From Your Student Council’s Indigenous Cultural Connections Committee:
Canada is home to a vibrant and diverse Indigenous heritage, and as your Student Council Indigenous Cultural Connections Committee, we’re excited to share the richness of Canadian culture. The Indigenous Cultural Connections Committee proudly presents: 5 Fun Facts about the Indigenous Peoples of Canada to spread knowledge and celebrate their traditions!
1. Canada is home to over 630 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, which represent more than 50 Nations and 50 Indigenous languages. According to the 2021 Census, more than 1.8 million people in Canada self-identified as Indigenous people. That’s 5.0% of the whole population of Canada! Roughly half of these groups live in Ontario or British Columbia.
2. “Who invented hockey?” One theory is that it was invented by the Mohawk people. Hundreds of years ago, Jesuit priests wrote about the Mohawk people playing a game with a stick and a piece of frozen ice embedded with mud and stones. According to the Jesuit journals, when a player was struck by the puck, they yelled “Auckie!” meaning “ouch.”
3. Other inventions of the First Nations people include the canoe and kayak, the game of darts, lacrosse (our country’s national sport!), and cough syrup. We’re sure glad that they invented these!
4. A big part of many First Nations cultures is not to waste food, and they only harvest, hunt, or gather what they need to survive. For example, if they catch a fish, every edible part of the fish is eaten – including the heads, eyes, and the leftovers can be used in the garden to help plants grow.
5. Indigenous art in Canada stretches back to the last Ice Age. The oldest surviving artworks that Canada has to date are about 5,000 years old. Artwork for the Indigenous is a way of acknowledging their ancestors, spirituality, and heritage.
I hope you enjoyed reading a few facts about the Indigenous People of Canada, and until next time, hóyówélh!
The Student Council’s Indigenous Cultural Connections Committee
“Hóyówélh” is goodbye in the Stó:lō Shxwelí – Halq’eméylem Language. Listen to how it’s pronounced by clicking here!
Note: This is organized and run by the Student Council and is not overseen by HCOS.
