Tid Bits to Know

• There are approximately fifty Aboriginal languages in Canada
• Cree People live in Central Alberta
• Blackfoot People live in Southern Alberta
• In the early days, Aboriginal People did not have a written form of their language. Stories and legends were used to tell history
• Western Canada contains the most diversity of Aboriginal languages
• Language is an important part of individual and group identity
• The Cree language is considered to be one of the few Aboriginal languages that is flourishing
• The Algonquian language family is the largest in Canada
• The Cree language contains five dialects
• There are eleven major language families
• Of all the provinces Saskatchewan tends to have the highest number of people speaking an Aboriginal language
• British Columbia has the largest number of different Aboriginal languages spoken Link
• The Kainaiwa or Blood reserve is the largest in Canada
• There are six main design patterns used for decorating Blackfoot moccasins
• Blackfoot women generally used only red, white, blue, yellow, and green to decorate moccasins with quills or beads
• The oldest moccasin design is known as “Crooked Nose Quill-work” Link
• The study of tree rings is known as Dendrochronology
• Counting the tree rings is a way for us to learn how old the tree is (some trees are hundreds even thousands of years old), if they tree has ever sustained damage (having a branch ripped off or a wound from an animal), or what the climate is like where the tree was living
• Porcupine quill-work is one of the oldest forms of artwork in North America
• Quill-work and beadwork adorns items such as moccasins, clothing, bags, knifesheaths, baskets, and wooden handles and pipe stems
• The tipi was a highly mobile structure, it could be taken down and assembled in roughly an hour or less
• Tipis were sometimes adorned and sometimes they were left undecorated
• Tipis are constructed of wooden poles and animal hides (this has been replaced with canvas is contemporary times)
• The cone shape of the Tipi ensured dryness because there were no dips or folds in which moisture could collect
• The tipi is not a perfect cone. It actually slopes toward one direction and this is where the smoke vent was placed
• The doors of tipis on the plains generally faced East so that the strongest side could endure the westerly winds