The Edkits and Inquiry-Based Learning: What, Why and How? What: Effective Inquiry Involves More Than Just Asking Questions

The EdKits and Inquiry-based Learning: What, Why and How? What: Effective inquiry involves more than just asking questions. When students work to convert information and data into useful knowledge, it involves a complex process. The successful application of inquiry learning involves several factors: - a context for questions - a framework for questions - a focus for questions - different levels of questions Well-designed inquiry learning results in the formation of knowledge that can be widely applied and appreciated by the student. Why: Memorizing facts and information is no longer as important a skill as it once was in our world. Facts change, and information is readily available through a wide variety of media; what today’s student must do is learn how to retrieve, organize and identify patterns in the mass of data. Students must extend themselves beyond mass data and information accumulation and move toward creating useful and applicable knowledge. This process is aided and supported by inquiry learning. Through the process of inquiry, students construct much of their understanding of the world, both natural and human-designed, past and present. Inquiry implies a "need or want to know" premise. The content of particular disciplines is very important, but as a means to an end, rather than as an end in itself. The knowledge base for disciplines is constantly expanding and changing. History as a discipline is no exception. Inquiry is not so much seeking the correct answer, because often there is none. Instead, inquiry seeks appropriate resolutions to questions and issues. How: Although questioning and searching for answers are extremely important parts of inquiry, there must be a conceptual context for learning. Students are not focused merely on content as the ultimate outcome of learning, nor are they asking questions and searching for answers about insignificant details. Well-designed inquiry-based learning activities are set in a conceptual context so as to help students accumulate knowledge and a greater understanding of the world, including our Canadian history and First Encounters as viewed from various perspectives. *Through the inquiry process, students will develop the skills to: analyse primary and secondary sources (historical evidence) with reference to: - reliability: determine reliability of primary and secondary sources, considering: - bias and point of view - context (including information on author, audience, situation, date) - language (use of emotional rhetoric) - supporting details and arguments - evidence from corroborating and conflicting resources: print, non-print, electronic 2

- use and analysis of maps and illustrations assess significant historical events in relation to: - social formation and change - political events - economic developments - cultural ideologies - geographic factors identify, develop, and present logical arguments to support a thesis (draw conclusions and present findings) relate multiple causes and effects to a range of historical events and assess the importance of each in relation to the others demonstrate historical empathy by showing the ability to understand the motives, intentions, hopes and fears of people in other times and situations

*adapted from BC Ministry of Education, History 12 IRP Inquiry Question Levels Presented

The inquiry questions presented for student consideration, research and presentation in each Learning Module are ordered from the most basic to the most complex, as follows: Definitional: Explain a specific term, concept or idea (What? Who?)

Decision-making: Examine evidence so that a decision or conclusion can be made for action (Is...? If...would?)

Comparative: Examine the similarities and/or differences between two or more things such as ideas, people, events (How do...compare to...? How is...more than...?)

Ranking: Examine the hierarchical organization of items, ideas and events that share commonalities (How would you rank...? What are your priorities...? Is...more important than...?)

Causal: Identify relationships among elements, cause and effect, similarities and differences (How is...affected by ...? What is the impact of...on...?)

Speculative: Consider a hypothetical situation (If...how would...? If...how does...?)

Each Learning Module contains approximately 12 graduated project questions, through which students from Grade 8 to Grade 12 are challenged to inquire, investigate, form connections and conclusions, and to represent their knowledge in a variety of ways. The inquiry questions run from the simple “definition” questions to the advanced “speculative” questions described 3 above, allowing students at all grade levels to work at their level of skill and ability within the inquiry process.

Teachers are encouraged to involve students in prior discussion about the context of encounters between persons of different cultures in early Canadian history and how that could differ from what is encountered in present-day Canada.

The Inquiry Process Recommended for First Encounters Projects

Planning: Choose a topic area for inquiry Discuss and identify possible sources of information Decide upon a presentation format Establish a plan for inquiry

Researching: Develop a research plan Locate and annotate resources Select information relevant to the inquiry topic Evaluate information (objectivity, accuracy, reliability)

Recording and Connecting: Record information Make connections and inferences

Developing: Organize information to reflect new learning Create a representation of learning Revise and edit

Presenting: Present new learning and perspectives Engender audience interest, questions and perspectives

Reflecting: Evaluate the inquiry process and plan Review and revise personal inquiry model Transfer learning to new situations, both in and out of school

Technology in the Classroom: First Encounters Projects

Here is a list of excellent online resources that will enhance your students’ abilities to collaborate, to develop projects and to present their findings. All are available at no cost; all are easy to use and are powerful tools that enable students to represent their knowledge in a variety of ways. Please ensure that your district/school permits the use of online tools before using these resources.

Tool Name: Google Docs

Description: Google Docs is the internet equivalent of Microsoft Word. It allows for many of the same features that Word does including all major word processing actions and formatting. It has the added benefit of being completely online, free, and allows for collaborative editing.

Why You Should Use It: Google Docs has two large advantages over Microsoft Word (or any other word processor). The first is that all documents created are available online all the time. This means that students (and you) cannot forget documents at home, or at school, when you want to work on them.

The second advantage is the ability to collaboratively edit a document with multiple people, in real time. This means students working together do not have to send half finished parts to put into a master document. It also means that you as a teacher can see, in real time, exactly what progress has been made by each student.

Possible Uses: The collaborative editing features are endless, however, success has been seen when multiple students are able to work on a document at any time without the concern they are editing an old copy. The editing features of Google Docs allow students to insert comments that others can discuss and eventually come to an agreement on the best course of action.

How To Set It Up: As with most online tools, this tool requires you to have a working email address to associate with the account. If your students have email accounts they can each sign up. In the event they do not, a single class email account can be used. The second option limits some of the abilities in that you can not see who has made which edits, however, you do retain the ability to have multiple people working on the same document in real time.

Step 1: Go to HYPERLINK "https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount" https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount

Step 2: Fill in the email address that you would like to associate with this account, and choose a password.

Step 3: Press “Learn More” beside Enable Web History to decide if you would like it to remain checked.

Step 4: Enter in your country and birthday and enter the two words you see in the box. In the event they are too challenging, press the circle with an arrow to reset them.

Step 5: Press I accept. Create my account.

How To Use It:

Step 1: Go to: HYPERLINK "https://docs.google.com/" \l "home" https://docs.google.com/#home

Step 2: Press Create (red button, left hand side).

Step 3: Select Document

You are now presented with a blank page much like any other word processor. Standard word processing tasks are in the top bar and menus.

Some Google specific tasks are:

Naming a Document

At the top of the page you will see “Untitled Document”. Press once on that and rename the document. It is a good idea for students to name documents a common name - perhaps “Samuel and Jacques - Explorers of New France” so that you can easily keep track of multiple documents in your list.

Sharing a Document

This is where you invite others to use the document with you. It is a good idea for students to share to each of their group members and yourself. This way you have access to every class document but students are only able to access their own group members.

Step 1: Press Share (Blue button, top right)

Step 2: In the “Add people” bar begin typing in the email addresses of people who you would like to have access to the document. These addresses can be separated by a comma. They MUST be the same email address that was used to sign up for a Google account in the first place.

Step 3: Choose what each person is able to do.

“Can View” simply means they can view the document and make no changes.

“Can Comment” means they can add comments to text without affecting the document. This is very helpful when you want students to peer edit without being able to make specific changes.

“Can Edit” means they have full control over the document and can make changes as required.

Commenting in a document

Google allows us to add comments into a document, much like you can in other word processors. To add a comment to a specific word or series of words you:

Step 1: Highlight the word or words.

Step 2: Press Insert->Comment

Step 3: Type your comment

To respond to a comment you click once on the highlighted words and enter in your response. A “resolve” button appears for the originator of the comment to allow them to remove the comment when they feel it has been resolved.

Seeing and Reverting to Old Documents

Google has a continuous save feature - there is no “saving”. Because of this you can revert or view old versions of the document - every time Google saves, it also saves the old version. This is particularly helpful if someone has accidentally deleted something or made unwanted changes to the document. It is also very helpful when you as the teacher want to see specific contributions by different students - all changes are tracked by user and thus you can see what exactly each user has done.

In Conclusion:

Google Docs will allow you and your students to have continuous, real time editing ability and always on access to school work. This will cut down on the instances of someone forgetting their work or being unable to work on something because a partner did not email it to them. In addition, the collaborative editing features will assist all peer editors in providing useful, real time feedback.

NOTE: The entire Google suite is fantastic - many of the apps present will duplicate Microsoft apps, and all are collaborative. Try out the other applications with your students as well!

Tool Name: Animoto

Description: Animoto is a piece of online software that takes pictures, videos and sounds and puts them into a very professionally designed video. Transitions are added by the software in time with the chosen music and timing can be further adjusted by the user.

Why You Should Use It: Allowing students to demonstrate their research in a creative and visually appealing way can create instant engagement. It also requires them to be very precise in their descriptions to ensure that in the three to four minutes that the video is going all the 7 required content is presented.

Possible Uses: Animoto is very helpful in two different ways. The first is a great hook for a unit or presentation. If students are, for example, going to be doing a project on the different types of swords, spending an hour looking up images and basic descriptions and putting them into Animoto can quickly create an interest in the project as a whole. The second use can be to demonstrate knowledge in a succinct way. Having students create a longer Animoto that displays pictures, videos and text will allow them to present some of the required content in a multimedia format.

How To Set It Up:

NOTE: This is for YOU ONLY. This process will allow for an upgraded “Education” account that is more fully featured for students. This needs to be done a week or two in advance of the project because the codes can take some time.

Step 1: Go to HYPERLINK "http://animoto.com/" http://animoto.com/

Step 2: Press Sign Up (Top right hand corner, OR green button in the middle of the page). NOTE: Signing In with Facebook may be an option, however, the connections it makes to the your Facebook account are not always appreciated - it is therefore suggested that a new account be made.

Step 3: Select the “Lite” account (left hand side, blue).

Step 4: Enter in the required details.

NOTE: Note the location of the “have a promo code” button at the bottom of the screen. This is where students will enter in the code you will be getting.

Step 5: Go to HYPERLINK "http://animoto.com/education" http://animoto.com/education

Step 6: Press Apply Now (right hand side, blue button).

Step 7: Fill in the application. A class website/blog is not required but feel free to put your school’s website or blog.

Step 8: You will receive an email with a promo code good for a large number of users. This is the code that students will use when they sign up.

How To Use It:

Step 1: Press Create Video (blue button, top right hand corner)

Step 2: Select a style. Some styles are unavailable because you are using a free account, but the available ones will suffice. Preview the style to see what the transitions and background 8 looks like.

Step 3: Press Create Video. This will bring you to the creation screen. Press on Add Pics & Vids.

Step 4: Press Upload Pictures and Video. Navigate to where your images are located. Upload your pictures to Animoto.

Note: Multiple pictures can be selected at once using the shift key.

Step 5: Arrange your pictures by dragging and dropping. You can add title slides by pressing Add Text.

Step 6: Press Change Music. Navigate to and preview different types of music.

Step 7: Set the name of your video by pressing the pencil button near the title that currently says “My Animoto Video”.

Step 8: Note the time in the top right hand corner of your picture screen - this will tell you when you are nearing the end of your video. This can be adjusted using the Edit button on the left hand side of your picture screen.

Step 9: When you are happy with your video, press Produce Video.

Note: Multiple videos can be made using the same series of pictures - you can edit the video and still keep all copies.

Tool Name: Aviary

Description: Aviary is an online multimedia suite that can be broken into a number of major components. While each tool in itself is a fantastic example of a web app, one of the more powerful ones is a fully featured music creator. The music editor is very similar to the Apple Garageband program that comes with all new Macs. This will allow you to mix sound effects and whole songs to create, or have your students create, original music.

Why You Should Use It: Video is a powerful tool for the classroom, but all good video requires good audio. It is important to tell students that they cannot use copy written music in their videos, they need to either get permission or create their own. The Aviary audio editor will allow students to take pre-recorded loops and songs and adjust them to create their own tracks. This can be used for videos, a radio presentation or simply to provide sound effects for an Animoto or similar slideshow.

How To Use It:

Step 1: Sign up for a new account at HYPERLINK "http://advanced.aviary.com/register" http://advanced.aviary.com/register 9

Note: In the event you have one of these accounts, it is perfectly safe to use them to sign up for a new Aviary account - there will be no links created, only contact information will be passed. You also have the option of creating an account from scratch.

Step 2: Go to HYPERLINK "http://advanced.aviary.com/tools/audio-editor" http://advanced.aviary.com/tools/audio-editor and press Start a New Myna Creation (BELOW the big orange button that says Launch Myna)

Step 3: You can select different sounds and songs from the menu bar in the middle of the screen. Drag a couple up onto different tracks to see what happens when you mix the sounds.

Step 4: Press the Play button (right pointed arrow, middle of the screen) to hear what it sounds like.

Step 5: Continue selecting different sounds and songs - Roc Beats tend to be short, simple sounds, whereas Quantum Tracks and SoundCloud are longer, full songs.

Step 6: Save often - Press Save As in the top right hand corner and name your song. If you have had a Creative Commons discussion with your students you can click on the customize license so students can create a good license for their work.

Step 7: When you are happy with your creation, press File -> Mixdown (or select it from the Save menu). It will mixdown your work. Press the mp3 button to save a copy to your computer.

Step 8: Play with this software - it can be quite advanced, and there is not room here to show you everything. Nothing you do will break it, and you can always press Undo if you are unhappy with a change you make.

Tool Name: Glogster

Description: Glogster is an online multimedia poster generator. This essentially means that in addition to being able to create static posters with text and pictures, students can embed video, sound or interactions into their poster. Things like hovering your mouse over text, putting a video right into your poster and putting an audio file nearby some written text is all possible.

Why You Should Use It: The traditional poster project was used for so long because it provided students with a way to demonstrate learning in more ways than simply writing it down. Glogster provides a poster environment while allowing students to not only find and annotate pictures but also to include self-made or instructional videos, but also interactive maps and self created audio. The “glogs” can then be shared with the class, or the Internet as a whole.

Possible Uses: Anywhere you would have normally used a poster board presentation is suitable for Glogster. This can include a brief presentation of learning or a larger, more in 10 depth poster board. Glogs can also be created by groups of students to indicate different areas of a project in a single multimedia experience.

How To Set It Up:

Step 1: Go to HYPERLINK "http://edu.glogster.com/?" http://edu.glogster.com/?

Step 2: Press “Choose Your Account Level” (Green arrow on the right hand side of the page).

Step 3: Next to the Single Free line press Register Here.

Step 4: Near the top of the page press Teacher

Step 5: Enter in the required information. The Nickname can be any series of letters or numbers but cannot be your email address.

Step 6: Make note of the teacher code they give you.

Step 6: Students follow the above steps, but instead of using Teacher, they use Student and use your Teacher Code to link accounts.

How To Use It:

Step 1: On your Dashboard (after signing in, top right hand corner) press Create A New Glog (middle of the page).

Step 2: Explore the possible things you can add to your glog. Some examples are:

Graphics - some pre-defined graphics are available. Categories are on the left; page numbers are along the bottom

Text - all icons you see are editable and can be used to create style or mood

Image - Images can be uploaded from your computer, or Frames can be pressed to add a picture frame to an already existing image

Video - Video can be linked (from YouTube or Vimeo, for example) or uploaded from your computer. You can also “Grab” a video using a built in webcam

Sound - Similar to video, sounds can be uploaded, linked or recorded using your computer

Data - unavailable in free versions. In paid versions this allows you to upload large documents such as PDF’s or Docs.

Draw - This will allow you to freehand draw using a variety of colours.

Step 3: Once some items are added, press on one to edit the characteristics of it. Hovering over an icon will display its purpose.

