-
Jan 1, 1400
Pre-contact period
The First Nations people lived all over Canada way before the exploration in Europe began. They lived peacefully and respected the world around them. They learned from their elders and believed all living things had a spirit. They lived together and helped each other like a family member. -
Jan 1, 1430
First exploration from Europe
The first European explorers were Vikings. They were the first Europeans to come to Canada. Also, Portuguese, Basque, Spanish, French, and English people started to come along in the early 1400s too. That was the first interactions they made with the First Nations. Some were hated by First Nations and other lucky explorers traded with them. -
Jan 1, 1490
Age of Exploration
In the late 1800s the Europeans were looking for ways to get to Asia but accidently found them in North America. They claimed the land to be their mother country. The Europeans quickly colonized what the French called New France. They struggled for power by and because they desired for power, mercantilism, exploration, and colonization. By this time France had control of New France. -
Jan 1, 1550
Woodland Cree Traditional Ways
The Woodland Cree were hunters that lived in groups. They were one of the Algonquian people. They lived around what is now Ontario. They had respect for the environment and always moved around in small groups to not affect the environment. They were big game hunters and traded often. They always hunted because the land they lived in was forests, rock, lakes, rivers, and streams. They learned from their elders and everybody was busy including the children. They often traveled by canoe. -
Jan 1, 1550
The Siksika
The Siksika was an Algonquian speaking people. They hunted buffalos in the spring and hunted antelope and deer. They lived near cliffs and ledges during the spring and summer to hunt buffalo. They wasted nothing and believed there was a link between all living things. They had ceremonies for buffalos. They respected their elders and learned from them. They always moved around (usually with the buffalos) so they had portable houses called teepees. -
Jan 1, 1550
The Métis
The Métis is a mixture of First Nations and another European. The Métis usually do buffalo hunting in the Red River settlement. The Métis are usually scattered all over the place. Some of them live in the Red River all year, while some others have jobs in the fur trade such as importing goods, hunting, trading, and etc. Men hunts and women skins and made food out of the buffalos. Métis have farms near rivers but they didn't use the block method. They usually have strips of land. -
Nuu-chah-nulth tradition (before)
The Nuu-chah-nulth lived for a long time along the northwest coast but the history about their presence started about in the 1600s. They were careful with the environment and tried not to disturb it. They believed in spirits and they were very skillful at hunting whales and fish and they were very good at making canoes. Also they prized whales, cedar trees and metal tools. Also they made spiritual qualities such as masks, totem poles, and etc. Generosity was also important in their culture. -
Europeans interfering with the Nuu-chah-nulth
The Europeans brought many changes to the Nuu-chah-nulth. The greatest change was the new tools. After that the Europeans took control. They forced them out of their land, paid them poorly for hunting, they broke the harmony and balance, hunted with guns, later the land was used for trade and finally the animals being killed started to get extinct. -
The HBC and the NWC unite (final)
The Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company were rivalries until about the 1780s when they started helping each other and started to see a lot in common. The North West Company founded in Montreal as a seasonal partnership. The company becomes a permanent entity in 1783. -
The Red River Settlement
The Red River Settlement all starts with a man named Lord Selkirk who asks for land to help the poor Scottish people called crofters. He asked the British government for land but he was refused. So he then he got control of the Monopoly. Then he was granted the land of 300,000 square km called Assiniboia. He opened this land for the Scottish settlers. In 1811 the settlers weren't successful. Then the second group came and they too struggled. But yet they managed to survive. -
Pemmican proclamation
There were many conflicts after the Red River Settlement. The Métis and First Nations were afraid the settlers would take their land because they didn't have a title to it. Also the Nor'westers feared of no food. In 1814 the Pemmican Proclamation was created. It was a law that said that no food can be taken from Assiniboia without a license because there wasn't enough food for the settlers. This law was made by Miles MacDonnell. -
Incident at Seven Oaks
The Incident at Seven Oaks was lead by Cuthbert Grant. When there was tension between the settlers and the First Nations, he led a campaign to chase away the settlers. There were only 60 settlers in then end and 1 Métis and 21 settlers died. But 1 year later, Selkirk returned with 90 soldiers and took control again. Then 4 years later the HBC and the NWC merged and pemmican wasn't needed. This affected the Métis greatly. -
Dispute control of Columbia valley
Columbia was in dispute territory between the British and the United States. So the HBC headquarters was decided to move by Governor Simpson. So the new headquarters was built in non-dispute territory in Fort Victoria. With the help of his men and the Nuu-chah-nulth, Fort Vitoria was made. -
The Treaty of Washington
The Treaty of Washington was a treaty that secured the boundaries in North America, The United States were to have the south part of Columbia and the British were to have the north side of Columbia which is 49 degrees north. So in the end, Fort Vancouver was The States property. -
The Gold Rush and the Population Change
The word of gold spread like wild fire that there was gold in the lower Faster River. Different types of people came to strike rich throughout North America. By the middle of August there were 30, 000 people in Fraser Valley! In Fort Victoria, 450 miners arrived at Victoria what used to be 800 people. -
The British Colony of British Columbia
There were 14 treaties with the First Nations in British Columbia to give their traditional land with a low sum of money. Using some of this land, James Douglas made a new colony and took control to stop both law breakers and the miners from the US. -
Gold rush in the Cariboo
As the gold in the lower areas dropped, most of the miners left. Some towns became ghost towns. But still the harder miners kept on going north till they found new gold deposits. Some miners struck rich while others weren't so lucky. This even changed the population of the colony of British Columbia and the colony of Vancouver downwards. -
Colony of Prince Edward Island
There are 80,000 people and there is one city which is the capital called Charlottetown. Most people are from Great Britain and their environmental interaction is farming by far and also ship making. There was also some fishing. Some jobs were merchants, professional people, bankers, government officials, trades people, and servants. Prince Edward Island had no communication with the outside land. They trusted the British navy to protect them against the U.S. -
Colony of Newfoundland
The population is 125,000 and the capital is St. John's and it is the only city but there are minor towns in the outskirts. Most people are from England and Newfoundland was found by John Cabot. The main industry was fishing by far. They caught codfish all year and did seal hunting in the spring and did whale hunting in the summer. All industries had to do with fishing. Links and relations was hard to make even within Newfoundland. But some links were with Britain, West Indies and PEI. -
Colony of Nova Scotia
The population is 331000 and the capital was Halifax. There was also 7 other cities that was populated but there were other smaller and rural areas. There were many environmental interactions in Nova Scotia. There was the fishing industry which was usually cod. Another one was the shipbuilding industry because of all the wood and the last industry was the coal mining industry. Links and relationships were between Great Britain, the U.S, and the West Indies. -
Colony of New Brunswick
The population is 252,000 and there are two cities; Saint John’s, and Fredericton is the capital. The environment interaction is the forest and fishing industries. New Brunswick was one of the world's most major sailing ships making industry. The ancestors of New Brunswick are from Acadia, Britain, and Loyalists. They have ports in New Brunswick with Europe, the U.S, and the islands of the West Indies. There was trade all season and there was little trade between other British North Americans. -
Change in British Columbia
There were many changes in British Columbia. Some of the changes were economic, social, political, and environment changes. One of the main events was the political decisions of the leaders. Another event was the gold rush which led to the conflict between the First Nations with the miners. The miners invaded the First Nation's territory so the First Nations chased and killed the miners. This all led the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia to unite under the name British Columbia.
