Timeline

• 10 000 BCE ancient Aboriginal culture was developing on the plains.
• 982-1014 CE: Norsemen set up outpost in North America and encountered Inuit, Beothuks, and Mi’kmaqs.
• 1450: Iroquois League of Five Nations was formed uniting the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes.
• 1534-1541: Jacques Cartier explored the east coast of Canada and the St. Lawrence River and made contact with Algonkian and Iroquoian speaking tribes. Cartier reached the present day cities of Quebec City and Montreal.
• 1540: the horse was brought to North America by the Spanish.
• 1609: Champlain fired a gun on the Iroquois during a war party. This was the first time they had seen a firearm. Subsequently, the Iroquois turned on the French for decades.
• 1670: The Hudson’s Bay Company was established and fur trading began.
• 1690: Historians believe Métis history can be traced back to around this time.
• 1730’s: the horse and gun came to the Siksika (Blackfoot) on the northern plains.
• 1738: smallpox struck Aboriginal people in the west.
• 1781: smallpox epidemic killed one third of the Siksika (Blackfoot) population.
• 1784: the North West Trading company was established.
• 1794: Jay’s Treaty defined the border between the United States and Canada. Aboriginal people were able to move freely across the border.
• 1816: the Battle of Seven Oaks occurred in Manitoba. Métis killed the governor of Red River, Robert Semple and 20 setters. Only one Métis was killed. This was the first time that the Métis flag was flown made of blue background with white infinity or lazy 8 symbol.
• 1820: the Métis people had marked permanent residence at Red River.
• 1821: the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company merged.
• 1825: the last member of the Beothuk Nation died.
• 1830’s: the peak fur trading period ended.
• 1835: the York boat was developed by Métis, William Sinclair.
• 1837: smallpox killed two thirds of the Siksika (Blackfoot) (Siksika (Blackfoot)) people and large numbers of Assiniboine.
• 1840’s: alcohol started to take its toll on Aboriginal people on the Plains and the area became very unsettled.
• 1867: Dominion of Canada was established.
• 1869: small pox struck the Siksika (Blackfoot) (Siksika (Blackfoot)), Peigan, and Blood tribes.
• The Hudson’s Bay Company sold Rupert’s Land to the government of Canada, which promptly caused the Métis to launch the Red River Rebellion.
• Whiskey trade period was at its peak until 1875.
• 1870: Manitoba Act promised 1,400,000 acres (567 000 hectare) of land to Métis in settlement of their Indian title.
• The last full scale battle with the Siksika (Blackfoot) (Siksika (Blackfoot)) against the Cree and the Stoney-Assiniboine occurred.
• 1871: the Numbered Treaties started to be signed.
• 1873: Cypress Hills Massacre occurred.
• 1874: North West Mounted Police were formed and dispatched to the Plains to control whiskey trade, and Fort Macleod was built.
• 1875: Fort Calgary was built.
• 1878 Treaty 6 was signed in the summer at several places in the Treaty area.
• 1876: the Indian Act was passed. There serious depletion of the buffalo began.
• 1877: Treaty 7 was signed by the government of Canada, Siksika , Piikani, Kainaiwa (Blackfoot Confederacy), T’suu T’ina (Sarcee), and Stoney Nations (Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley/Goodstoney).
• 1879: the buffalo in Siksika (Blackfoot) hunting grounds were driven south forcing many to move to Montana to follow the buffalo.
• The Dominion Lands Act (1879) recognized Métis claims to Aboriginal title, however nothing really came out of the Act to please Métis people.
• 1883: the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the Rocky Mountains by the end of the year.
• 1884: an Indian Act revision banned the Potlatch ceremony on the Northwest coast.
• 1884 to1885 Métis people participated in the Battle of the Nile Expedition.
• 1885: the North West Rebellion was led by Métis leaders Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont.
• 1885: the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed.
• 1885: Indian Act revision outlawed the Sun Dance.
• 1899: Treaty 8 was signed.
• 1905: Alberta was established as a province.
• 1912: Siksika (Blackfoot) participated in the Calgary Stampede.
• 1914 to 1918: More than 3,500 Aboriginal people fight in WWI under Canada’s Expeditionary Force.
• 1917: National Hockey League was established.
• 1920: all Canadian women were given the right to vote; Aboriginal people living on reserves are not allowed to vote.
• 1939 to 1944: more than 6,000 Aboriginal people volunteered to serve in WWII.
• 1950: Inuit were given the right to vote.
• 1951: revisions to the Indian Act removed the ban on the Potlatch.
• 1961: the National Indian Council was formed to promote unity amongst Aboriginal people; it was superseded by the National Indian Brotherhood in 1968.
• 1962: Aboriginal people living on reserves were given the right to vote in Federal elections.
• 1965: the red maple leaf design officially became Canada’s new national flag.
• 1969: the White Paper on Aboriginal Peoples was completed by the federal government.
• 1973: Aboriginal people regained control over education and this was the end of the Residential School period.
• 1982: the new Canadian constitution recognized the existence of Aboriginal rights but did not define them.
• 1985: Bill C-31 was passed.
• 1990: the Meech Lake Accord died because of the actions of Elijah Harper.
• 1990: The Oka Crisis erupted in Quebec.
• 1999: Nunavut was formed as Canada’s third Territory.