Step 4: Press Save or Publish when ready to finish. Follow the prompts to decide if this is a finished product or a draft.

Step 5: Make note of the link provided - because these are private Glogs, only people with that link can access them.

Tool Name: Bubbl.us

Description: Bubbl.us is an online brainstorming application. This will allow students, teachers and whole classes to create, edit and share brainstorms. It allows for colour coded, multiple linked or simply vertical brainstorms to take place. The sharing features allow multiple students to work on the same Bubbl.us document.

Why You Should Use It: Brainstorming can help your students in two ways. The first major way is to gather their information about a specific topic before putting it into a more formal report. This may include things they have already learned, things they have researched, or simply facts that they need to check out.

Secondly, brainstorming can help to get a quick snapshot of learning at the end of each unit. Creating a brainstorm at the end of each unit, or series of lessons, will allow students to create a huge map of their learning throughout the year. These can be combined together to both demonstrate learning to each other, but also to the wider community.

Possible Uses: Having students log in to bubbl.us for a few minutes at the end of each lesson to continue contributing to their brainstorm can allow for a quick summary of their learning. Using it before a major assignment will ensure that students make all the required connections - the forging of the steel blades the French used required a number of trade routes and people that some students may not be aware of until they see the connections.

How To Set It Up:

Step 1: Go to HYPERLINK "https://bubbl.us/" https://bubbl.us/

Step 2: If a flash message pops up, accept the warning (you must have the latest version of Flash installed to use this tool).

Step 3: Press Create Account on the right hand side.

Step 4: Enter in the required data. Note: It is a good habit to get into to use your email address as your username where permitted - it will prevent you from having to memorize multiple names.

How To Use It: 12

Step 1: Press “Start Brainstorming”.

Step 2: You are presented with a single box that says “Start Here”. By clicking on this you can edit the text. The same is true for any box in bubbl.us.

Step 3: Hovering over anything will usually give you a context menu. If you hover over the yellow box you will see a right button, or a down button. Pressing the right button will give you a new, non-linked box to type in. Pressing the down button will create a linked box.

Step 4: Hover over a created box without clicking - some options, including colour, will appear. By clicking NOT on the T, you can change the colour of the box. By clicking on the T, you can change the colour of the text.

Step 5: Clicking, holding and dragging will move boxes.

Step 6: Hovering over a box, clicking AND DRAGGING on connect will allow you to connect multiple boxes together.

Step 7: Clicking on any connection will allow you to name your connection - verbs are good choices here (ships ->require->wood, First Nations ->participate in->trade).

Step 8: Pressing Save will save your file.

Step 9: Under the contacts box (right hand side) you can add contacts. This MUST be done before you can share documents. You can also create groups (for example, multiple classes, or multiple groups) for fast sharing. If all students signed up with an email address, using these as the contact will streamline the process.

Step 10: Pressing Sharing (right hand, top) will allow you or your students to share their sheets with others. Simultaneous edits are possible with shared documents. When used in connection with a First Encounters learning module, these tools will allow students to effectively demonstrate their knowledge and learning in a variety of ways that will also encourage further investigation. The tools will also permit students to gather their learning and their findings into a centralized location in order to better prepare for assessments. In the event that you have difficulty in using any of these tools please consider using the available online help features, or simply Google the tool in order to find a solution to your problem.

The French

At the time of first contact between the French and Canada's First Peoples in the 16thcentury, Frances I ruled the Kingdom of France. During his reign, France explored present-day Canada in search of riches and a passage to Asia. The French took much interest in exploring the so-called “New World” in the first half of the 1500s. They returned to settle this land actively only in the early 17th century.

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Swords

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Weapons

Scene: Frenchman with a sword.

Objective: Learn to use a sword in combat

Play:

Explain the concepts of using a sword in combat.

Slash L - (Hold “left’” until slash is complete)

Slash R - (Hold “right’” until slash is complete)

Lunge - (Hold “up’” until lunge is complete)

Block - (Hold “down’” for given time)

Swords

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What types of swords were used throughout history in France? (as mentioned by NPC: “The sword has been used in battle in my land for thousands of years...”)

Decision-making:

Was a sword really more effective than a musket? (as mentioned by NPC: “...proves to be more effective than the slow-loading muskets.”) Why or why not? In what ways?

Comparative:

How do swords compare to muskets? In how many ways are they similar? How do they differ?

Ranking:

How would you rank the effectiveness of the sword and the musket over the centuries? In what situations did each excel? Where did they fail? In which points in history did hand-to-hand combat prevail? When did the ability to fight from a distance begin to emerge as important?

Causal:

What was the impact of the use of the sword and the musket upon the First Peoples who encountered the French? What are some of the historical events where weaponry factored heavily in the outcome?

Speculative:

If the First Peoples had had access to European weaponry, ***would the balance of power have been different in New France? How would it have affected trade? settlement? relations? history?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Musket

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Weapons

Man is standing outside a French settlement with a couple French men. They are all Scene: holding firearms.

Objective: Fire a gun at a target

Procedure:

Student is introduced to the concepts of flintlock

fire arms.

Student loads the musket. (Tap “down” to pour

gun powder into measuring flask. and pour it into

top of muzzle.)

Hold “up” to wrap the bullet in paper.

Tap “down” to pack the muzzle with the ramrod. Tap “right” to open the pan cover and add priming

powder.

Hold “left” to cock the gun.

Images and Links: http://science.howstuffworks.com/flintlock2.htm

http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html; http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext03/cca0210.htm

Musket

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is the process for loading and shooting a musket? What made the musket an effective weapon for the French?

Decision-making:

Was a musket more effective than the First Peoples’ weapons? (as mentioned by NPC: “...its stopping power and the psychological effect it has on the enemy is far greater than any of your Peoples’ weapons.”) Why or why not? In what ways?

Comparative:

How do muskets compare to modern-day rifles? In how many ways are they similar? How do they differ?

Ranking:

Which do you think was more important, the speed with which arrows could be shot or the damage that could be done with the slow-loading musket? How would you rank each weapon overall?

Causal:

What role did the musket play in the claiming of First Peoples’ territories and the settlement of New France? How were the First Peoples affected?

Speculative:

If the First Peoples had also possessed muskets, what types of tactics and strategies would have been brought to bear upon their way of doing battle? How would their cultural and societal ways of being have affected their way of fighting with such a weapon? What strategies might they have used to a) surround an enemy; b) subdue an enemy that would have differed from the French way of doing battle? 22

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Maps

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Tools

Scene: Inside a French dwelling

Objective: Learn about maps

Play: Conversation among students

Student perhaps will control a fixed position camera (180*)

Student listens to a story as others look around a

table with a few maps on it.

At intervals during the story the player will be

required to select a comment/question from a

set of options. This will be a way to test the

comprehension of the students.

Images and Links: https://www.bac- lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics…/canadian…/maps-1667- 1999.aspx

[Canadian Geographic Historic Maps]: web.ncf.ca/ oshermaps.org [digital maps] 23 24

Maps

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What types of maps did the French have at their disposal when they made their voyages to New France? What skills did they need and use to develop the maps of the New World created once they had settled in their colonies? What are some examples of maps from this era that can still be studied today? What is the degree of accuracy (or lack thereof) of these historic maps?

Decision-making:

Was a map the most useful tool available to the French for navigating in the New World? Why or why not? What decisions might the French have made to maximise their abilities to navigate in the New World?

Comparative:

How did maps as a navigational tool compare with the in-depth and experiential understanding of the land, as possessed and passed on to future generations by the Indigenous 25

Peoples? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each system of navigation?

Ranking:

Is the ability to map a territory more important than the ability to know and understand the land as a system of navigation? How would you rank the following: - map-making skills - map-reading skills - Indigenous exploration skills local familiarity with the land - the transmission of navigational information to others Why would you rank those skills in that order?

Causal:

In what ways was the ability to create and read maps pivotal to the success of French exploration and settlement in New France? How did the Indigenous Peoples’ in-depth knowledge of their traditional territories affect the process of exploration and settlement by the French?

Speculative:

If the French had not had their maps, and had relied solely upon an ability to navigate the traditional territories in a similar fashion to the original inhabitants, what do you think would have been the outcome? What skills would they have possessed that they could have put to use? What resources would they have had to depend upon to be able to navigate? Based upon your knowledge of history, how willing do you think the First Peoples would have been to assist the French with the navigation of their traditional territories? Why or why not?

Stew

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is stew and what is hash? Is there a difference between stew and hash, or are they interchangeable terms? Research some traditional “voyageur stew” recipes.

Describe the Great Auk, the bird hunted by the French as a food source. Include information about its species, appearance, habitat, diet, and its relationship with humans.

Decision-making:

In New France, the variety of ingredients available to make stew and other staple foods was limited. What crops and livestock did the French choose to cultivate in their settlements to vary their diets? What changes to traditional French cuisine had to be made as a result?

Comparative:

Compare the traditional “voyageur stew” of New France with current stew recipes from France. In what ways are the stews similar? Do they differ in terms of ingredients or preparation? How do the utensils and appliances (including stoves) compare over the centuries?

Ranking:

Research and prepare a traditional “voyageur stew”, and a current French stew. You may wish to research and bake a loaf of the cob-shaped bread, another of the staples of the diet in New France. While you are preparing your recipes, consider the differences in the utensils and appliances available hundreds of years ago. Rank your stews according to ease of preparation, availability of ingredients, taste and texture. Share the meal with friends or family, just as would have been done centuries ago.

Causal:

After being hunted by many cultures for over 100,000 years, the Great Auk became extinct in the mid-19th Century. What caused this great bird to become extinct? Describe the process, from abundance to extinction, and consider the effects that this loss had upon humans.

Speculative:

Consider the limited variety of vegetables, fruits, dairy products, meat and fish available in New France. You are a homemaker who must prepare food for others to enjoy at a celebratory feast in your home. Create a menu using only locally-available food sources, and highlighting 27 some traditional favourites. Include the recipes necessary for others to also prepare the meal. Bon appétit!

iNFORMATION ABOUT FRENCH MUSIC OF THE PERIOD:

French Music

- Cartier's men predominantly if not all came from the region of France known as Brittany. Because what we now know as France has a number of distinct regions, as many as six for dance types and folk music, only Breton music that might be known and used by these persons will be discussed here.

These areas were established by the 9th century as basic religious areas. Today, they are still important as major cultural areas. The four western dioceses: Leon, Treger, Kernev and Gwened correspond to the four major dialects of the Breton language. 29

Song was the most predominant aspect of Breton music. It was unaccompanied and unison -- that is if a group were singing, they would all be on the same melody. As most songs told a story, a song was usually sung by just one individual.

Two old French songs, probably also known by persons from Brittany are Pipandor à la balance, also sometimes known as La Poulette Grise, and A la claire fontaine

The latter is in the old poetic structure of a laisse having the same rhyming end of line, here a masculine sound of 'er', countered with a feminine mid-line sound of 'e'. Often this song has a refrain interpolated in between every two lines of the main text. The lines of that refrain do not necessarily match either the length or rhyming scheme of the main text:

À la claire fontaine m’en allant promener

J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle que je m’y suis baigné.

Sous les feuilles d’un chêne, je me suis fait sécher.

Sur la plus haute branche, un rossignol chantait.

Chante, rossignol, chante, toi qui as le cœur gai.

Tu as le cœur à rire... moi je l’ai à pleurer.

J’ai perdu mon amie sans l’avoir mérité,

Pour un bouton de rose que je lui refusai.

Je voudrais que la rose fût encore au rosier,

Et moi et ma maîtresse dans les mêmes amitiés.

[English translation by Elaine Keillor: By the clear fountain I walked one day / The water looked so cool I bathed without delay. Refrain: For many years I’ve loved you, in my heart you’ll stay. Beneath an oak tree I dried myself that day. / High up a nightingale produced a song gay. / Sing, silly bird, with your heart so gay. / My heart is broken, so please go away. / I’ve lost my mistress and I cry all day. / I refused to give her roses in a bouquet. / Yet I wish that rose was on the bush today. / And the rosebush into the sea thrown away.]

This particular song is the first documented French folk song to be sung in Canada. It was sung in 1606 at the first ceremony of L’ordre de bon temps that Samuel de Champlain established at Port Royal. More than 220 versions of this song have been subsequently collected in Canada. 31

Ernest Gagnon, the first important collector of French Canadian folk songs wrote in his book of 1865: “Depuis le petit enfant de sept ans jusqu’au viellard aux cheveux blancs, tout le monde, en Canada, sait et chante ‘La Claire Fontaine’. On n’est pas canadien sans cela.”

La Poulette grise se trouve pourtant dans les chansons de l’ouest de la France:

L’était un p’tit’ poule grise Qu’allait pondre dans l’église, Pondait un petit coco Que l’enfant mangeait tout chaud.

L’était un petit’ poul’ blanche Qu’allait pondre dans la grange, Pondait un petit coco Que l’enfant mangeait tout chaud.

Et, là comme ici, on varie la couleur des poules.

Version canadienne : C’est la poulette grise

Because vocal music was so central for Brittany, it was common to have music for dances provided vocally. The dances that Cartier's men probably would be most familiar with would be rondes. These could be danced by the same gender in circles, likely clockwise. Individual dancers could introduce more elaborate footwork if they wished.

If they managed to have any musical instrument on board, it probably would have been the small Breton bagpipe with one drone. Possibly in the 1500s it had become customary to combine the biniou koz with the bombarde, a member of the oboe family. See:

YouTube: Bombarde biniou suite en-dro

- Cartier's diaries give us specific details of what sacred music possibly occurred.

VOYAGE #1 Music for the Feast of St. Barnabas

a) Date: June 11 1534

b) b) Cartier’s Voyages:

“And on St. Barnabas’s Day after hearing mass, we went with our longboats beyond this harbour towards the west, to examine the coast and see what harbours there were. We made our way among the islands, which are so numerous that it is impossible to count them. The extend beyond the said harbour for some ten leagues. We slept on one of these islands overnight and found there ducks’ eggs in great quantity and those of other birds that nest on the islands. We named these islands, ‘All Isles.’ ” (pp. 8- 9) 32

(Here Cartier refers to Islands now called Eskimo, Old Fort and Dog Islands”)

Of the Gregorian chants used in the church for the Feast of St. Barnabas, the Gradual/Introit and the Alleluia are suggested. Music available at: www.institute-christ-king.org/uploads/music/MassFoBarnabasAp0611_is.pdf

Introit text:

Ant: In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum: et in fines orbis terræ verba eorum. • “Their sound has gone forth through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

” Ps: Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei et opera manuum eius annuntiat firmamentum

• “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament declares the work of His hands.”

Alleluia text:

Ego vos elegi de mundo, ut eatis, et fructum afferatis: et fructus vester maneat

• "I have chosen you from the world, in order that you might go, and bear fruit, and that your fruit shall last."

To set these words, as was customary in Gregorian chant, the priest/singer pronounces the text on a melody that undulates up and down for each phrase of text. Many of the phrases will end on the same pitch which acts as a tonal centre for the whole melody. The melody usually moves up and down by step and if a there is a leap, it is relatively small in nature. Sometimes the repetition of the same pitch occurs to enunciate the text as at the the words "et opera manuum" in the Gradual text. Many of the syllables of the text are presented melismatically -- that is, with many pitches given to the same syllable. this is particularly true in the presentation of the Alleluia text.

On this first voyage of Cartier to North America, another church feast day is recognized: symbolic of Cartier’s voyage. VOYAGE #1

a) Date: August 15, 1534 b) Cartier’s Voyages: From Cook, Ramsay, ed. The Voyages of Jacques Cartier. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1993.

And afterwards, that is to say on [Saturday] 15 August, the day and feast of the Assumption of 33

Our Lady, we set forth together form the harbour of Blanc Sablon, after hearing mass, and made our way in fine weather as far as mid-ocean between Newfoundland and Brittany, where we experienced a heavy storm of east winds for three consecutive days, but by God’s help we bore up under it and rode it out.

