User:Kevlar67/History of the West

Native history

 * For the history of specific groups see List of First Nations peoples.

The ancestors of today's First Nations arrived in the area at least 8,000 years BC, according to the Bering land bridge theory.

Archaeologists divide the time frame to study ancient findings into contemporary which would be from the twentieth century on, Protohistoric archaeology from 1620 to contemporary, and Prehistoric archaeology is the study before early exploration to the area.

Prehistoric archaeology studies the findings and further classifies them according to traditions followed by the ancient peoples. The Palaeo-Indian Tradition of the Agate Basin finds date to as early as c 6000 BC, the Taltheilei Tradition c 500 BC and Shield Archaic Tradition c 4000 BC

Southern tribes, the Plain Indians, eventually adapted to semi-nomadic Plains Bison hunting, originally without the aid of horses, but later with horses Europeans had introduced.

More northerly tribes also hunted, trapped, and fished for other types of game in the aspen parkland and boreal forest regions.

Later, the mixture of these native peoples with white fur traders and missionaries created a new cultural group, the Métis.

Samuel Hearne

The geographical area now named Manitoba was originally inhabited as soon as the last ice age glaciers retreated in the southwest. The first exposed land was the Turtle Mountain area, where large numbers of petroforms and medicine wheels can be found. The first humans in southern Manitoba left behind pottery shards, spear and arrow heads, copper, petroforms, pictographs, fish and animal bones, and signs of agriculture along the Red River near Lockport. Eventually there were the aboriginal settlements of Ojibwa, Cree, Dene, Sioux, Mandan, and Assiniboine peoples, along with other tribes that entered the area to trade. There were many land trails made as a part of a larger native trading network on both land and water. The Whiteshell Provincial Park region along the Winnipeg River has many old petroforms and may have been a trading centre, or even a place of learning and sharing of knowledge for over 2000 years. The cowry shells and copper are proof of what was traded as a part of a large trading network to the oceans, and to the larger southern native civilizations along the Mississippi and in the south and southwest. In Northern Manitoba there are areas that were mined for quartz to make arrow heads. For thousands of years there have been humans living in this region, and there are many clues about their ways of life. Ongoing research will be needed to uncover many more artifacts for a more detailed understanding of past peoples and cultures in the Province.

Bands
Pembina Band, Little Shell Band, Turtle Mountain Band, St. Francois Xavier Saulteaux/Metis, Nakawiniul (Wilkie’s) Band, Big Bear’s Band, Poundmaker’s Band, Crazy Bear Band, Canoe Band of Nakota, Four Claws (Gordon) Band, Nekaneet Band, Carry the Kettle Band, Rocky Boy’s Band, Montana Band, Muscowequan Band, Beardy’s Band, One Arrow’s Band, Carlton Stragglers Band, Petaquakey Band of Muskeg Lake, Dumont’s Band, Big Bear’s Band, Red Stone Band, Maski Pitonew Band, Piche (Bobtail) Band, Moose Mountain group of White Bear Band, Striped Blanket Band, Prison Drum Band, Crooked Lakes group of Cowessess Band, Ochapowace Band, Pasqua Band, Kahkewistahow Band, and Sakimay Band.