Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia and Edukits

Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia


Traditions

Every distinct culture in the world is based on a unique set of traditional beliefs and values. Some cultures have a lot in common with each other (usually due to geographical proximity) while others have very little in common (again, usually due to relative geographical location). Cultures which do have a lot in common with one another may very well be very similar to one another in most aspects of their fundamental beliefs and values, but unmistakably there are always visible differences to be observed.

Animal Pelts

The Aboriginal people of Canada, for example, demonstrate how varied customs and traditions can be. While there is definitely a common set of beliefs and values among the Aboriginal people of Canada (e.g. responsible stewardship), each community proudly maintains a distinct sets of beliefs and values. The differences in the beliefs and values of the various Aboriginal communities are largely dependent on the respective community's traditional geographical location. The particular traditional geographic environment of a given community has a great deal of influence on every aspect of that community's development.

Close up of a Cooked Fish

For example, the Aboriginal communities of the coastal regions have developed beliefs, values and traditions where the sea, and the life within it, plays a centrally important role to them. The whales, for instance, among many other sea creatures, are revered sacred creatures within the structures of spiritual beliefs of the coastal Aboriginal peoples. While the Aboriginal communities of the inland prairie plains regions have developed beliefs, values and traditions where the open skies and the rolling plains, and life thriving upon them, play a centrally important role to them. For the Aboriginal peoples living on the plains the whale, for obvious reasons, plays no part in their spirituality. Instead, the Aboriginal peopl of the plains view thew buffalo as a special animal in accordance to their spiritual beliefs. These are but two of countless possible examples of the differing belief and value systems of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

It is important to remember that, depending on where in the world a person is, peoples' regional beliefs and values, even within the same country, will differ. Learning about those differing beliefs and values is very valuable as it provides a foundation for understanding and acceptance of people who are different from us.



Albertasource.ca | Contact Us | Partnerships
            For more on Aboriginal hunters and trappers in Canada’s northwest Boreal forest, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.

Copyright © Heritage Community Foundation All Rights Reserved