And afterwards we had such favourable weather that we reached the harbour of St. Malo whence we had set forth, on [Saturday] 5 September in the said year [1534]. (p. 32)

As another example of possible sacred music heard by Cartier and his crew, the antiphon, "Ave Maris Stella" would be likely. It was used at commemorations of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon whom Cartier and his crew called when in danger or illness. Several performances of this Marian Hymn can be found on YouTube.

AVE MARIS STELLA

Salve, sancta parens, enixa puerperal Regem: Qui Caelum, terramque regit in saecula saeculorum

Hail, holy Mother, thou who didst bring forth the King Who rules Heaven and earth for ever and ever.

Ps: Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea Regi

My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King.

This Latin hymn, Ave Maris Stella, was chosen as the Acadian national anthem at the 1884 second National Acadian convention held at Miscouche, Prince Edward Island. It was proposed by Pascal Poirier and enthusiastically adopted by the assembly, most likely due to the high degree of devotion the Acadians have to the Virgin Mary, patron Saint of the Acadia.

French Song

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What types of instruments did the French play in New France? What was the typical genre(s) of music enjoyed at that time in the colonies? Which instruments needed to be imported onboard arriving ships, and which could be crafted in New France? What resources did the French require to make their instruments locally? What are some examples of music composed and/or played in the colonies that we can hear today, from that era in history?

Decision-making:

In what ways was music important to the French in the colonies? What kept them importing and crafting instruments at a time when life was hard and there was much work to do? Do you think the decision to play the fife and drum when going into battle was a good one? Why or why not?

Comparative:

As the music of New France at first was imported from France, (as an observer stated: “New France has yet to possess an artistic movement of its own! We simply follow the trends of the arts back home...”) how did it eventually compare to its origins after years in the New World? What are the similarities and differences between the music of the French and the music of the First Peoples they encountered? How do the two compare with respect to how the music was used and enjoyed?

Ranking:

How would you rank the priorities of music to the French: - the Church - the theatre - the battleground - the home - ceremonial occasions Why did you rank French musical priorities in this way? Similarly, which priorities do you feel were most important to the First Peoples with respect to their music? Why?

Causal:

How did music benefit life and society in New France? 35

How did music benefit life and society for the First Peoples? As the two groups came more frequently into contact, what are some of the results of this contact upon the musical genres popular to each?

Speculative:

With your knowledge of early French music and the music of the First Peoples, combine what you would consider to be the best elements of each to create a musical piece paying respect to the two different styles.

If the French had only had the raw resources available in the New World to craft musical instruments, what types of instruments do you think they would have created: - based upon their own style of music back in France? - based upon the style of music they came into contact with in the New World?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Sutures and Ligaturing

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Medicine

Outside a French dwelling with a few

French men. Scene: An ox is wounded on its leg. Its legs are

tied so it cannot move.

Objective: Repair a wounded ox.

Procedure:

Student is introduced to the concepts of

sutures

and ligaturing The student proceeds to

repair the wound

- Wash with clean salt water

- Ligature severed arteries and veins

- Suture the soft tissue

- Dress the wound with wool

Images and/or links:

Emedicine.medscape.com/article/1824895-overview

YouTube video on suturing 37

Sutures

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to for basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

Who was Ambroise de Paré and what were his medical discoveries? What were all the resources needed to perform ligating and suturing? What were the basic concepts involved in this type of surgery? What were the risks? the benefits?

Decision-making:

What aspects of wound management caused the changes in the way that the French decided to perform wound surgery? What are some other examples of improvements in medicine and surgical practice at that time in New France? What guided the decisions of the First Peoples with respect to the ways in which they used medicine to heal the wounded and the sick? - physical - spiritual

Comparative:

How did ligating and suturing improve the quality of surgical care in New France, compared to the older system of cautery? How did the French and the First Peoples’ systems of caring for wounds differ? Compare the French and the First Peoples’ perspectives on caring for the sick and wounded, including both spiritual and physical health.

Ranking:

How would you rank the relative effectiveness of cautery and ligation/suturing? Rank the effectiveness of the medicines of the First Peoples and of the French, with attention to resources, availability of trained practitioners, results and philosophy.

Causal:

What would have been the impact upon life in New France for the inhabitants of the colonies, with the advent of ligation and suturing?

What benefits or drawbacks, either direct or indirect, would this form of medicine have had upon the First Peoples and their relations with the French?

Speculative:

If the French had had access to the traditional medicinal knowledge of the First Peoples, would there have been ways in which the medical care of the colonizers could have been improved?

If the First Peoples had had access to the newly-introduced concepts of Western medicine, would there have been ways in which the medical care of their people could have been improved?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Humoral Theory

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Food

Inside a French dwelling with a French man. There Scene: are a variety of foods around

Objective: Discuss Humoral theory

Procedure: Conversation

Student possibly will control a fixed position

camera (180*) Player listens to a story as they look

around the dwelling.

At intervals during the conversation the player will

be required to select a comment/question from a

set of options.

Essentially, this theory held that the human body

was filled with four basic substances, called four

humors, which are in balance when a person is healthy. All diseases and disabilities resulted from

an excess or deficit of one of these four humors.

Images and links

http://bloodcenter.stanford.edu/blog/assets_c/2011/03/FourHumoursChart-thumb-200x177- 2437.jpg 40

HUMORAL THEORY Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer tobasic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

Who were Socrates and Galen, and what were their contributions to medicine? What is the “humoral theory” and how does it relate to medical practice today?

Decision-making:

If you were asked to develop a balanced, healthy diet based upon the teachings of the humoral theory, what would you choose to eat? Why? What food choices would be unacceptable according to the theory, but absolutely necessary in your opinion? Why? In what ways would the following of the humoral theory have assisted the French in their attempts to stay healthy in New France? In what ways would the decision to follow such a regime have harmed the inhabitants?

Comparative:

How does the humoral theory compare with the First People’s beliefs about the balance of the body with its environment? How does the humoral theory compare with modern medicine’s perspectives on illness and wellness? What are the similarities between the humoral theory, First Peoples’ medicine beliefs, and modern-day medicine? What are the differences?

Ranking:

In what order would you rank the effectiveness of the following beliefs and theories about illness and wellness: - First Peoples’ medicine - Humoral theory - Modern-day medicine

How would you substantiate your rankings?

Causal:

What would have been the impact upon modern-day medicine of the humoral theory? What would have been the results of following a strict humoral diet for the French in New France? What modifications would have been necessary? 42

Speculative:

If you could design an ideal diet, taking into consideration the teachings of the humoral theory, the First Peoples’ diet in a particular geographical area, and modern-day perspectives on wellness, what would that diet consist of?

If the First Peoples had switched to a diet based upon the humoral theory, in what ways would they have had to alter their food harvesting and gathering traditions? Choose one or two nations, based upon their geographic location.

Process to Salt Fish:

This method of preserving fish has been used for thousands of years.

- rinse fish fillets; - lay singly on a ½ inch thick layer of salt and then sprinkle another ½ inch of salt on top - if necessary, another layer of fish can be placed on top, but all need to be completely buried in salt - store in a cold, but not freezing environment for at least 48 hours - rinse the cured fish fillets - then lay out the fillets to dry for at least two weeks - when dry and stiff, dried fish fillets would keep for up to a yea

Salted Fish

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What materials and resources are required to salt fish in the traditional manner of the French in New France? What is the history of the French fishery off the coast of North America?

Decision-making:

Was salting fish the best option for the French to preserve their food for future consumption? What other foods would they have had to preserve, and which of those might they have chosen to salt? What could the French have learned from the First Peoples with respect to preserving food?

Comparative:

How and in what ways do the two systems compare: the French and the First Peoples methods of preserving food?

In what ways do the old and the modern methods of preserving food differ? Research and present at least three methods of food preservation for each era.

Ranking:

Taking into account the preserving methods, the resources required, and the safety of the 44 process, how would you rank the efficacy of the following food preservation methods: - Salting fish - Drying fish - Canning fish - Freezing fish Which methods are the most difficult, time-consuming and complicated? What are the various methods in use today?

Causal:

How would the knowledge of food preservation have changed the ways in which the early French fishery could proceed off the North American coast? What were the methods used to supply the fishing vessels before salting and preserving were discovered? What influence did the First Peoples’ knowledge of food preservation have on the methods of preparing food for storage in the colonies?

Speculative:

History is formed in part from a series of incidents, choices and actions, as well as small incidental considerations. If the French had not had a viable means of preserving fish and other perishables in the New World, how do you think the course of history might have been changed?

Compared with the modern-day fishery off the East Coast, which has collapsed as a result of over-fishing, what methods did the early fishermen use that ensured a continuation of the fishery? What could we learn from their methods as a means of revitalizing the East Coast fishery today? Would these changes even be possible in our modern world?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Metal Tools

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Tools

Scene: Inside a French dwelling

Objective: Find all the metal tools

Procedure: Collection

The student is introduced to the variety of things

that can be made with metal. Items needed are

shown in actuality or photos: Knife - Cooking pot -

Needle - Axe

Images: 46

47 48

Metal Tools

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to for basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What were the most important uses of metal for the French in the New World? In what ways did the arrival of metal tools, weapons and implements in New France change the balance of lifestyle and relations for the First Peoples?

Decision-making:

To receive metal tools and implements, the First Peoples entered into trade with the French. Was this decision a good one? What were the impacts, both positive and negative, upon the First Peoples over the course of the centuries of French settlement? The French decided to enter into trade agreements with the First Peoples. How did this decision benefit the overall progression of settlement in New France?

Comparative:

When comparing the tools, implements and weapons of the First Peoples and the French, in what ways were they similar and in what ways were they different? In comparing the perceived need for certain tools, implements and weapons, what do you notice about the types of items that were deemed useful, and therefore were fabricated, by the First Peoples and the French? How many were similar? Which ones were particular only to one culture or perhaps even to just one nation?

Ranking:

Examine several tasks or challenges for which there was a tool, implement or weapon, designed and used by either the First Peoples or the French. How would you rank the relative usefulness and ingenuity of each item in comparison to all the others? Develop an overview of the tools, implements and weapons of the French and of several First Peoples cultures. Within each culture, how would you rank the fabrication and utility of their items?

Causal:

What was the impact on the First Peoples of the arrival of metal tools, implements and weapons with the French? In how many ways did their cultures change as a result of this change in technology? How effective were the trading relationships between the cultures? Did trade with the French improve the lives of the First Peoples? Did trade with the First Peoples affect the lives of the French? In what ways? How was it harmful? How was it beneficial? 50

Speculative:

If the First Peoples had refused to enter into the fur trade with the French, how would this have affected the balance of power in New France? How might the French have attempted to get what they needed? What other commodities could have been traded for mutual benefit? Would the outcome in terms of trade benefits have endured as long as did the fur trade? Why or why not? 51

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Storytelling

Teaching Culture: French

Resource Type: Culture

Scene: Sitting around a campfire with a few French men.

Objective: Listen to a story told by the French explorers.

Procedure: Conversation

Student listens to a story while looking around the

campfire.

At intervals during the story the student will be required to select a comment/question from a set

of options. This tests the Student’s comprehension.

Images and links:

oaks.nvg.org/french-folktales.html 1. 2.

Storytelling

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is the First Peoples’ perspective on the relationship between the people and the land? How is this represented in everyday life? Despite all its Renaissance glory, what were the day-to-day realities for most French citizens? How did these challenges affect the era of overseas exploration?

Decision-making:

The French kings expected absolute submission by their subjects. What are some points in France’s history when the citizens rose up against this type of rule? What were the effects of this decision? 53

Were the early French explorers able to make decisions as to their travel routes to the New World? How did they end up where they did? How did they decide where to establish colonies?

Comparative:

How did the worldview of the French with respect to decision-making, power and the control of land compare with that of the First Peoples? How did the lifestyle of the French and that of the First Peoples differ? In what ways do you perceive one as being better than the other? Why?

Ranking:

How would you rank the relative merits of the following, and why: - one omnipotent ruler vs. the consensus model of decision-making; - a luxurious lifestyle vs. an acceptance of a simple lifestyle; - a disease-filled life in a society with many “modern” amenities vs. a disease-free life in a society with fewer “modern” amenities; - the need to go to war to secure territory vs. the need to go to war for vengeance.

Causal

What was the impact upon the settlement of New France of the differing worldviews of the French and the First Peoples? Consider this with respect to viewpoints on power, territory, lifestyle and expansion.

Choose one differing French viewpoint mentioned above and present arguments as to the ways in which this particular perspective caused damage to and destabilization of the First Peoples after colonization.

Speculative:

If a group of First Peoples’ individuals were to have voluntarily relocated to Renaissance France to live for a year, what changes in perspective and lifestyle would they have encountered? How would these changes have compared with their own perspectives? How well do you think they would have adapted? Why or why not?

If a group of French citizens were to have been invited to live in a First Peoples’ community at the time of the colonization of New France, what changes in perspective and lifestyle would they have encountered? How would these changes have compared with their own perspectives? How well do you think they would have adapted? Why or why not?

The

Norse The Norse peoples were mainly farmers, fishers, and herders who originated from present-day Scandinavia. The period between the late 9th and 11th century is commonly referred to as the Viking Age, a time when the Norse explored and travelled by sea in search of trade, pasturelands, and wealth. Their arrival on the eastern shores of present- day Canada in the 11th century preceded the arrival of any other European culture by almost 500 years. According to Patricia Sutherland, artifacts discovered on Baffin Island and recovered during the Helluland Archaeology Project indicate contact between the Norse and Dorset Peoples. In her words, Nanook was probably a shore station, not a settlement like L’Anse aux Meadows, where remnants of grapes, and butternuts have been found. This indicates that the Norse travelled as far as what is now eastern New Brunswick for ‘Vinland’. 55

L’Anse aux Meadows

Interview with Birgitta Wallace – August 4, 2011

(Research Archaeologist Emerita, Parks Canada Agency, Atlantic Service Centre. Focus on Viking archaeology, with special emphasis on the westward expansion. She has worked on sites in Norway, Sweden, Nova Scotia, Israel, U.S.A., and Canada, including the L’Anse aux Meadows site in Newfoundland, first with the Ingstad expedition and later with the Parks Canada team. She has published widely on the L’Anse aux Meadows site and Vikings in North America.)

Introduction:

….I am Birgitta Wallace. I was born, raised and educated primarily in Sweden...but I came to North America at a fairly early stage to study at the University of Kansas in the 1960s. My first, my very first job as an archaeologist was at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburg and there, they assigned me to investigate all alleged Viking evidence in North America, because my specialization was Vikings. In the 1960s, when L'Anse aux Meadows site was discovered and excavated by the Norwegians Anne Stine and Helga Ingstad, I was invited to come to that excavation one year - that was shortly after I had arrived in Pittsburg - and I participated in that one more time...so when the L'Anse aux Meadows site became a national historic site of Canada, more excavations were needed and Mrs. Ingstad did not want to lead them so the person who came...a Swedish archaeologist came and he called me in as an assistant to him and one thing led to another. He only came for three years and returned home. By that time I had actually moved to Canada and..... further work at L'Anse aux Meadows fell into my hands at that point and although I worked as an archaeologist on many other sites in Atlantic Canada, L'Anse aux Meadows has been in my mind over many years and continues in a way to be so even now I am retired from Parks Canada...

Q- If we could start by trying to get a picture of what the sailors, the Norse sailors might have seen as they approached the coastline of Nfld...how long a voyage, first of all, might it have been? And what's the geography of that region like? What would we see as we sail along? Try and give us a picture of that area...

