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Timeline: Indigenous People

October 1, 1142

The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the League of Peace and Power) is formed.

The Iroquois Confederacy was founded by Dekanawidah (the Peacemaker) with the help of Aionwatha (Hiawatha). Five different nations founded the Iroquois Confederacy: the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. Each nation retained its own territory, language and culture.

The purpose of the Confederacy was to eliminate persistent inter-tribal warfare that existed at that time. There was….Read More

1000

Norse explorers and Indigenous people Meet

Norse explorers meet the Indigenous people (possibly Dorset, Thule or Beothuk) on Baffin Island and in Northern Newfoundland and Labrador. The Norse settlements ran into problems, especially clashes with the aboriginal peoples, whom the Vikings called Skraelings,. Around 1009 AD Þorfinnr, or Thorfinn, Karlsefni took up the challenge of permanently settling Vinland.

796

Council of Three Fires (aka the Three Fires Confederacy) is formed.

In 796 the Ojibwe (or Chippewa), Ottawa (or Odawa), and Potawatomi tribes formed and alliance.  In this agreement Ojibwa were designated the “keepers of the faith,” the Odawa are the “keepers of trade,” and the Potawatomi are the designated “keepers/maintainers of/for the fire”. Through the totem-system and promotion of trade, the Council maintained a peaceful existence with its neighboring tribes. However,  unresolved disputes occasionally escalated into wars.

3000-2000 BCE

Pre-Dorset (Paleo-Eskimos) Move east into Canada

After thousands of years of living in small communities along the coastline of the Bering Land Bridge groups of Pre-Dorset people begin a multi-generational migration across Alaska into areas of Northeastern Canada. In less than 100 years groups of “First People” (Sivullirmiut in the Innu Language) groups of  traveled from the north coast of Alaska, east across Canada as far as southern Greenland.

3300 BCE

The Wendat (also known as Hurons) settle into Southern Ontario

The Wendat (also known as Hurons) settled into Southern Ontario (near what is now Simcoe County). Their main territory was enveloped by Georgian Bay (to the north and west) and Lake Simcoe to the east. The ancient Wendat were hunter gatherers. However by the time that Champlain arrived they relied heavily on agriculture.

Before 14,500 BCE

Earliest Paleo-Indians find their way to Canada

It is believed that around this time the “Clovis People” begin finding their way into southern Alberta. The leading theory on how they arrived here suggests that they made their way across Beringia (a now submerged land bridge) that joined northern Asia to Alaska. As the huge glaciers that covered Canada began receding southward, these hunter-gatherers followed to be the first residents of Canada. As time passed, they were believed ….Read More

14,500 BCE

First Aboriginal People Settle in North America

The best current evidence suggests that Aboriginal People first arrived in North America approximately 14,500 years BCE (Before the Common Era) by crossing the Bering land bridge which had formed between eastern Siberia and Alaska during the latest Ice Age. Initially hey settled in some areas of Alaska and the Yukon because glaciers blocked their path south.