Historica Canada Education Portal

This project is designed to be an introduction to mythology utilizing local history and culture. The project will involve elders telling local legends to students and then collaborating with students on producing a storybook with illustrations of the legend as told to them by the elders. This project demonstrates the traditional working relationship of First Nations people – elders sharing their wisdom with the students in turn interpreting the history and culture taught to them. The...

The students will study the relationship between the Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) Indigenous people of the Nicola Valley in British Columbia and how they used local vegetation in their daily lives prior to the evolution of European goods within their society.

This lesson is designed around a localized area in BC, but teachers can re-conceptualize to make the lesson applicable in any locale.

The student will develop an understanding of how the Thompson Indigenous people of the Nicola...

Students will explore traditional West Coast Aboriginal peoples’ methods of utilizing the cedar tree.

1. Importance of the cedar tree
2. Origins of the cedar
3. Gathering and processing of cedar
4. Making a rose.

Procedures:

Introduction:

Trigger Activity: Display items made with cedar (hat, regalia, baskets, rope and roses). Ask the students if they know what the articles are made of. What do they know about the cedar tree? Why do they think Aboriginal people used cedar?...