So you’re planning a visit to Pointe-à-Callière for our Natives on the Point interactive workshop. You can use the activities suggested in this teacher’s guide to spark your students’ curiosity. Afterwards, back in the classroom, you can build on what they saw and learned on their cultural outing. It’s a great opportunity to discover the past!



CENTURIES OF HISTORY EXERCISE

Invite your students to find different periods in Native history, from the time Natives arrived in North America to the signing of the Great Peace of Montréal in 1701, and locate them on the time line. You will discuss this chronology during your visit.

Competencies developed:

• Interpret change
• Interpret change

Materials required:

• Centuries of History sheet

Duration:

• 15 minutes

Instructions:

1. Hand out the Centuries of History sheet to your students. Ask them to complete the timeline, by placing each letter under the appropriate picture. Answers: A – C – G – B – E – D – F
2. Ask the students to discuss their answers with the group. Make sure they understand the difference between nomadic and sedentary. Do they have any questions about the pictures? If so, take note of their questions so that you can ask the interpreter-guide when you come to the Museum.

Ask your students what they thought of their trip to the Museum. Did they enjoy it? What did they learn?

NATIVES ON THE POINT EXERCISE

Review what you learned about Natives during your visit to the Museum.

Competencies developed:

• Use information
• Use creativity

Materials required:

• Natives in Montréal sheet
• Paper, crayons or pencil crayons for the creative exercise

Duration:

• 15 minutes

Instructions:

1. Hand out the Natives in Montréal sheet. The purpose of the exercise is to take your students on a trip back in time to the days when the Great Peace treaty was signed in Montréal, in 1701. They are invited to accompany a Native ambassador on his journey to Montréal to attend this memorable event. They first choose a Huron or Abenaki Native and then follow him as he travels all the way to Montréal. Note that the questions are not in numerical order: the sequence of the game depends on the choices each student makes.
2. Next ask the students to create their own symbolic signatures, inspired by the Native signatures on the Great Peace treaty they saw at the Museum. Their signatures may show an animal, a plant, an insect, or whatever they wish to use to represent themselves. They may also colour them. Ask them to write a short explanation of the symbolism of their signatures beneath them, for instance “strong like a bear” or “quick like a deer.” Then hang them up and ask the students to decide which one belongs to which student!

STUDENT:

GROUP:

Under each picture, write the letter that corresponds to the matching description.

1. Quebec is partly covered in ice. Natives are hunters.
2. Natives see the first Europeans arriving in the Americas.
3. Natives hunt, fish and gather wild berries. They are nomadic, never spending more than one season in the same place.
4. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance found Montréal, then known as Ville-Marie.
5. Jacques Cartier makes his first voyage to Canada.
6. Representatives of forty First Nations and the French meet on Pointe à Callière to sign the Great Peace treaty of Montréal.
7. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians grow corn, squash, beans, sunflowers and tobacco. They are sedentary, living in longhouses. They trade with nomadic Native groups.

STUDENT:

GROUP:

Join a Native ambassador as he travels to Montréal to attend the signing of the Great Peace treaty in August 1701.

Start by choosing the Native you want to accompany, a Huron (A) or an Abenaki (B). Then join him on his journey. The questions you have to answer along the way will depend on your answers. Happy trails!

A.	B.
I am a Huron. My nation belongs to the Iroquoian language family, along with the five Iroquois nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca). Question 1 My nation belongs to the Iroquoian language family, along with the five Iroquois nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca).	I am an Abenaki. My nation belongs to the Algonquian language family, along with the Montagnais, Cree and Atikamekw. Question 1 I live in a territory southeast of the St. Lawrence River, and move around with the seasons. Which of these images represents my community’s lifestyle?

Question 2
Yes, the Native ambassadors brought wampum that they offered at ceremonies surrounding the signing of the peace treaty.

Starting from my village near the Great Lakes, what route will I take to get to Montréal?

