The First Nations & Indigenous Peoples

The Indigenous (sometimes also referred to as aboriginal) peoples were well established here long before European settlers & colonists first arrived in North America. Diverse, vibrant First Nations cultures were rooted in religious beliefs about their relationship to the Creator, the natural environment and each other.

From the 1800s until the 1980s, the federal government placed many Indigenous children in residential schools to educate and assimilate them into mainstream Canadian culture. The schools were poorly funded and inflicted hardship on the students; some students were physically abused. Indigenous languages and cultural practices were mostly prohibited. In 2008, Ottawa formally apologized to the former students.

The Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded that the Canadian Indian residential school system "can best be described as 'cultural genocide'".

In today's Canada, Indigenous peoples enjoy renewed pride and confidence, and have made significant achievements in agriculture, the environment, business and the arts.

Today, the term Indigenous peoples refers to three distinct groups:

Indian refers to all Indigenous people who are not Inuit or Métis. In the 1970s, the term First Nations began to be used. Today, about half of First Nations people live on reserve land in about 600 communities while the other half live off-reserve, mainly in urban centres.

The Inuit, which means "the people" in the Inuktitut language, live in small, scattered communities across the Arctic. Their knowledge of the land, sea and wildlife enabled them to adapt to one of the harshest environments on earth.

The Métis are a distinct people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, the majority of whom live in the Prairie provinces. They come from both French- and English-speaking backgrounds and speak their own dialect, Michif.

About 65% of the Indigenous people are First Nations, while 30% are Métis and 4% Inuit.