[03:08] lThe starting point – that's one thing we really have to keep in mind – for the sailors, for the Norse who came to L'Anse aux Meadows was Greenland. And from what written documentation we have, they started by going north from the biggest settlement, which was in very southern Greenland, but went up to where the strait, the Davis Strait, is at its narrowest and then they followed the coast to the extent they could from there on. Because, although they could determine latitude, they could not determine longtitude, so that made it much more important for them to have land in sight. They sailed according to landmarks. And when you come, it's a longer trip than you think because the Labrador coast veers towards the east, not straight south, and they would have followed that and there are impressions recorded that date to 300, 400 years later, but it talks about three regions...and the first they came to, they called Land of Flat Rocks -Helluland -because there was no grass, only rocks and glaciers. They 56 sailed on towards the south, following the coast, then they came to something they called Markland -Land of Woods – and this must have been central Labrador, especially the region around Hamilton Inlet. It's not perhaps wooded all the way out to the coast now but at that point it would have been. And continuing south, then suddenly, as you enter the Strait of Belle Isles you find yourself with land on two sides because you see the northern tip of Nfld and it's a natural instinct I would say, for them then to sail over to that -the strait is very narrow here, about 18 kilometres – and you see from coast to coast and if you just sail pretty much straight east, you hit the area of L'Anse aux Meadows. And, you come into a large bay, called Epaves Bay, which means Wreck Bay, so it was obviously not always a safe bay to enter, and straight on. That you are on the western shore of the great northern peninsula just at the northern tip, you would have seen a fairly large grassy area surrounded by forest. And this is where the Norse decided to investigate and stay...or settle themselves...probably they had, before they did, went to that extreme, they probably explored the rest of the area. But that's how you would see L'Anse aux Meadows

Q- How long a voyage might it have been from Greenland?

[06:54] Well, according to the written documents, it would have been a total of only 10 days. But when a replica ship tried to make the voyage in 1998, it took them three months. So it's all depending on weather and wind. Remember, they had no engines whatsoever. They had only one main sail, a square sail, which means you can't tack a lot and...people have tried to figure out how far they go...we're pretty sure they sailed at the speed of about four to five knots on the average. But one thing when people have tried to determine how far do you get with that in ten days and so forth, they have completely forgotten that some days there were perhaps no wind at all, but the replica ship experienced that outside Labrador and they lay still there for days. And these ships are too big really to row. There were ships that were 'rowable' but these were big, heavy merchant ships and you could only row to get in and out of harbour...so it would have varied from year to year

Q- Do we have any idea of how many people might have come on one of those voyages...and what kind of people they might have been...were there men, women and children...?

If we go with the documentary evidence, the biggest expedition would have been...there probably were not more than 30 or 40 people. But if you go with the archaeological evidence that we have and the only evidence we have is L'Anse aux Meadows, we get a much bigger crowd. We can determine to some extent the number of people from the size of the buildings because we know how the houses were arranged inside, so we can count kind of sleeping spaces, and we get to a figure that lies between 70 and 90, which is quite a large group of people, especially as we also know now from the last decade or so of Danish research, that the 11th century in Greenland there, the population was no more than 400 to 500 people. So that's quite a few people that came on this voyage although they were not all people coming from Greenland...., some were from Iceland too

Q- In terms of the complex at L'Anse aux Meadows, can you give me kind of an overview - again, a broad overview of the complex? How is it set up, without specifics of the buildings, but how is it set up? 57

[10:17] For a Norse complex, it is quite different from anything we know in Greenland or Iceland which is the two cultures where we have, these people come from originally. It consists of almost only dwellings. And we have three, large, what people sometimes call longhouses but the proper term really is halls, which indicates a sort of status at the same time. There were, two especially, very large, they are on the size of a big chieftain's house back in Iceland and Greenland. And then there is a third which is slightly smaller, and a little less complicated in terms of rooms and so forth. These houses were built over a wooden frame with sod, with thick sod walls and heavy sod roofs and they are longer than they are wide. In one of them, there are four rooms in a row. The biggest of them has five or even six rooms plus a shed. Then there are also some smaller buildings, they are really more huts than anything else and they have just one room inside them and there is one hut by each hall. …Each hall is flanked by a small hut...and one of them which has been reconstructed also has a small house next to it. All of these buildings were made of sod. Sod laid over a very substantial wooden frame with rows -the big houses have rows of wooden posts holding up the roof structure. There was also a small... hut away from the others on the other side of a brook that runs through the settlement and that was actually a shop, a workshop for making iron

Q- May be you could talk a little about that? I know there wasn't a lot of iron made in L'Anse aux Meadows...but maybe just about the significance, about how that's done, what materials you need...?

[02:01] The Norse people had been making iron for about 1500 years when these events take place, when they come to North America. But it was a very specialized skill and there is a possibility that they didn't have a person terribly knowledgeable how to make iron but who knew the basics and in order to make iron at that point, it was always made from small, iron lumps that can be found in bogs and lakes. Iron is a natural product. Water that contains iron is in a fluid form but when it is under certain chemical conditions in a bog or lake, the iron itself becomes little crusty lumps and this iron is very prevalent in L'Anse aux Meadows, in a bog and along a brook and it was collected and then heated at temperatures that must be at least about 1100 degrees celsius. It's heated in a small furnace built of clay and you fire it up with charcoal. Charcoal can make a higher heat than just wood...and it's fired up for about a day and you get a lump of iron. Then you have to work...and this happened at L'Anse aux Meadows but we also know that the iron produced there was very low quality. That's why I say they probably didn't have one who was really an expert on the art. They may have manufactured the iron just as an experiment because they did see that bog iron as we call it, was easily accessible there or it might have been necessity because we have evidence on the site that one of their smaller boats, their dinghies, had to be repaired and to do that they needed iron nails. And it seems that they made new nails. They took away the old rusty nails and the damaged boat planks and just junked that and that's what was found later by archaeologists but they probably also needed new ones.

Q- What would you find to suggest that they had made iron?

[05:06] When you make iron there is a by-product, waste, which is called slag and that's what 58 you find on a site. And from the amount of slag you can figure out just how much iron was ever produced. Because they leave the slag right around the furnace, the furnace is destroyed once it's been fired up and they take out the actual iron and leave the slag right in place...so that was found and we could determine only about five kilos or so...

Q- You mentioned workshops. I know some were inside the halls . What sort of things went on in the workshops? And what have you found that suggests that?

When you work iron also, as a smith, and many people have probably seen that, hammering the iron also produces slag. It's a different type of slag. And in one of the rooms, in one of the big houses, almost the only finds were slag and that was the kind of slag that a smith produces. And there was also a low fire pit and probably....we interpret that as a hearth, or ..there is a word for that....forge, yes, the forge, where the smith heated his tongs to rip the iron with ...and when you find smithing slag like that you just assume that's where they actually hammered the iron and made whatever they made from the iron they had produced on the site

Q- ...So other than iron, anything else that might have been going on in the workshops? It was primarily iron?

That was primarily iron, yes, but one thing that also led us to nails was that in what was not a regular room but more built as a workshop attached to the biggest house, there were an awful lot of iron nails found, iron nails that had been just cut off or straight through where you could see the heads had been split so they would come loose easier and iron nails were the biggest find, most frequent find on the site actually. You know you use a lot of nails in a building, but that's not true when it comes to the Norse. Because those buildings were fastened together by mortizing, by fitting the wooden pieces together and using wooden nails, dowels, and that was typical for all west Norse architecture. They just didn't use nails in their buildings. The one place they used a lot of nails was for their boats and ships. And when you find that many – we found 90 or something – that doesn't sound very much perhaps but when you know in most Norse sites they find, that is Norse sites that have been inhabited for 100 or more years, they find maybe 5 nails or so, then you realize something was going on here and they were really concentrated to a shed. That screams boat repair to a Norse archaeologist

Q- How many ships might there have been?

Well, as far as we know, the type of ship that crossed the ocean probably did not carry more than 30 to 40 people and it's very tempting to say there might have been about three ships coming to L'Anse aux Meadows because you have, those buildings that I talked about are arranged into three complexes that seem separate from each other in many ways. In the way they were built, in what they were doing in each complex. So it's very tempting to say there might have been three ships there but each ship also had what they called an 'afterboat', the landing boat, a boat they used when they explored, going into rivers and so forth and we can tell from the size of the workshop where what we think is ship repair had gone on, that it's a boat like that, it couldn't have been longer than eight meters..any, it's just one, we're talking about. Just one...but even the destruction or accident with just one boat would have been a serious 59 matter for people who have come and want to go back home

Q- re different people might have lived in different buildings re their status...Is that true? How do you know that?

[11:21] We know from settlements in Iceland and Greenland that chieftains lived in large halls and, I mean, they had their immediate family there but they also had servants of various kinds and slaves, because they owned people as slaves also. Other Norse people or prisoners of war and some of them may have slept in the big house but most of them lived in smaller hovels really, on the property of a chieftain and those little huts that existed in L'Anse aux Meadows, are exactly the type of structures or houses that lower ranked servants and slaves had to contend with. So it just points out that there were all different kinds of people . There is also one real house, but much smaller than the big house, and that's the kind that day workers who had some form of independence would live in. So you have a very, non-egalitarian society. Not everybody is the same as everybody else, some are better than others....

Q- Is there any indication there were children at L'Anse aux Meadows, women and children? Were they part of the voyages over to L'Anse aux Meadows?

There is, from the archaeological material we find at L'Anse aux Meadows, but there is no indication of family life at all. It's only works, like ship repair, metal, making iron, smithing, that's the kind of thing that men did. But there is indication that there were some women there because women worked with textiles a lot and one find was a small spindle whorl. A spindle whorl is a little flywheel on a hand held spindle...and there was also found a kind of needle that possibly was used for some kind of knitting. That was generally female work as well. People had very assigned roles – women cleaned and did domestic chores, the men did things like heavy work -but there is no indication really of children. The only indication we have that children may have been there is from the written documents and they do not talk of ..they only mention that the leader had his wife with him and there were some children.

Q- L'Anse aux Meadows was set up in a manner that tells you it wasn't a typical Norse settlement. What are the main differences?

In [a] main Norse settlement, [there] would have one, big hall surrounded perhaps by smaller huts but there would be other buildings such as....barns for animals. The Norse economy...the main work....the main way people lived and existed in all Scandinavia in that period was farming and primarily livestock farming. Scandinavian countries are so far to the north that none of them are particularly good for growing cereals like wheat and barley. But they kept large flocks of sheep and cattle. They were really dairy farmers and ate a lot of dairy food. So each big farm, the kind of farm that would have a hall on it, would also have big, big barns for hay and for stalls for cattle and they are not there in L'Anse aux Meadows. It's also fairly unusual to have more than one big hall on a site. Usually, chieftains lived a kilometre or two away from each other so they were surrounded by their own land....and for three settlements like that to be so close together to form one is just very unusual. And the fact that they didn't have any large herds of cattle with them 60

Q- So am I correct to assume they didn't come to settle...?

Yes. To me that is a very clear indication that they didn't come to settle. They did not intend to stay there forever. They intended I think, perhaps to stay there but only on a temporary basis, in the form of now and then.

Q- Could L'Anse aux Meadows have been a kind of a base, from where small groups would explore or go and bring back lumber...? What is your idea of the functionality of L'Anse aux Meadows? Why was it established ? Why was it important to have a settlement there?

[18:02] When we look at what was found at L'Anse aux Meadows, we found some evidence that they had been elsewhere. And people often ask you: what's the most interesting thing that you have ever found? And they always expect it should be something, gold or something absolutely beautiful. But that's not true in archaeology because what you are really looking for is information. And something totally unexpected can be some of the most exciting discoveries you have ever made. And to me, at L'Anse aux Meadows, that was finding butternuts in the Norse layers. At the time, I didn't even know anything about butternuts but I learned very quickly that butternuts ….are a North American type of walnut and they have never grown north or northeast of New Brunswick. They grow in New Brunswick. They don't grow in Nova Scotia or P.E.I., not native, as native plants or trees anyway. They do grow in Quebec, but pretty far up the St Lawrence and northern new Brunswick is much closer to L'Anse aux Meadows. But what it tells us, and that's a very exciting thing, is that the people who lived at l”Anse aux Meadows, the Norse people who lived at L'Anse aux Meadows, had actually been much farther south and I would think that that would have been New Brunswick. Because as I said, it's much closer than the areas in Quebec where they grow...and it's really exciting because of a whole story of the Norse in North America, where they find an area they call 'Vinland,' because they found wild grapes...and the fantastic thing about finding the butternuts was that they grow in exactly the same area as wild grapes grow. And the grapes and the butternuts, ripen about the same time...so the person who picked those butternuts and lost them or threw them away, whatever, because they're very hard to open, must have seen grapes also. We didn't find any grape seeds, but that's natural because the grapes probably would have taken back to Greenland. The Norse were not big wine drinkers because the only ones who could afford to drink wine were chieftains so for ordinary Norse to find something like grapes and your own access to them. Most of the time they had to import wine, so that would have been very exciting for them

Q- If they did explore, using L'Anse aux Meadows as a base, parts of New Brunswick and south, what might they have been looking for....what might they have brought back to their base?

[21:40] If we go to the written documentation, it's very clear that much of the purpose was simply to explore. They had been settled in Greenland for only about 15 years at this time, but it had given them time to clear land and build buildings there. But it's natural too, when you 61 move into an area unknown to you before, you explore far and wide to see what's there, to be gained from elsewhere. And the settlements in Greenland...Greenland had no forests, they had good pastures but no forests and there is plenty of evidence that finding big forests would have been a major find for them and that's what they were after…They say, I want to fell these trees and then trim them so I get a good cargo for my ship…This is what the leaders tell the other people in the documents. And Labrador would have had great pine forests and soft wood forests but the area in New Brunswick would have been even more interesting because you have hard wood there. Hard wood they otherwise would have to pay dearly for to get from Norway or other parts of Europe. And there is an indication that that was a chief interest, of more interest than the grapes actually....

Q- In all their explorations, is there any indication they encountered First Nations’ people?

Yes, it's an interesting thing because, again, we have to go over the documents, but I think we can apply the documents nowadays to L'Anse aux Meadows more than people have thought, including myself in the past, because when you really analyze what kind of buildings the documents talk about, the motivation for going there and what kind of people came, what did they do, how did they behave, exactly, you come up with something, L'Anse aux Meadows parallels are so strong, so I think we are justified in filling in information from the documents even though they were written much later than when all these events took place. The documents talk about coming to a place which they use as a winter base and in the summer they explore and they go both northwards and westward and south. And when they go north, they meet people, other people. And when they go south the first time it may have happened. Suddenly, one morning, they had been there for a little while and made camp, but a whole group of people in what is called 'skin boats,' obviously some form of canoe, hide canoe, lots of them, are approaching where the Norse are staying and the Norse say: ‘What is this?’ They had no idea. And people come ashore and to the Norse they look very different. They talk about them being dark, having very big, dark eyes and dark hair and they don't understand what they say. And for the people who came in their canoes, here suddenly is a group of people. So they just stare at the Norse and the Norse stare at the people who just appeared and they don't understand each other's language. But the people who appeared in their canoes, were obviously on their way to do some kind of trading because they were carrying furs among other things, and the Norse were very interested in furs – they were fur traders like later Europeans -so a trade begins right away and they find this very exciting and....what the Norse had that, for people coming was things like red cloth and this is what the Indigenous people wanted to trade for, they were giving the Norse furs

Q- From your own perspective as an archaeologist over the years, what are the most significant elements of L'Anse aux Meadows as an archaeological site and, also, in terms of what that site has told us about who lived there and how they lived?