• I will head east to Montréal
  – Go to question 9.
• I will head west to Montréal
  – Go to question 19.

Question 3
The Abenaki were nomads. They gathered plants like blueberries, wild rice, etc. They did not grow crops.

What type of containers do people in my community use for gathering and storing food?

• Glass containers
  – Go to question 14.
• Bark containers
  – Go to question 20.

Question 4
Yes, the Iroquoians grew corn, squash and beans, known as the Three Sisters.

What is one type of container used by people in my village to store food and cook meals?

• Clay pots
  – Go to question 7.
• Glass containers
  – Go to question 24.

Question 5
Yes, I will travel to Montréal in a birchbark canoe.

In my canoe, I carry furs for trading, a gun and ...

• A dream catcher
  – Go to question 11.
• A wampum belt for the ceremonies surrounding the signing of the peace treaty
  – Go to question 12.

Question 6
The treaty was signed in August. Would you really wear snowshoes in the summer?

• – Go back to question 20.

Question 7
Yes, the Iroquoians were sedentary people who made clay pots (pottery).

What means of transportation will I use to get to Montréal?

• Snowshoes
  – Go to question 17.
• A birchbark canoe
  – Go to question 10.

Question 8
Yes, the Huron lived in longhouses. They were sedentary people who grew crops.

Which of these plants are known as the Three Sisters, the three main plants grown in my Huron village?

• Corn, squash, beans
  – Go to question 4.
• Blueberries, wild rice, edible roots
  – Go to question 13.

Question 9
Yes, and after a long voyage of several days, I will finally arrive in Montréal!

What European chief will welcome me and all the other ambassadors from the different nations to Montréal?

• King Louis XIV
  – Go to question 18.
• Louis-Hector de Callière
  – Go to question 15.

Question 10
Yes, I will travel to Montréal in a birchbark canoe.

In my canoe I carry furs for trading, a gun and …

• A wampum belt for the ceremonies surrounding the signing of the peace treaty
  – Go to question 2.
• A dream catcher
  – Go to question 25..

Question 11
Wrong answer! Go back to question 5.


Question 12
Yes, the Native ambassadors brought wampum that they offered during the ceremonies surrounding the signing of the peace treaty.

Starting from my Abenaki territory on the southeast shore of the St. Lawrence, what route will I take to get to Montréal?

• I will head east to Montréal
  – Go to question 26. Je vais naviguer vers l’ouest jusqu’à Montréal
• I will head west to Montréal
  – Go to question 9.

Question 13
No, that’s not the right answer. Go back to question 8.


Question 14
No, Natives did not make glass back in those days. Go back to question 3.


Question 15.
Governor de Callière will welcome me to Montréal. The peace treaty was signed on August 4, 1701.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MADE THE JOURNEY!

Question 16
Yes, the Abenaki lived in temporary structures, called wigwams, and moved about with the seasons.

What plants do people in my nation gather as food?

• Corn, squash, beans
  – Go to question 21.
• Blueberries, wild rice, edible roots
  – Go to question 3.

Question 17
The treaty was signed in August. Would you really wear snowshoes in the summer? Go back to question 7.


Question 18
Oops! Go back to question 9.


Question 19
You’re going the wrong way! Go back to question 2.


Question 20
The Abenaki made containers from tree bark. They could easily leave them behind when they moved, so as to travel as light as possible.

What means of transportation will I use to get to Montréal?

• Birchbark canoe
  – Go to question 5.
• Snowshoes
  – Go to question 6.

Question 21
Sorry, that’s not the right answer. Go back to question 16.


Question 22
Nope! Go back to question 1 on the Abenaki side.


Question 23
Unfortunately, that’s not the right answer. Go back to question 1 on the Huron side.


Question 24
No, Natives did not make glass back in those days. Go back to question 4.


Question 25
Wrong answer! Go back to question 10.


Question 26
You’re going the wrong way! Go back to question 12.



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