Dietary modifications within a particular culture are indicative of the influences of an external culture and such transformations are frequently exemplified throughout the colonial history of North America. Indeed, the incorporation of European food goods, such as alcohol, into the diet of the Canadian Indigenous Peoples is representative of the immense impact which the first explorers had on these tribes (Lunn 1992). Furthermore, the transitional dietary modifications of the First Nations People of Canada’s North are a direct reflection of Western influence and the European attempt to assimilate these traditional societies according to Western idealism. Traditional dietary conversions correspond with the establishment and eventual …show more content…
The economic and cultural influences of the 19th century Hudson Bay Company had a significant impact on the diet and food practices of the Northern First Nations Peoples, which impact created a dependency on the government. From this dependency Northern Canada emerged as a welfare state. Prior to European contact, the First Nations exercised regular hunting and gathering practices, relying on game animals as a key meat source. These Peoples, such as the Barren Ground caribou hunters and the Ojibwa fishing villagers, were considered affluent as they had stable food resources which supplied a surplus to their needs (Coates 1989). Resource management strategies, such as hunting multiple species, had been established and were practiced by the hunters to avoid food shortages or scarcities (Coates 1989). Most tribes which based their food supply on a primary large animal – such as the barren ground caribou – would also hunt secondary prey sources, like the beaver (Coates 1989). However, modifications were made to these management strategies as the First Nations responded to the demands created by the open market of the 19th century Hudson Bay Company. The Peoples developed as commercial
There are many ways that governments have tried to fix this issue, one of them being social welfare. According to Hick (2005), welfare can be defined as "legislated documents that prescribe how income security and social services are to be carried out” or it can be seen as a philosophical idea or "an abstract set of principles that enable society to seek solutions to social problems”. An example of what is considered a social welfare state is Canada, due to their programs for income security and social security which are provided by the government to their citizens. Although Canada’s social welfare has been facing some problems due to citizens depending more on other organizations outside of the government, this is because of their rigid criteria
The hunting, fishing, and trapping way of life is one of the main threads of continuity that has made the forest important to Cree life. How would they survive without there hunters? They wouldn’t, no food for the children or even clothing for their bodies couldn’t be possible without the job of the
Even as a young boy, Tommy Douglas saw the need for a change in Canada that would not only close the social inequalities between the wealthy and the poor, but to benefit every man,woman,child in Canada; no matter what their status or background. As he passed into adulthood, Tommy Douglas took a stand on issues through social gospel--an idea he practiced during his time at Brandon College and continued after he left, when he became a Baptist Minister. Douglas would preach on Sundays, and spend the rest of the week running relief programs to help ease the growing hardship of local farmers and families. However, realizing that his efforts were not a permanent solution to the hardships devastating Saskatchewan, Tommy continued climbing the ladder
Despite their efforts, they continued to be marginalized. In frustration, the Plains Cree chiefs had said, “the buffalo were our only dependence before the transfer of the country, and this and other wild animals are disappearing, and we must farm to enable us to live” (Carter 68). It was clear that the Plains Cree tried desperately to make an agricultural economy work. It was essential to their survival and well-being. Unfortunately, government intervention implemented restrictive policies, which created misconceptions of First Nations people being unmotivated to do well.
Before the Europeans came to Canada, Natives had their own culture, traditions and norms. These differences were obvious to the Europeans who sailed to Canada, their interactions with the Native peoples proved these vast differences. One major difference noted was that the Iroquois organized their societies on different lines than did the patrilineal western Europeans. Iroquois women “by virtue of her functions as wife and mother, exercised an influence but little short of despotic, not only in the wigwam but also around the council fire.” “She indeed possessed and exercised all civil and political power and authority. The country, the land, the fields with their harvests and fruits belonged to her … her plans and wishes modeled the policy and inspired the decisions of council.” The Europeans were astounded by this way of life.
In the article, written by Bruce G. Trigger, a professor of anthropology at McGill University, Early Native North American Responses to European Contact: Romantic versus Rationalistic Interpretations, Trigger thoroughly explains the relativist and rationalist viewpoints of European contact with the Native North Americans. The author argues that the rationalist view is more significant than the relativist view. Although, he believes cultural beliefs were important, the reasoning and knowledgeable views overpowered the outcomes of Native American responses towards the Europeans.
The article “the inuit paradox” starts off with an Inupiat woman describing the most common foods that she consumed growing up in an Inuit community in which foraging is necessary for survival. She describes that the traditional Inuit diet focused primarily on meat that was foraged from the environment.
The First Nations used the buffalo for food, shelter, tools, and ceremonial ornaments. As the CPR was constructed and the prairies were further developed, the plains buffalo were pushed to extinction and as a result, the First Nations were pushed to near starvation. In response to this issue, the Canadian government then decided they would provide food for the First Nations, but only if they moved onto reservation land. (Berton, 2005) The First Nations were essentially forced to choose between abandoning their land and
Conquest and disease are often the primary negative factors analyzed when discussing European interaction with Native Americans in the Americas. However, with the use of bioarcheology, Historians particularly Clark Spencer Larsen, have been able to learn more about the lifestyle and diet of mission Native Americans in Florida from remains which paint a broader picture than traditional European sources. The mass introduction of corn and hard labor into the diets and lives of Plains Native Americans had a detrimental effect upon the wellbeing and health of those living under Spanish rule. These effects become much more pronounced when compared to the distant ancestors of the Native Americans.
"The Colonization of North America." In Modern History Sourcebook. April 1999- [cited 17 September 2002] Available from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall.mod/modsbook.html., http://curry.eduschool.virginia.edu.
The First Nations’ inventions are beneficial for ameliorating Canada’s economic development. Some inventions of the Aboriginals include the canoe and snowshoes. Canoes were constructed out of various trees specifically Birchbark as it was an ideal material for its smooth, light, resilient, and waterproof essential qualities (Marsh, 2006). This was used extensively as a means of fishing, transportation as well as the fur trade. It was also used for providing the ongoing trade between Europeans and
The first article mentioned the Grassy Narrows aboriginals of Canada and how industrial waste led to the contamination of the aboriginal’s food source. In support, the second source described in details how the contamination of food source affected the health of aboriginals by reducing the availability of nutritional plant and animal. This caused an increase in the sale price of food items, insufficient funds contributed to malnutrition and food
The migration of European settlers and culture to North America is an often examined area. One aspect of this, however, is worthy of deeper analysis. The conquest of North America by Europeans and American settlers from the 16th to 19th centuries had a profound effect on the indigenous political landscape by defining a new relationship dynamic between natives and settlers, by upsetting existing native political, economic and military structures, and by establishing a paradigm where the indigenous peoples felt they had to resist the European and American incursions. The engaging and brilliant works of Andres Rensendez and Steve Inskeep, entitled respectively “A Land So Strange” and “Jacksonland”, provide excellent insights and aide to this analysis.
The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has
Canada is regarded as one of the wealthiest industrialized countries in the world. This indication is contrary to the well-being reality affecting Canadians. Despite being part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD), Canada has lagged behind her otherwise wealthy counterparts in the industrialized countries being position 19 out of 22 nations (Breznitz and Zysman, 2013). This has been attributed to the precarious levels of poverty in a majority of Canadian households. The country has not recognized any official poverty measurement although other universal measures such as LICO is used for measuring relative poverty, a more determinable measure of poverty for wealthy countries.