I think from the Nordic point of view, the archaeological significance is that it is physical proof that these medieval documents actually are based on actual events. So many other places have been pointed out as being that but they have never been able to withstand scrutiny. There is just no doubt about it, that this really is a Norse site and that it dates from the early 11th century and, as further work has shown, it really is very, very similar to what has been 62 described in the medieval documents. From a wider point of view, in the past people have talked a lot about it's the first time Europeans perhaps come to North America and that's also significant. But when you really look at that, what is it? The Norse come for maybe ten years. It's a blip on history. It's really not that significant as such, as a European site. It had no impact on anybody or... left much mark in North America. But from the point of view of humanity, it is, as has been brought out a lot over the last few years, it's the first time you have the whole globe circumvented by people. It's the first time people who have come, people in North America and people in Europe, stand face to face. They have crossed the ocean. They have met. Nothing came out of it because it was so brief but that, I think, was its significance in history...

Q- How long might that settlement been inhabited by the Norse?

[30:32] The way we can tell how long a site has been occupied is from garbage. The Norse had the lovely habit of throwing all their garbage out the front door. So you always find a big pile and then you know. That's where the door was. And in Greenland, these piles, these garbage piles can be enormous. One, from a farm, a small farm that was occupied for 300 years, the garbage was thrown out the front door, down a slope and at the door it was almost 2 meters deep and it stretched for 150 meters down the slope. At L'Anse aux Meadows, the biggest garbage pile is 2 by 2 metres and 25 centimetres deep. That tells you that that wasn't very long at all. I would say for a total period of a decade, ten years or so, I don't think it was more . But it's possible that, exactly as described in the Sagas, in the medieval documents, that one expedition came and stayed for a year or two then went home and maybe a year or two passed and then maybe another expedition came. There is some indication because possibly some of the garbage would have blown away if it lay abandoned for a year or two...much of the garbage consisted of ashes from the fireplace so they would have spread out a bit. But we also know that, for instance, since they never had any big herds and there was no indication of any. We could also tell it from what was on the floor because much of the garbage also went on the floor. You chewed on your roast and spit out the bones on the floor. That makes the floors very greasy and thick. But they were not there. It was just a very short occupancy but, of course, we can't tell exactly how many years.

Q- And what possible reasons might there have been for not returning?

When you figure out the distances really involved in going from southern Greenland to L'Anse aux Meadows, and then L'Anse aux Meadows wasn't even your final goal, but what you are really after was even farther away, it turns out it's quite a bit farther to New Brunswick from Greenland than it is from Greenland back to Norway. Greenland, where the Norse lived, is on the latitude of Baffin Island and at that latitude it's sort of the top of the globe so it's not that far between Europe and Greenland. But when you go south, you get distances. So, it just wasn't very practical, when you think of how few people were in Greenland at the time, 400-500, never became more than two or 3,000, they just didn't have the manpower to expand farther. And especially for them to expand into areas where they were, had other people to compete with. So they just said, nice things there but just not worth it

Re: what would they have eaten at L'Anse aux Meadows?

[35:25] They ate anything associated with milk...for that reason they just must have had at least some goats or cows with them but not enough to worry too much about. So I would say they would have had cheese, butter. They made – Icelanders still do – some kind of yogurt. They are staples. But they also ate as much meat as they could. We know at L'Anse aux Meadows they ate cod because we found one cod vertebrae, giant cod, but otherwise they were not big fish eaters. But they ate, normally at home, cabbage, turnips, probably carrots, onions, garlic...those are the main things and barley...

[36:34]...at L'Anse aux Meadows they also ate whale and seal and they had big seal hunts in Greenland and Iceland and they hunted moose. We have no moose bone at L'Anse aux Meadows but - there were no moose in Newfoundland actually at the time - but there were reindeers. You use caribou as a term but that's the same....we know that from Greenland. We have no caribou bones at L'Anse aux Meadows either. But that's their normal diet. The more beef the better. The chieftains ate a lot more beef than the people in the small houses. They had a higher percentage of caribou and seal in Greenland

Re: tool and weapons

[37:46] ….they made their tools generally but they imported their weapons. They imported their swords from France but mostly the chieftains had swords. Axes were the most important tool and weapon and they made those but not at L'Anse aux Meadows... [39:00] Arrows.. they had longbows, Longbows they made themselves. In Greenland, when they were short of iron, they made arrow tips of antler.

Consult the essay by B. Wallace, “Finding Vinland,” Canada’s History 98/1 (2018): 20-9.

Norse Weapons

The Norse had a variety of weapons. The AXE was something that everyone had as it was used for cutting down trees, but could be used for defence. The heads were made of iron and single-edged. Broad axes could have a cutting edge of 22 to 45 centimetres. For a better edge, hammered steel could be welded to the iron head.

The SPEAR was the most commonly used weapon during the Viking Age. Their spearheads varied greatly in size, but could be as long as 60 cm.

The SWORD was the most desirable weapon, but Norse swords were imported from France. It was single-headed with a wide fuller down the length of the blade, usually around 30 cm. long. The hilts were often lobed or could have a cocked hat pommel. The SAX was a short, single- edged sword used by the Vikings.

To protect themselves against these weapons, the Norse had helms, those were helmets or spangen in the Norman style. Armor for the body consisted of chainmail. Shields, usually round in shape, were also used

Links: www.hurstwic.org www.darkknightarmoury.com/ http://www.viking-shield.com

Norse Weapons

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

In what ways were the Norse weapons inferior to or better than those of other European societies at the time of First Encounters? What were the different Norse weapons, and how did the iron-headed axe become the most popular weapon of all?

Decision-making:

Why did the Norse shape their axes the way they did? How many other uses did they find for their fighting axes? Why did the chieftains choose the sword over the axe?

Comparative:

How did swords compare to axes in terms of their use and efficiency? 65

In how many ways were they similar and how did they differ?

Ranking:

How would you rank the comparative effectiveness of the sword and the axe? In what situations did each excel and where did they fail?

Causal:

What was the impact of the Norse possession of axes and swords, upon the First Peoples who encountered the Norse? What are some of the historical events where weaponry factored heavily in the outcome?

Speculative:

If the First Peoples had had access to European weaponry, how would the balance of power have been different in the New World over the ensuing centuries?

How would it have affected trade? settlement? relations? history?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Dulse

Teaching Culture: Viking

Resource Type: Food

Scene: Student is on the shoreline with a Viking man.

Objective: Collect some dulse

Performance: Collect

Student introduced to dulse and its nutritional

benefits: a good source of minerals and vitamins,

Compared with other vegetables. It contains all

trace elements needed by humans and has a high

protein content.

Can be picked by hand when the tide is out.

Student describes what dulse looks like and then

asks questions.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmaria_palmata

Dulse

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is dulse, and what are its medicinal and nutritional properties? How knowledgeable were the Norse about nutrition and health? What was their system of medicine at the time of the voyages to the New World?

Decision-making:

Was dulse a good choice for a nutritional supplement to the Norse diets? Why or why not? Were there any other seaweeds that they could have chosen? What were their properties?

Comparative:

How does dulse compare nutritionally with the other seaweeds that were available to the Norse? What did the local First Peoples use as a similar nutritional supplement? How did it compare with the nutritional properties of dulse?

Ranking:

Research and rank the nutritional properties of the various seaweeds, including dulse, that were available for harvest in the New World. Which European cultures at the time of the Norse voyages to the New World were the most advanced with respect to their knowledge of food and nutrition? Which were the least knowledgeable?

Causal:

What was the impact upon the First Peoples in the New World of the strength and vitality of the Norse?

Speculative:

How might good health on the part of both cultural groups have affected the balance of power in the New World? If dulse were not available, what types of food would have replaced its nutritional value? How practical would the cultivation and/or harvest of these alternatives have been?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Viking Ship

Teaching Culture: Viking

Resource Type: Culture

Scene: Near the stern of a ship full of Vikings.

Learn about the making of a ship and how the Objective: Vikings travelled with it.

Procedure:

The Vikings used large oak trees to build their boats,

either the Long Ship or the Knarr, the latter being the

type that likely arrived on the western Atlantic’s shore.

A massive log, some 90-100 cm. in diameter, 8

metres or so long, weighing around 8 tons would

be selected. The log would be cleaved into two,

using mallets pounding wedges. Once halved,

those halves would be quartered, then still

smaller pieces created. A small piece would be hewn smooth to create the ship’s planks or

boards. Normally 8 strakes or 8 rows of

planking would be needed for the hull.

Once completed the boat was moved by the

sailors, using oars to put it out into the water. 71

Once at sea, they relied on a sail for propulsion.

Images and Links:

The Viking Ship Museum: https://www.visitoslo.com/ www.khn.ulo.no/ www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/ https://thevikingships.weebly.com/knarr-ships.html https://www.atlasobscura.com

VIKING SHIP: Wood Cutting

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What were the uses of the iron axe by the Norse? Would these uses be the same as those back in their home country? What are the names of the various parts of the Norse ships that would have been made of wood harvested with iron axes? What other materials were used in ship-building?

Decision-Making:

What wood in the New World would the Norse have chosen if oak were not available? What properties did they require in the wood they harvested for ship-building? What other uses for wood could the Norse have found in their exploration base camps in the New World?

Comparative:

In comparison with the local First Peoples, what relative importance did the Norse place upon harvesting the forest to build their exploration base camps? How did each culture prioritize the use of wood?

Compare the tools (such as the iron axe) that the Norse had at their disposal, with the tools used by the local First Peoples at that time.

Ranking:

Their overseas homeland was largely devoid of the huge trees, so the Norse found themselves in a new ecological environment in the New World. How would you rank the importance of forestry management to the Norse when they established their exploration base camps, including cutting trees for shipbuilding and shelter construction, and for clearing land to farm? How would you rank the priorities of the local First Peoples during the same period?

Causal:

What would have been the impact of the Norse exploration base camps in the New World upon the lifestyle of local First Peoples, including the impact of the harvesting of the forests? In what ways did the possession of iron axes and other tools benefit the Norse in their quest to establish base camps in the New World?

Speculative:

Would the local First Peoples have had articles of trade that would have interested the Norse? Would the Norse have been willing or wise to trade iron axes? Why or why not?

If the Norse had not had iron axes, how would their exploration of the New World been affected? What would they have had to do to survive and thrive?

Interview with Richard Schweitzer Pinegrove Productions

...My name is Richard Schweitzer and, in DARC, I’m known as Rig…DARC which stands for Dark Ages Recreation Company, a group of like- minded people who have gotten together to see what we can find out about the Norse culture by reproducing it, by going beyond the archaeology and doing some experimental archaeology and by our actions find out what the archaeologists might have missed.

Q- so what time period would the music and the instruments and what DARC is involved in….can you give me a sense of the time period? …Um, DARC works on creating a very narrow Norse culture from around the year 1000. The Norse culture extends back into the 800’s and into the Middle Ages – 1200’s, 1300’s –by that time it started to change with the coming of Christianity, the new influences and of course changes in trade and so forth. The Norse culture eventually peters out but a lot of it fortunately was saved in the 1300’s, especially in Iceland they started really getting into writing down their stories. [01:52]…the earliest that anything is recorded is around 1300……a little piece of music that was written down on the bottom of a Skanian law code …somebody had just had a little space and squished that in there….and so we’ve got this one little phrase….SINGING IT….which translates to: I dreamed last night …I dreamed a dream last night of silk and fine fur …which is a great start of a story. Unfortunately, that’s all they bothered writing down, losing the rest of it…so that’s 1300, that’s the first piece of Norse music we’ve got and then after that it’s another couple hundred years until something else is written down and then after that we’re stuck with a little bit more of folk music …[04:27]…there are 9 skills known to me. At tables I play ably. Rarely run I out of runes. Reading, smithcraft both come ready. I can skim the ground on skis, wield a bow, do well at rowing. To both arts I can lend my mind. Poets lay and harpers playing….so the music and poetry were both considered one of these nine skills that any Norseman who was anyone should be able to do and there are, as you go through the Sagas, people will just kind of randomly chant out these verses …and it is hard sometimes to know, are they singing or are they speaking? Of course, we’re working from English translations…sometimes it’s translated one way, sometimes it’s translated another…and, of course, who knew if they actually did it that way? But certainly it makes sense that the people who wrote them down were performing them that way. The Skolls, the people who are….the poets, the performers, particularly from Iceland, became quite well known all over Europe . They performed in the halls of the kings of Norway and Sweden because they were the ones who were telling these stories….and I wouldn’t …I would expect that they would have both of those performed….both spoken and sung… ….you have to think of these performers in the context of the long, smoky longhouses, stuck there on a winter’s night. Too dark to actually do anything. It’s too cold to go outside . You’re too stir crazy not to do something. There’s no entertainment except for singing and speaking….so it’s no wonder that these people..um…there’s numerous sagas when a fellow would show up and the owner of the longhouse, the king or the noble or whatever, would say: do you know some stories? And he would say, Yes, of course I know those stories and he’d say, Oh, we’ll put you up for the winter then. And many a person would survive the winter just 75 literally by having a good story to tell and a new story to tell….[08:08 – 08:30] SINGING LULLABY….which translates to: sleep my baby, sleep. The tears of rain are teeming. Mother will your treasures keep. Precious toys from bones of sheep..,.,til the day night is teeming…[09:39-10:04] SINGING…that one, it’s earliest recording is the 1500’s so we are dealing with quite a bit of time afterwards and, obviously, post Christianization and of course when the Christians came in and changed the Norse and it did change their music along with it…so certainly you’ll find music in the same sort of contexts as here…as you said, in work songs, songs to stir the blood …songs to recount tales. And there are also songs of magic particularly in the Finnish tradition. The Finns were feared by the Norse because they knew magic. And the Norse sagas are all filled with people getting into trouble, particularly from the Norse women…there’s two Norse kings that married Finnish women and then left them and both kind of suffered the consequences of that action….

