ceremonies (such as the potlatch, 1884–1951) and needed a pass to leave a reserve.
The aim was assimilation: to make Indigenous people give up their culture. The harshest tool was the residential school system (about 1883–1996). About 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were taken from their families. Many were punished for speaking their language, and thousands died. The harm passed down through families: lost languages, broken parenting, trauma.
Indigenous people still served Canada bravely: thousands fought in both World Wars (for example sniper Francis Pegahmagabow in WWI and Cree code talkers in WWII), yet came home to fewer rights than other veterans.
Rights, self-government and reconciliation (1960–today)
- 1960: First Nations people get the federal vote without losing status.
- 1969–70: the government's White Paper plan to end Indian status is defeated by the "Red Paper" (Citizens Plus) of Indigenous leaders.
- 1973 Calder case: the Supreme Court accepts that Aboriginal land title existed before colonies. Modern land claims begin.
- 1982 Section 35 of the Constitution recognises and affirms Aboriginal and treaty rights of Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples.
- 1990: the Kanehsatà:ke (Oka) land dispute leads to a Royal Commission (report 1996).
- 1999: Nunavut is created, a territory with an Inuit majority. 2000: the Nisga'a Treaty, a modern treaty with self-government.
- 2008: an official apology for residential schools; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008–2015) hears survivors and gives 94 Calls to Action.
- 2021: a law to put the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into practice; 30 September becomes a national day.
Two kinds of governance
Today many communities have band councils (from the Indian Act) and also traditional governments (hereditary chiefs, clan mothers). Self-government agreements let nations run their own schools, health and lands. National groups include the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council.
Indigenous voices, contributions and Try it
Indigenous people shape Canada today: writers such as Thomas King and Richard Wagamese, artists like Norval Morrisseau, Inuit throat singers, and the Indigenous TV network APTN (since 1999). Indigenous knowledge guides land care, fishing rules and climate research. Tourism run by Indigenous communities can share culture respectfully; copying sacred designs or selling fake "native" crafts is cultural appropriation.
Try it
- In the 3D, open step 6 and slide to 1876, then to 1982. Write one sentence on how life changed between the two dates.
- Draw your own two-row belt: two lines for two groups who share one place in your life (for example two families in a building). Write how each can keep its own way while living in peace.
- Find out the Indigenous name of a river or town near you, in Canada or India.
Key formulas and definitions
- Indigenous peoples (Constitution, s.35): First Nations, Inuit, Métis
- Treaty: a formal agreement between nations, often about sharing land
- Reserve: land set aside for a First Nation under the Indian Act or a treaty
- Assimilation: forcing a group to give up its culture and become like the majority
- Residential schools: government-funded, church-run boarding schools, about 1883–1996
- Aboriginal title: the right of a people to land they used before colonies
- Self-government: a nation runs its own affairs (schools, health, land)
- Reconciliation: repairing relationships through truth, apology and action
Worked examples
1. Name the three Indigenous groups recognised in Canada's Constitution and one fact about each.
First Nations: more than 600 communities, such as the Cree and Haudenosaunee. Inuit: Arctic peoples who speak Inuktut. Métis: a distinct people of mixed First Nations and European roots who speak Michif.
2. Why do Indigenous leaders and the government often understand the Numbered Treaties differently?
Leaders understood them, from the spoken talks and ceremonies, as sacred promises to share the land and live together. The written English text spoke of 'surrendering' land. Because of this gap, and because many promises (such as food, schools and medicine) were not kept, treaty rights are still argued in court.
3. Make a cause → effect chain for residential schools.
Cause: the government's assimilation policy under the Indian Act. → Event: children removed from families and forbidden to speak their language. → Effects: loss of languages and culture, trauma passed down families. → Response: survivors' testimony, the 2008 apology, the TRC and its 94 Calls to Action.
Common mistakes
- Treating all Indigenous peoples as one group. There are many nations with different languages, laws and histories.
- Thinking Indigenous history began with European contact. People lived here for more than 10,000 years with governments and trade.
- Calling treaties simple land sales. Many Indigenous nations understood them as agreements to share the land, with promises on both sides.
- Believing residential schools are far in the past. The last one closed in 1996, and many survivors and their families live today.