Lesson 12 — Activity 1: The Way of Life of Indigenous Peoples after European Arrival


Warm Up


In Canada, the fur trade prompted a wave of exploration and settlement by the British and French.

This expansion brought many challenges to Indigenous peoples. You have learned that imperialism is when a country decides to extend its authority or power by political, economic, or military means.

In this activity, you will learn about the many changes to the Indigenous peoples way of life after the arrival of Europeans due to the policy of imperialism.


At first, Indigenous peoples became important trading partners and provided essential help and guidance to European traders, trappers, and settlers.

However, they faced many challenges due to globalization and their contact with Europeans.

1. Europeans brought many diseases, and many Indigenous people died.

2. The way of life for First Nations changed as they settled in permanent communities near the trading posts.

3. Indigenous peoples began to rely on goods they traded with the Europeans.

4. Hunting methods changed as Indigenous people began to use rifles.

igloo of Pangnirtung Inuit
Igloo of Pangnirtung Inuit - Joseph Dewey Soper under CC BY-SA 4.0




In the 1800s, the roles of Indigenous peoples as traders and guides began to disappear, and the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples changed significantly.


What Others Have Said ...

This is an image of Chief Shingwauk.

Courtesy of wikicommons


First Nations leaders began to realize they were no longer treated as friends and allies. Chief Shingwauk, whose name means "Little Pine," chief of the Garden River Ojibway near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, wrote a letter to the governor of Canada in 1849:


"...you have become a great people, whilst we have melted away like snow beneath an April sun; our strength is wasted, our countless warriors dead, our forests laid low, you have hounded us from every place as with a wand, you have swept away all our pleasant land, and like some giant foe you tell us “willing or unwilling, you must go from amid these rocks and wastes."


The number of settlers coming to Canada was increasing and so was their power. As they dominated the land, so they came to dominate its original inhabitants. They gained power as a result of the following events that were changing the country:


1. The population mix was shifting to favour the settlers. Immigration continued to add to their numbers, while disease and poverty continued to diminish
Indigenous nations. By 1812, immigrants outnumbered Indigenous people in Upper Canada by a factor of 10 to 1.


2. The fur trade was dying and with it the old economic partnership between traders and trappers. The new economy was based on timber, minerals, and agriculture. Land was needed — not labour — from Indigenous people, who began to be seen as impediments to progress instead of valued partners.


3. Colonial governments in Upper and Lower Canada no longer needed Indigenous nations as military allies. The British had defeated all competitors north of the 49th parallel. South of it, the United States had fought for
self-government and won. The continent was at peace.


4. A belief proclaiming European superiority over all other peoples of the earth was taking hold. It provided a reason for policies of domination and assimilation, which slowly replaced partnership in the North American colonies. These policies increased in number and had bitter effects on Indigenous people over many years and several generations, especially with regard to their cultural heritage.


Source: People to People, Nation to Nation: Highlights from the Report of the Royal Commission on
Indigenous Peoples. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government
Services, 2007, and courtesy of the Privy Council Office.

Self-check!

Try This!

Decide if the following statements are true or false.


1. At first, Indigenous peoples became important trading partners with the Europeans who came to Canada.

2. The relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Europeans changed because the economy was now based on the raising of animals for food.

3. A belief spread that European people were superior to all other people on earth.

4. Many Indigenous peoples died because of diseases caught from Europeans.

5. By 1812, there were still more Indigenous peoples in Upper Canada than Europeans.



1. True


2. False. The relationship changed as the economy was now based on timber, minerals, and agriculture.


3. True. This impacted Indigenous peoples for generations.


4. True


5. False. By 1812, European immigrants outnumbered Indigenous peoples by a factor of 10 to one.