Reciting introduction to Kalevala (12:38)…which is great for us because, with their concentration on making sure that every word is precise, were more likely to have passed on from generation to generation because that becomes part of the ritual and, in fact, one of the interesting things about the Finnish tradition is that when they are reciting stories from the Kalevala which is the epic poem where all their stories have been combined, combined in the 1800s by Elias Lonnrot, that they will cross their hands and join hands across the bench and they will rock back and forth and the whole mnemonic of this action then carries on the poetry…and the poems themselves….speak a lot to how important it is….would you like a little bit of the introduction….this is a…this poem…this introduction is most likely written by Elias Lonnrot but I think it carries the right flavour and it certainly tells a lot of the way the poetry and the music was and how important it was to those people…..(13:58) ..so it goes like this: I am wanting, I am thinking to arise and go forth singing. Sing my songs and say my sayings, hymns ancestral harmonizing, lore of kindred ‘lyricing’. In my mouth the words are melting, utterances overflowing to my tongue are hurrying, even against my teeth they burst. Come good brother, little brother, pretty playmate of my childhood, start now with me for the singing, sit together for the speaking so that we may sing good songs. Voice the best of all our legends for the hearing of our loved ones, those who want to learn them from us, those among the rising young ones of the growing generation, Magic verses we have gathered, kindled by the inspiration from the belt of Vainamoinen under forage of Illmarinen sword blade of the man far-minded, Aim of Joukahainen's crossbow. These my father sang them as he carved his axe handle and my mother also taught me though she kept her spindle spinning as I, milk bearded mischief maker, clapper mouth and tiny tumbler, rolled about the floor before them. Magic never failed the Sampo, Louhi never lacked for spells Old and legend grew the Sampo. In her spells old Louhi vanished Lemminkäinen in his capers, Vipunen in his singing. There are other words of magic, incantations I have learned, plucked in passing from the wayside, some I gathered from the bushes, others stripped from tender saplings, brushed from hay chips, snatched from branches. As I roamed about the cow paths as a youngster herding cattle, on honeyed hills and hillhocks golden by the side a spotted Frisky, Trailing Muurikki, the black one. Then the frost was singing verses. Many a rhyme the rains recited. On the sea waves songs came drifting, magic songs the birds have added and the tree top incantations. These I rolled up in a ball, made a fitting yarn ball of them. In my sled I put the yarn ball, in my sleigh I hauled it home, right up through the threshing barn, put it in a 76 copper casket on a shelf end in the storehouse. Long and lone in the dark in the cold my verses lie. Shall I take my verses out. Save my songs from freezing weather. Bring the casket to this bench end. Set it in this cottage here, underneath this famous roof tree and beneath this splendid ceiling. Shall I open up the casket, treasure box of magic sayings. Snip the end off from the yarn ball, and undo the knot entirely. I will sing a song for you and I'll make it beautiful. Do it on a rye bread diet and wash it down with barley beer. Or if it chance no beer is brought me, no drink offered to the singer. From a leaner mouth I'll warble, sing along on water only to make these evening's joy more joyful. Honouring this famous day, or tomorrow’s joy it may be -- With the dawn a new day comes….(16:30)

Re who performed music? Q- … do we know if music was performed in any kind of groups or…..? [19:58]….there’s kind of two groups of musicians. There’s the Skolls and it seems that, for the most part, they were performing individually. Um… we hear stories about them getting into competitions and they’ll stand in the hall and they’ll, who can give the best poem on the spot? And it’s quite an involved mental piece of gymnastics because it’s …they have these kennings that are used. A kenning is kind of like a metaphor so that….you don’t have a boat, you have a sea serpent…and the fact that the Viking crafts are designed so they actually wiggle in the water so….gold isn’t gold…it’s Brising’s necklace…um….making reference to one of the old stories of the goddess who ..and so those get quite elaborate competitions going on with that . There are also traveling musicians, the leikari, not seen so very well and….I guess they were seen a little bit more like we would see a street musician, you know, someone to, you use, but ignore as much as you can, you don’t really want to associate with them. Q- …the Norse, they actually had a God of music or what…..? [21:34] Um….the Norse opinions of the Gods are kind of flighty. …in the Ynglinga saga they talk about already knowing that Odin was not really a god, he was just kind of this guy that never lost a battle and so they don’t…they take him seriously but, you know, it’s …he’s just a guy. Thor is taken a little bit more seriously but even him….but even him they get into ridiculous situations…he’s the guy they dress up in a wedding dress at one point…he keeps losing his hammer to the giants and is being put in these ridiculous situations… [23:16] …the Norse gods were actually two groups –the Vanir and the Aesir- and when they formed together and joined with each other there was a peace treaty signed. And to make this peace treaty, they all put in their DNA, they all spit in a pot, and from this, a living being was made…that’d be kind of their treaty. Unfortunately he was then kidnapped and killed by the dwarves who drained his blood and brewed his blood into mead and then, unfortunately, then they lost it because they thought they’d kind of get cute with a couple of giants and after the giants stranded them on an island at low-tide and said, by the way, what are you going to do, so I saved your lives … they said: Oh, we’ll give you this mead. The mead was then stored under a hill and it was up to Odin to save it. So Odin went in and, conned his way in, changing himself into a serpent to get into the mountain …and sleeping with the giant’s daughter to get a couple drinks of the mead. He drains the three vats of mead, changes himself into an eagle and sets back for Asgard. The giants follow after him, also in bird form, and of course with Odin weighed down with three vats of mead in him, he’s not flying so fast and he barely gets there and the other gods in the meantime have set out big barrels in the court yard… and so he flies down, spits the mead into the barrels and takes off in the time to avoid being captured by the 77 giant, And all the splashing of the mead that comes out, this mead of wisdom, the spray drifts down to earth and that’s the poet’s inspiration...is this splash of the giant’s mead….

[28:27]SINGING OWN COMPOSITION…THE MAXIMS FOR MEN Praise the day and the evening, a wife when dead, a weapon when tried, a maid when wed. the ice wind is crossed and the ale when is drunk… these are the maxims for men…. ….Hew wood in a wind, sail a ship in a breeze, woo a maid in the dark for eyes may see, work a sword for its striking, a maid for her kiss. Drink ale by the fire, slide on the ice a sled, when lanky feed thy horse, make a roof and put thy hound in thy yard; these are the maxims of man. The words of a woman that no man trusts, the words that a maiden says. For their hearts are shaped on a whirling wheel and falsehood is fixed in their breast breaking. These are the maxims for men… [29:50

Q- …instruments we would have seen during this period of time amongst the Vikings…? OK. With the Norse instruments, it kind of falls into two groups: we’ve got some fancier musicians, fancier instruments such as the lyre and the bowed lyre that are, they require some special training in order to make, you can’t just go out and trip over one….but there’s a lot of instruments that anybody one can make and a lot of them are still being used until the 1900s by shepherds for calling their sheep. Some of them are as simple as drilling the end in a sheep’s horn and turning it into a trumpet. Or taking a piece of birch bark, wrapping it around a little wooden mouthpiece and getting yourself a horn. That simple….this is really more of a signalling horn...[plays a little] 01:18-01:30 but, again, you can make it with a knife in an hour…the easiest instrument to make is this little piece of wood that’s got holes drilled into it and these existed all over the place in Roman times...so whether this is something that came back from Rome or is something that they made themselves originally, who’s to say…oddly enough, the existing one we found in York is actually a professionally made instrument. It’s made from a piece of box wood which is an expensive type of piece of wood that we’ve only got one or two other artifacts in that wood from the time period and it’s from the centre core of a quarter-split. It’s a very old growth piece so it would have been a very fine piece of wood to work with and yet they made this very simple instrument. Easy to make –you drill holes, different depths will give you different notes…and if you drill too far you just take a little piece of beeswax and shove it down there and so you fix your tuning but it has a surprisingly large range as far as ..it’s loud…right, just a tiny little piece of wood..[PLAYS TEN SECONDS]…so, if you want to make one yourself you need…the York instrument, about a five-eighths bit and they’re drilled somewhere between…the longest one is about 9 cms, the shortest one is 4.5…so it’s very easy to make….

Q- …something like that, the whistles and the flutes….do we know how they might have used them? Not really. There’re some traditional songs that are sung and used by people herding and so forth but we don’t really have any mention of instruments being played in the Sagas apart from the lyre. The lyre gets a lot of credit but the other ones don’t. So it’s hard to say… …so this is a little ‘rhythming’ instrument…it’s known as a munnharpa, mouth harp, jaws harp…it’s just a bent piece of metal with the tongue to flick and you use your mouth as the sounding board..[6:38] PLAYS….. Q - Do we know that would have been used that early on? 78

Yes, there’s actually been quite a few that have been dug up in various archaeological digs in Russia. I think they’ve got 5 or 6 that they’ve dug up so…it’s interesting…and then we have other ‘rhythming’ intruments. This is one I reproduced from a museum in Bergen, Norway. They’ve got it in with the children’s toys but it’s so clearly a rhythm stick to me….PLAYS …the problem we have with a lot of these instruments is that so much of the ….instruments are so easily destroyed and if something gets broken it’s just burned. We know that the Finnish natives, the Sami, used high drums but there’s never been a drum that’s been found in Norse tradition. But on the other hand, what is a drum but a barrel with a skin stuck on the bottom and we have found various barrels and boxes. So it’s completely possible but we don’t have any evidence…there’s also lot of bells that we do have, found in the weirdest places…there’s a blacksmith’s box that contains 2 or 3 of them for example, and these were just folded pieces of iron as well as smaller cast copper ones and there’s a tradition of young children being buried with the little rumble bells [08:45] in a number of places….in the Oseberg ship burial, there are quite a few things that have been labeled by archaeologists as instruments . There’s a pair of whistles that are only a single note whistle –you can get two notes with an overtone – they’re long spikes and they look like belaying pins as far as I’m concerned, for anybody who’s done any sailing they …it’s a pin that goes through a hole in the edge of the hull and then the ropes are tied around it…and it just looks exactly like that shape so whether somebody made a flute to whistle to signal to other ships or within the ship and made it that shape so it could go in the hole they had for pins -I don’t even know if they used pins, I’m not an expert on the Norse ships yet-or whether somebody just took a pin and said, ah…let’s just make a hole and make it into a whistle …that’s the sort of thing that certainly was happening …

Re instrument makers Q- ….are you saying that everyone was basically their own instrument maker or were there some people who were instrument makers? I think it’s quite clear that there were shepherds using, you know, what they had with their knife to make signalling instruments to do whatever but I think that there was quite clearly that the elaborate carvings we’ve got in a couple of the lyres that we have were not made by just anyone. In order to get a good sound out of an instrument, you do need a little bit of technical skill with the wood. You need to be able to carve it thin but not break through…you need to make it strong where it can be weak and that’s not something you can just pick up on your own…

Re tuning of lyres

Q – can you just tell us what instrument you have in your hand, a little about how it’s tuned and then give us a little piece.? OK So this is a lyre…it’s a six string instrument, shows up in a lot of manuscripts, particularly played by David in.. ..There’s an Old Testament story of how King David was playing for King Saul and using the harp or the lyre to soothe him….in the Norse tradition there’s not a lot of distinguishing between the harp and the lyre in terms of literary references so when you come across the harp being used, described in these Bible stories, the illustration kind of goes from a more standard form the lap harp to the lyre to the bowed lyre in a couple of cases …the tuning of it?... obviously it’s not going to keep its tuning after a thousand years so it is tuned the same as the whistle that was found at York which is…A to E so I’ve just added F to the top and my 79 reasoning for this is mostly because the music that I’ve managed to match to this time period I can play on this instrument, so that makes it most likely as far as I can tell….but there’s a lot of arguments about bow it’s actually played. All we’ve got from the instruments is this vague look of it standing there on its own with the hand kind of floating in there behind which is actually very frustrating …You can’t actually play it like that until you think, oh yeah, there’s probably a little strap or something and we do have one illustration of somebody playing a lyre that‘s carved in stone and you can actually see the strap in behind it. But was it plucked, was it strummed? It’s hard to say. So I tend to do a little bit of everything. So why don’t I give you a little example of it as a strummed, chordal [texture]…the use of chords in behind probably isn’t quite right because chords are something that is more modern usage ….so this it …the text actually comes from Eric’s Saga. This is the story of Thorhall as he finds himself disgusted at being in Vinland and….I’ll give you a good sense of that……[03:28] PLAYS and SINGS A BIT……[04:26] ….so that translates to: I convinced warriors to come to these lands and promised fine wines and all I’ve gotten is water and here I am kneeling at the bucket again …so I’m going to head north. I’m taking my ship and I’m going home and leaving this place for the whale–eaters…and of course, since the last whale they ate was all rotten and they all got sick, this says something. Too bad he didn’t make it home. Got stuck in a storm, made it to Ireland, enslaved, you know, life’s rough….

Q – That’s was lovely. Can you give us one using just the finger picking style? [05:30] I’ve done this one before but I’ll just do it again….SINGS AND PLAYS…..[05:56]….which translates to, in the beginning when the Ymir lived there was neither sea nor sands nor any cold waves. There was neither earth nor heaven above. There was only the Gununga gap, the grass nowhere.

Q – Have you got any other songs for us that you’d like to play…..? Let’s go to the bowed lyre. ..

Q – Can you introduce the instrument ...and, by the way, did you talk about whether you made them or not…? So this is one of the instruments I didn’t make. This was made by Steven Strang - he’s a bit more of a fine instrument maker than I am. He’s carved all sorts of texts into it, lovely illustration on the back. He’s also a string player and I’m not so when he plays his it’s a little more elaborate…although I’m not sure he has one right now because he left his in L’Anse aux Meadows…he traded it to a musician there in exchange for a giant whale bone so…..this is tuned with two fundamentals, once it’s tuned……TUNING….with the octave and a fifth in between which gives us an open chord which makes it nice for just a rhythmic beat going underneath a song ….this is a piece of Icelandic folk music that is a little bit later than the Norse period We know because the text speaks of a raid that happens in the 1200’s but it’s the best example I could find that kind of gives that martial feel that I’m sure must have been used extensively at the time [00:55] and it’s written in a bit of a call and response……SINGS AND PLAYS ….when you actually get somebody who plays bowed instruments a little bit better you get a lot more variation by the tips of the fingers than being used to give you a melody line against the drums ….this is a variation that shows up in a lot of the bowed instruments… in Finland, they’ve got an instrument called a jouhikko which looks very similar but the strings are a little bit more 80

pronounced and the melodies are actually played with the back of the knuckles rather than the harder fingernails

PLAYING FLUTE…….[00:35] so this is the little piece from the from the Skanian law code PLAYS…. [01:23 – 01:57]] SINGING…….which roughly translates to –I sailed my ship to the far off Sicily which takes a brave man to do. And the princess still won’t have anything to do with me!

Q- How do we know what the music was?.…the words can be passed on….melodies…where do we know the melodies come from? Melodies are tough. You really are dependent on folk music…that tradition of passing on a piece of music from generation to generation and it’s amazing how little the music does change. I think of some of the songs that we learned in our childhood and you can go back and find written records in the Middle Ages and you can say, my goodness, that really hasn’t changed much …..

Links: Read Schweitzer’s essay on Norse music [www.darkcompany.ca/articles/NorseMusicAVocal.php along with much other information on the Dark Company website.]

Einar Selvik, Viking Composer shows instruments he makes for show including Tagelharpa and lyra. YouTube

Louise Fribo sings “Drømte Mig En Drøm”: YouTube

“I Dreamed a Dream” 81

Ref:

http://www.dr.dk/spil/floejtehero/popup/

Norse Song

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What were the various musical instruments the Norse brought with them to the New World? Of what materials were the instruments constructed, and what types of sounds did they emit?

Decision-Making:

What would have influenced the choices of the Norse with respect to which instruments to bring aboard their ships on the long voyage to the New World? What types of local materials and resources would they have chosen in their exploration base camps to fabricate new instruments? Why were these materials chosen?

Comparative:

Compare the various Norse musical instruments with respect to size, shape, playing complexity, tone and volume. 82

What musical instruments of other cultures of the time, including those of the First Peoples of the area, compare with those of the Norse? In what ways?

Ranking:

Consider the importance that music plays in a culture, with respect to its place in leisure, spiritualism, battle and creative expression. With all that developing a successful settlement entails, even one of relatively short-term use, how would you rank the importance of music and song to the Norse in the New World? Rank the relative complexity and depth of expression of Norse music with that of at least two other world cultures at that time. Why or why not would you consider the Norse to have a highly-evolved musical culture? Define your perception of “highly evolved”.

Causal:

What are some of the impacts of music upon a culture? In what ways did the music of the Norse affect their experiences in the New World? How did the music of the First Peoples of the area at that time reflect their culture and their lifestyles?

Speculative:

How would the availability of resources in the New World have affected the types of musical instruments that could be fabricated? What differences could you predict that the Norse would have encountered when making or repairing instruments brought from their homeland? Based upon your research of Norse music and instruments, design an instrument that could have been fabricated in the New World and that would have complemented the genre of music created by the Norse. Your instrument may be designed actually or virtually.

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Story - Thor’s Stolen Hammer

Teaching Culture: Viking

Resource Type: Culture

Scene: Inside a Viking building surrounded by Vikings.

Objective: Listen to the story of Thor’s Stolen Hammer

Listen carefully to the story being told to you.

At intervals throughout the story the student will

Performance: need to respond to a question the story teller asks.

One morning mighty Thor woke to find that his

hammer, Mjollnir, was missing. He woke all of the

other gods and goddesses asking if they had seen

his hammer, but none of them had, and became

quite upset to hear that Mjollnir was missing. Script: Mjollnir was the most powerful weapon that the gods possessed, and if their enemies heard that

Mjollnir was missing then they might attack, and

the gods would be powerless against them.

Question: What was the name of Thor’s Hammer? 84

Loki, the trickster god, had an idea about who had

stolen Mjollnir, so he turned himself into a falcon

and flew off to find Thrym, the king of the giants.

When Loki found Thrym, the giant confessed that

it was indeed him that had stolen the hammer while

Thor slept.

Question: Who Stole Thor’s Hammer?

Thrym also said that he had hidden it in a place where no one could find it, and where no one could find it, and he would not return Mjollnir until

Freyja, the most beautiful of all of the goddesses was made his bride.

Loki flew off to tell the gods the bad news. They debated and argued, argued, but they came to the conclusion that Freyja must become

Thrym’s wife so that the hammer would be returned. Freyja and the other gods started preparing for Freyja's wedding when the god

Heimdall came up with an idea: Dress mighty Thor up in Freyja's clothing and send him to marry Thrym. Thor didn't like the idea of dressing up like a woman, but he disliked the idea of beautiful Freyja becoming Thrym's bride even more, so he reluctantly agreed.

Question: Who did Thor agree to dress up as?

Thor, dressed as a bride, was accompanied by his "handmaiden" Loki to Thrym's castle. When Thor and Loki arrived, Thrym welcomed them in, and held a feast in their honour. Thor ate an entire ox, a net full of 85 salmon, and six barrels of mead by himself, and when Thrym asked

Loki why the "maiden" was eating so much Loki replied that she had not eaten for a week in anticipation of the wedding and was famished. Thinking that "Freyja" was really in love with him he decided to give her a kiss. Thrym lifted her veil and prepared to kiss his bride when he caught sight of her red eyes. Alarmed, he asked Loki why his bride's eyes looked the way that they did. Smoothly Loki replied that she had not slept for a week either, and would be fine once she had had a chance to rest. Dim- witted Thrym accepted this and decided to make his bride wait no longer for the wedding.

Question: What made Thrym suspicious of his ‘bride’?

Fetching Mjollnir and holding it aloft he prepared to bless the union when Thor could take it no longer. He ripped off his bridal clothes, grabbed his hammer, and beat all of the giants to death with it, starting with Thrym. No one said mythology was pretty.

Question: Who did Thor kill first?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Shields

Teaching Culture: Viking

Resource Type: Weapons

Stand in an open area near some Viking dwellings. Scene: A couple of Vikings are in battle gear.

Objective: Train to use a shield during a battle

Performance:

Explanation of the concepts in using a shield in

combat.

“Enemy” strikes towards the attack with their shield. or “Down”)

Techniques presented on how to block the

attack.

Images: 87

Shields

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What materials did the Norse use to make shields How sturdy were these shields? How were the Norse shields fabricated?

Decision-Making:

How would the shape of the shield have affected the style of battle in which the Norse engaged? Would the warriors have been safe on their own with the shields that they chose to design, or better off in a group in a battle situation?

Comparative:

How did the style of fighting, including the Norse use of the shield, compare with that of the First Peoples in the area of the early New World exploration base camps? Compare the shape and construction of the Norse shields with that of other European cultures. What similarities and differences are evident?

Ranking:

Rank the efficacy of different styles of shields, with respect to materials, shape, strength and ease of use in battle. Include the Norse shields in use in the New World in your ranking.

Causal:

What was the impact of the Norse possession of shields upon the First Peoples who encountered the Norse? What are some of the historical events where weaponry factored heavily in the outcome?

Speculative:

Would the shield have been effective in the battles in which the Norse fought against the First Peoples? What aspects of terrain, forest density and geography would have advantaged each side? Without the Norse shields, but with both the First Peoples and the Norse having access to the rest of their traditional weaponry, do you think the outcome of the conflicts would have been different? Why or why not, and in what ways?

PLOWING

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Plowing Fields

Teaching Culture: Viking

Resource Type: Food

A Viking farmer and a pair of oxen. Scene: An area of already plowed furrows are visible.

Objective: Plow a section of field with ard and oxen

Performance:

Concept of plowing introduced.

Use of ard plow [plough] or scratch plow.

This simple plow developed from the hoe.

It traces a shallow furrow, but does not invert soil.

Hook up the oxen in the yolk.

Plow in a straight line Images: 90

Plowing

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is an ard and how was it used by the Norse in the New World? What are the names and purposes of other parts of ancient Norse ploughing equipment?

Decision-Making:

What types of crops did the Norse choose to cultivate in the New World? Upon what factors did they base their decisions? What made agriculture not a choice for the local First Peoples at the time? What were their practices around sourcing food?

Comparative:

Compare the plow of the Norse used in the New World with other non-motorised ploughs subsequently developed for use by other colonisers. What improvements were made over the centuries? What features of the original plow were retained? Compare the food sources of the Norse in the New World, with the food sources harvested by the First Peoples in the local area. In what ways did each address overall health through nutrition?

Ranking:

Rank the efficacy of the Norse plow with similar cultivating equipment used by other cultures in Europe. Which equipment was the most efficient? Which was the easiest to fabricate? Which was used for the longest period of time? How would you rank the nutritional quality of the various food crops cultivated by the Norse? Which crops gave the best yield and which provided the most nutritional value?

Causal:

Which beasts of burden for plowing were most common for the Norse? How would the availability of livestock have affected the colonisers’ agricultural progress? How did the availability of land, the quality of the soil, the climate and the presence of hostile neighbours affect the Norse production of food?

Speculative:

If the Norse had adopted the local First Peoples’ ways of sourcing food, how would they have fared? What skills would they have had to develop to succeed? How would this method of resource harvesting have affected the ways in which they established their 92 exploration base camps? Without the plow and the beasts of burden, how else might the Norse have established an agricultural society in the New World? Would it indeed have been possible under such circumstances? Why or why not?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Harvesting Bog Iron

Teaching Culture: Viking

Resource Type: Tools

Scene: Some Vikings are harvesting bog iron.

Objective: Harvest some bog iron

Performance: Collection

Introduction to the concept of collecting bog iron

Found in bog pit along waterway.

Needed to make things such as nails – numerous ones

found at Les Anses aux Meadows

Images:

Bog Iron

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What was bog iron and how was it collected? How many ways did the Norse use bog iron?

Decision-making:

What aspects of establishing exploration base camps drove the Norse to stand knee-deep in bogs searching for small iron-laden rocks? Given the difficulty of extracting and using the low-grade iron from the bogs, why did the Norse choose to mine iron this way versus shipping it from their homeland?

Comparative:

Compare the quality of the bog iron with the iron that could be mined in northern Europe. What differences were there? How did the quality of the iron affect its use in the colonies? How did the Norse lifestyle, including the mining and production of iron, compare to the iron usage of First Peoples?

Ranking:

The Norse used the resources around them to support their exploration base camps. How would you rank the wide variety of uses of both wood and iron in terms of their importance to the Norse in their New World? What could they do without, or substitute? Which resources were vital to the very existence of the base camps?

Causal: How did the use of iron for tools, transportation and weapons set those cultures that possessed it apart from those that did not? In what ways did iron affect the lifestyles of cultures around the world? In what ways did the advent of iron negatively affect indigenous cultures worldwide?

Speculative: Imagine a colony that blended the best of the Norse knowledge and the First Peoples’ traditional knowledge. What would that have looked like? How could the use of iron, in conjunction with the First Peoples’ knowledge of how to live off the land, have created an improved exploration base camp? If the iron had all been mined, what would have been the fallout for future generations of Norse had they chosen to remain in the New World? Would they have been able to continue to live in their colonies? What lifestyle modifications would they have had to make?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Cauterizing Wounds

Teaching Culture: Vikings

Resource Type: Medicine

In a Viking dwelling with a badly cut Viking man Scene:

Objective: Cauterize the bleeding man’s wounds.

Understand the method and required tools. Procedure:

Concepts of cauterizing introduced.

Requires iron, bellows, cloth to wrap wound, and

leather for the victim to bite.

The wound is cleaned.

Iron is heated up in coals.

Leather placed in victim’s mouth.

Iron touched to wound.

Wound is wrapped in cloth.

Images:

Links: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/health_and_me dicine.htm http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/300796/enlarge 96

Cauterizing Wounds

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is the cauterization of wounds, and how long ago was it a medical practice? What materials were used to cauterize wounds?

Decision-Making:

On the basis of what symptoms did the medical practitioners decide whether a victim would live or possibly die? Upon what actual anatomical premise was this prediction method based? Why did the Norse choose this method of wound management? What pre-dated this practice, and what followed it in the medical world?

Comparative:

Compare the medical practices that pre-dated wound cauterization, with cauterization and the practices that followed in the ensuing centuries. What were the benefits and drawbacks of each method? How did European medicinal practices compare with those of the First Peoples?

Ranking:

Draw up a list of medical practices through the ages, including wound cauterization, and rank them according to the effectiveness and the degree of pain and suffering that each caused. How would you rank the priorities of wound management? Have these priorities changed over the centuries? In what ways? Why?

Causal:

What were some causes of fatal and near-fatal wounds in the Norse colonies? How many hazards can you identify in the immediate area of the base camps, and in the broader area of the exploration territory? Women generally tended to the wounded in the Norse colonies. Was this the case in their homeland? Why or why not?

Speculative:

What might the Norse have learned about medicine and medicinal practices from their neighbours in the New World if communication between the cultures had been an option? What might a “shared practice” with respect to medicine and treatment have looked like, if both cultures had blended their medicinal knowledge?

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Runic Inscriptions

Teaching Culture: Vikings

Resource Type: Communication

Scene: Inside a Viking dwelling.

Observe the Vikings’ carved runic inscriptions Objective:

Procedure: Explanation and Conversation

Runic alphabets were the first systems of writing

developed by and used by the Germanic peoples.

Each rune or pictographic symbol signified a

particular philosophical and magical force.

Such alphabets were called “futharks”.

Each rune represents a phoneme, that is the

smallest unit or sound in a language.

Accordingly the runes bring speech into a visual

medium. Unlike southern European languages a rune is only secondarily a letter but foremost a

‘secret’ or ‘mystery’. Thus, the runes fostered

communication between two or more human

beings, but also facilitated communication

between humankind and invisible forces. 99

Images:

● Fehu – cattle, wealth

● Uruz - strength of will

● Thurisaz – danger, suffering

● Ansuz – prosperity, vitality

● Raido – journey on horseback, movement, work, growth

● Kaunan - ulcer, mortality 100

● Gebo – gift, generosity

● Wunjo – joy, ecstasy

● Hagalaz – hail, destruction

● Naudhiz – need, desire

● Isaz – ice, numbness?

● Jera – year, harvest, reward

● Eihwaz – yew, harvest, reward

● Perth – initiation?, meaning not clear

● Algiz – protection from enemies

● Sowi(e)lo – sun, success, solace

● T(e)iwaz - honour

● Berkana(n) – birch, fertility, sustenance

● Ehwaz – horse, trust faith, companionship

● Mannaz – man, augmentation, support

● Laguz – formlessness, chaos, the unknown

● Ing(wa)uz – fertilization, the beginning of something

● Othila (Othalan) – inheritance, heritage, tradition

● Dagaz – day, hope, happiness

[Odin is considered the god who discovered the runes and thus is ‘unknowable’.]

Link: Norse Mythology for Smart People https://Norse-mythology.org/runes/

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Runic Inscriptions

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What are runes? How many symbols were there in the runic alphabet? Discuss both the original and the expanded versions of this alphabetical system. What were the uses of the runes? Research some examples of runic quotes, including at least one poem and one magical spell.

Decision-making:

The Norse Elder Futhark runic alphabet was reduced from 24 characters to 16 characters, the Younger Futhark or Scandinavian runes during the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries. Research the evolution of this alphabet, and examine the reasons why the ancient Norse chose to reduce their alphabet by 8 characters.

Elder Futhar f u g w æ p e ŋ o d k þ a r k h n i j z s t b m l

Young u/ ą er w, f/ þ , k — — a — — b — — — — Futhar y, i, t, v , o r , h n , ʀ s , m l k o, e d ð , g æ p ø æ

Comparative:

There are many varieties of runic alphabets. Choose several, perhaps from different eras, and compare the evolution of this interesting form of written communication. Research the ways in which each runic alphabet evolved to meet the needs of the cultures using it.

Ranking:

Canadian Indigenous syllabic writing shares some commonalities with ancient runic alphabets. However, there are many differences between the two systems of inscription. Compare a Canadian Indigenous alphabet such as the Cree or the Inuktitut with a runic alphabet such as 102 the Norse futhark. Rank the two systems according to the structure of each method of written communication, the number of symbols, and the relative ease of acquisition and use.

Causal:

The existence of the ancient Norse futhark permits us a glimpse into a culture filled with poetry, magic and great feats of discovery, exploration and expansion. Research some examples of the written record of each of these areas, and create a Norse “anthology” of writings to bring some of the Norse culture into perspective.

Speculative:

If you were asked to develop a new alphabet for your culture, what would it look like?

Take into account the need for ease of understanding and use, the complexities of your language, and the variety of communication required to transmit the essence of your culture. Would your alphabet be based upon single image-to-sound recognition, or upon a modified syllabic alphabet such as the Canadian Indigenous system?

Demonstrate your alphabet for others. Try to use it to communicate! What are the results? Reflect upon your new understandings, with consideration of the Norse futhark in your reflection.

103 The Mi’kmaq

The Mi'kmaq, an Indigenous First Nation, presently live throughout eastern Canada and northeastern United States. They refer to themselves as L’nu. Their history dates back more than 10,000 years. At the time of the first encounters with Europeans, they were a semi- nomadic people, spending spring and summer in larger fishing villages near the coast. They wintered inland in smaller, single-family camps. 104

STORIES OF THE MI’KMAQ

The benevolent culture hero of the Mi’kmaq/Wabanaki is Glooscap (Kluskap) and he appears in many of the Mi’kmaq stories. For example, in the Legend of the First Rabbit, the story begins by describing the appearance of Rabbit, the special Scout of Glooscap as having a large body and a thick, brown coat of fur. He walks and runs like other animals and is known for his kindness and politeness. Soon Rabbit comes across in the forest a weary man who is en route to marry a beautiful princess, but is worried that the evil forest fairy may trick his bride into marrying someone else. Rabbit promises the man that he will guide him safely in the forest to his destination. Running ahead of the man, Rabbit suddenly hears the man calling for help as he has fallen into a deep hole. Going back to the hole, Rabbit endeavours and finally succeeds in getting the man out of the hole, but in the process loses his long, busy tail and considerably stretches his hind legs. They walk on, but now Rabbit has to hop rather than walk straight. Finally, Rabbit and the man reach the wedding site and yes, the wicked fairy is there, but has not managed to persuade the bride to marry someone else. The wedding takes place, and the man offers his bride to Rabbit for the first dance. The bride manages to get her dress all wet while jumping across a stream. Rabbit comes to the rescue by finding a deer skin to put around her. However, in tying a cord for a belt he manages to hit his face and ends up with a cleft upper lip. Before Rabbit sets out for home he is given a new white, winter coat as a gift. Thus, this story tells how Rabbit got his different coats of fur, his long hind legs, cleft lip, and short tail. The Legend has been set to music by Canadian composer, Mary Gardiner, and is available in a recording with narration of the story in both English and French. Many more Mi’kmaq stories can be found at this link: http://www.native-languages.org/mikmaq-legends.htm

TO PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION, HERE ARE TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEWS WITH STEPHEN AUGUSTINE:

First Peoples Culture

Interviewee: Stephen Augustine

CLIP 1. INTRODUCTION of Stephen Augustine

Tags: Stephen, Augustine, Big Cove, manpower, fisheries, Fredericton, Mi'kmaq, interview

Transcript:

“Stephen Augustine”

My name is Stephen Joseph Augustine. I was born in a little piece of land called wesawe'g , Big Cove on July 6, 1949 about 8:30 in the morning.

105

CLIP 1: FIRST PEOPLES CULTURE - “A Mi'kmaq Tale” by Stephen Augustine

Tags: giant, flesh eating, polar bear, trading, Mi'kmaq, Anticosti, meat, flesh-eaters,

Transcript:

“The Hairy Giants”

Well, one of the ones about the hairy giant - my grandfather Johnny Simon told me this - he was saying that a long time ago our people were travelling, they were travelling in the direction of gespegooagi, the land where the sun loses itself over the horizon. That's where some of the Mi'kmaq live and gespeg is one of the Mi'kmaq districts....west of us, [the ones] that are living along the Richibucto or Elsipogtog River......

CLIP 2: FIRST PEOPLES CULTURE - “Humorous First Encounter” by Stephen Augustine

Tags: Europeans, clothes, trade, Sylliboy, meal, knife, fork

Transcript:

“Clistob and the Mi'kmaq” : My mother tells me I met him, Gabriel Sylliboy, who died in the ‘60's, but I don't remember him at all, I only recognize him from videos that were tape recorded by Don DeBlois who worked here in this museum as a curator. In fact I ended up taking over his job and I also inherited the story of Gabriel Sylliboy, who talks about the first Europeans and, it's a very long chapter in there but I think I can probably narrow it down in a nutshell. He says that when the first Europeans arrived, I mean, they came to shore, they didn't recognize this boat plasulk - he calls it melasulk which may be a mispronunciation by the Cape Breton Indians, or it could have been misheard by Don Deblois. I'm not sure if he verified his final work because I would have said, no, that's not....but, there's a tendency that this word could have come from malowey - the French from Saint Malo. So it could have been their boats, melasulk, and we, for French boats, say plasulk. So anyway it arrived in Cape Breton somewhere and it landed and these men came ashore......

CLIP 3: FIRST PEOPLES CULTURE - “Mi'kmaq Creation Story” by Stephen Augustine

Tags: seven levels of creation, Mi'kmaq, great, spirit, grandfather, mother, earth

106

Transcript:

“The Seven Levels of Creation”

It starts with seven levels of creation and, as I said earlier, the first level is the Gisoolg, it's a terminology in Mi'kmaq that says, you have been created. But it's not a Big Bang concept or it's nothing like somebody looking over the thunderous clouds with a beard and maybe a finger pointing down, I mean, as a concept of God. We don't have a human element in connection to that but it's more. Gisoolg is you have been created, you are being created and you are going to be continuing to be created as long as you open your eyes every day. And creation is everything around us. Everything was there before we arrived and so that's what our concept is. And I think if I were to put an English word, it's 'the Great Mystery,' 'Great spirit' is sort of a more modern concept. But it's the 'great mystery' where from everything originates.

The next step is the sun. The sun we say Nisgam, which is the spiritual terminology for it and nagooset is our everyday language aspect of it. And like gesgapegiet is a term, that we don't even use the term 'sun' with it. We say 'it loses itself over the horizon,' gesgapegiet. It, meaning whatever it is, loses itself over the horizon. But we don't say nagoosit or nisgamitj. But nisgamitj is the term we use for grandfather. We originate from our grandfather so there is some sense of, some etymological explanation saying we descend from our grandfather but we also may come from the sun at some stage. But anyway, the sun gives us our shadows and in Mi'kmaq our shadows are jija-amitj, and your jija-amitj is your spirit, it's your heart, it's your lungs, it's your life, it's your blood vessels, kind of like this aspect of this going like this - it's your lungs or your heart and your blood vessels. So that's what your jija-amitj is in some context. The shadow that you see on the ground following you, the elders explain, that it's your ancestors following you around so don't disrespect your ancestors, don't step on anybody's ancestors. I've been whacked over the head by my grandfather by accidentally stepping on his shadow, saying"You know, you're disrespecting me." But today, all of that is lost by our young people and even by us.

The next level is the third level which is Otsit gamew, meaning the surface of area upon which we stand and share with all living things...wesgit and ga’amit. And that embodies all that concept of 'we share upon this earth everything that is alive. And we are part of Her because we owe our existence -osgitjinamn- meaning, 'we peeled ourselves from our mother and we're still attached by our blood vessels that are attached to our ancestors who are following us around everywhere.' So that's the major concept with the sun and the earth. The earth being our mother. She provides us with our food, our clothing, our shelter, our tools, our modes of survival and our negotiation processes where we do our spiritual ceremonies where we give her thanks for what she provides to us. So it's a....we come from the earth, we are part of the earth and the animals and birds and plants and whatever are our relatives - we are related to them. So that's basically the concept of the earth itself in a nutshell.

107

Then, a bolt of lightning hits the earth and the shape of a person is made. The head is in the direction of the east. The feet are in the direction of the west and the arms are outstretched, the left hand to the south, southpaw, and the other hand to the north, o'atnog, ina'anog. O'atnog and, ina'anog are synonymous words that mean the same thing......

So anyway, he peels himself up, weskijino'asit - meaning he stands up and, literally, frees himself from his mother. But he's still attached by his legs and by his blood to his ancestors who is everybody else around him and who's part of the earth...... And he's standing in the centre looking up into the sky and he sees grandfather sun and he's about to ask a question, you know, "What's my existence? What am I doing here?" But before he could even formulate anything, he sees a bird flying around, circling, in a clockwise fashion and then slowly this bird descends and finally he realizes it's a white-headed bird, it's an eagle, white-tailed. Sits in front of him and says "I am Git'pu, I've been sent by the giver of life, grandfather sun and mother earth, to tell you that you're going to be joined by your family to help you understand your place in this world."

...... So Glooskap was happy his grandmother came into existence from this rock and the dew in the morning. He called upon a little animal, an apistanuej, came along, he said.....

And then his grandmother told him to build a wigwam around the embers with dry wood. So he did. And then grandmother told him, "Call your cousin wejosin, whirlwind, and Glooskap called wejosin and whirlwind rushed in and kept going to the west and north. They turned around, there was a fire going, Jibuktew they called that, the great spirit fire, so out of that fire they cooked the meat of the animal and grandmother taught Glooskap everything that he needed to know .....

.... and he sees this young man standing up, he's tall and he's got white sparkling eyes and he says, "Who are you? Where did you come from? You scared me." He says, "You do not recognize me, my uncle? "I am netawunsm," he says, I was born to your sister's son

..... Glooskap is sitting by the fire by himself one day and a woman sits beside him and puts her arm around him and says, "Are you cold, my son? Gaojin engwis? He looks at her and says, "Who are you? Where did you come from? She says, "I was a leaf on a tree early this morning, fell to the ground and dew formed over the leaf and with the help of the giver of life, grandfather sun and mother earth gave me the body of a young woman. I bring all the colours of the world, all the strength for my children, and understanding and loving and caring and happy for each other." So Glooskap was happy his mother came into existence. He called upon his nephew to gather the food and the plants and the trees and the roots and so on he asked grandmother to prepare a vegetarian feast and was thankful that his mother arrived with all the strength and all the lessons and the teachings to care for each other, look after one 108 another, rely on each other and this is the only way you're going to survive. So this is basically what the creation story entails, it is these seven levels of creation.

CLIP 4: FIRST PEOPLES CULTURE - “First Peoples and First Europeans” by Stephen Augustine

Tags: views, Bretons, Basque, Portuguese, French, civilized, savages, tobacco, trade, kidnap, cannibal

Transcript: “First Peoples' view of First Europeans”

I think it's usually one common story that's prevalent in different tribal groups and I think this hairy, giant cannibal is the story of the arrival of Europeans to North America. They say cannibal, it's hard to discern like my grandfather was trying to explain to me about this difference between grizzly bears or black bears or some kind of an animal that ate humans in relation to Europeans who might have been seen drinking wine and it might have been seen as looking like blood. And not so much the Esgatalultijig, which is the Eskimo, Inuit people...... ”

...... And this idea of holding a 'tobagi', the lighting of the pipe and the ceremony around that seemed to give him the success to be able to go inland in the St Lawrence River beyond the Lachine rapids and up the Ottawa River with that ideology to approach strange indigenous people in small numbers, and not armed and having the idea to give something and to kind of have a pipe to light or indicate for a pipe or some kind, a sit down, a 'tobagi.' In Mi'kmaq we say, epa'asi, git'o epa'asi - means to sit around in the circle. …

First Peoples Medicine

Interviewee: Stephen Augustine

CLIP 1: FIRST PEOPLES MEDICINE - “Mi'kmaq Medicine” by Stephen Augustine

Tags: muskrat, lily, roots, hemlock, cedar, sap, cold, cancer, pneumonia, cuts, wounds, cure

“Plant-based Medicine”

The commonest, gi'gwesuasgw, which is a muskrat root - calamus...that kind of is a cure-all for almost everything – headaches, running nose, sore throat, sore chest. My grandmother used to even boil up enough of those to make a liquid and she would put it on towels or a cloth and lay it on top of our chest if we had sort of a bad, bad cold or people had pneumonia or something like that.

109

The next in line to that was pago'si, which was a lily, a swamp lily root. You'd have to go into the swamp and then dig in and pull out the roots of these lilies and they were like growing over each other just like with the muskrat root. I mean you'd just literally have to kind of cut out a big piece, take the earth off and then slowly separate all the roots that are all intertwined and kind of just all holding each other together in safety......

And then there's a white flower that is bigger than Queen Anne's lace and it grows on a higher tree, almost like a sumac, but it has this big face of a flower – it's flat on top with all different kinds of little branches. And there are stripes on the actual tree itself. They call it jigawapi. The bark is supposed to have been the strong element to cure, like broken bones or bruises, like a really bad break in an arm....along with this sgunosg, they call a leaf, which grows on the ground in most lawns. Gumulanagip gegawey is a short little plant, almost like a milkweed plant and there's about five different species that look exactly the same. But this particular species has kind of a centre, red vein going down like a blood vessel and when you dig up the elements, the roots they are kind of lumped around and they almost look like the shape of a heart or if you bisect a heart you see the element like different parts of the heart. That's the reason they say it resembles a heart. Gumulan heart and gegawey is it has the texture of or looks like a heart. The bark is supposed to have been the strong element to cure, like broken bones or bruises, like a really bad break in an arm....along with this sgunosg, they call a leaf, which grows on the ground in most lawns......

CLIP 4: FIRST PEOPLES TOOLS/CLOTHES - “Mi'kmaq Piercing Tools” by Stephen Augustine

Tags: knives, gouges, bone, poles, skinning,

“Knives and Gouges”

In our language waqn is the term for 'a knife' and waqanteo is 'a bone' so the waqn is sort of like a sliver of a bone which you would probably rub on stone to sharpen in order to create a piercing tool.

110

Storytelling

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What were the purposes of storytelling for the Mi’kmaq and other First Peoples during the time of the oral tradition? What role did the elders play in the storytelling tradition? What role was held by younger generations?

Decision-Making:

When a story was passed along by an elder to a younger person, it was the young person’s responsibility to learn it word for word in order to pass it along intact to future generations. Discuss how you would take on this challenge, and how you would feel about such a major responsibility. In the Mi’kmaq traditional stories, what are some examples of moral tales involving making the right decision? What types of beings do you find in the stories, both human and animal? Do you see a pattern in the types of tales that were passed along?

Comparative:

Compare a traditional Mi’kmaq story with a moral tale from the present day. What similarities and differences do you note with respect to the message? How are the two stories the same or different in the ways in which they deliver the teachings? Compare two traditional stories, from two different First Peoples’ cultures. In what ways are the stories the same, and in what ways are they different? Examine and discuss the plots, the characters, the storylines and the outcomes.

Ranking:

Examine your own culture, and the traditional Mi’kmaq culture, and create a list of important cultural aspects (e.g. food, shelter, family, spirituality, clothing, music, sport, education, etc.) Rank these cultural identifiers according to their importance to the cultural group. Justify your choices. Where would storytelling to impart a worldview fit into the list for your culture, and for the Mi’kmaq culture?

Read several traditional stories from one First Peoples’ culture, or ask an elder if (s)he would share some stories with you. Rank the importance of the following in the stories, in a way that you feel best represents each element: the non-human creatures; the people; the earth, moon and sun; the waters; the spirit world; food; transformation; anger; redemption; advice; assistance; sorrow; happiness.

111

Causal:

What is the cultural impact upon the Mi’kmaq of having their stories passed along intact for thousands of years? In what ways did the oral tradition strengthen the culture? How far back can you trace your culture and your stories? Do your stories reflect the worldview of your people, or are they told for a different purpose?

Speculative:

If the Mi’kmaq did not have their traditional stories, what would be the impact of such a loss upon their culture? What defines a culture, besides its stories? How would (or how does) a culture represent itself without these elements? If you could write a story to identify your culture, to be passed along for thousands of years, what elements would it contain? Write your story, and ask someone else to remember it. Will your story survive?

Mi’kmaq Music:

Some Mi’kmaq stories had a song inserted to produce what is known as a cante fable. Their belief system, expressed through their Algonkian language, songs, rituals, and oral traditions, is based on the medicine wheel, an ancient symbol representing the four grandfathers, four winds, four directions, four stages of life, and the balance of mind, body, heart, and spirit. They developed a pictographic system that was likely used to represent words. Possibly a shaman – puoin – would use this mnemonic aid for cures, rituals, and songs. Both male and female puoins would carry a medicine bag. Information on pre-contact dance is scarce, but apparently the neskovwadijik was an important feast and mystic dance for which the chief used a specific song and dance step. In one Glooscap story, a dance is described in which men and women moved together in a circle with the male placing his female partner in front of himself. A musician stood in the centre beating with a stout stick on a cheegumakun [piece of birch]. Kojua, the signature dance of the Mi’kmaq, is realized in different ways according to gender and age group. Additional accompaniment for songs might be provided with rattles either woven like baskets or made from deer claws and rawhide. Turtle shells were particularly important since Turtle was Glooscap’s uncle and the thirteen plates on its shell represented the lunar year of thirteen moons. A unique Mi’kmaq instrument is the ji’kmaqn. The form used today is a slap-stick made from a piece of white ash slit into layers along the grain and held together at one end by a leather binding.

The flute, known as pipukwaqn in Mi’kmaq. has an external block which is often carved as a totem. To perform, the player covers the end with his mouth and blows. The Native American flute has two chambers with an external air channel. The stream of air is pushed up 112 then redirected by the external block down the remainder of the tube where the opening and closing of finger holes can change the pitch. Usually the number of finger holes is three, four, five, or six. Tuning varies according to the maker and also the length of the wooden tube. The Mi’kmaq use a birch bark horn to call animals while hunting.

In 1605, Marc Lescarbot, a French poet and lawyer present at Port Royal, attempted to notate several songs that he heard Membertou, the saqamaw of the local Mi’kmaq group, sing. Those transcriptions indicate tunes of a limited range with several repeated phrases. Their undulations have a strong tendency to go downward. 113

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Tree Felling

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Tools

First Nations’ man stands by a large tree. Scene: The brush has been cleared around the tree.

Objective: Chop down a tree using fire and a stone axe.

Procedure:

The Mi’kmaq and First Nations’ Peoples living in

forested areas of North America needed to fell

trees in order to build living structures, make

weapons and other necessities.

The concepts of First Nations’ tree felling.

Burn the base of the tree (feed the fire)

Chop at burnt trunk with stone axe

Start the fire again and fan it with birch bark sheet.

Feed the fire; Chop; Start the fire again.

Feed the fire; Chop; The tree falls.

Images: 114

115

FE_LM_FN_T04 - First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Building of wigwam and its Insulation

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Tools

First Nations’ person standing by the frame of a Scene: wigwam.

Complete the construction of the wigwam, Objective: including insulation.

Procedure: Collection

Introduced to the concept of building and

insulating a wigwam and the supplies needed.

Saplings are staked in the ground, bent and

lashed together. Stringers are tied in tiers to

strengthen the frame and support the outer

covering. Reeds, grass mats, sheets of birch, elm,

chestnut bark are used to cover the frame and form a skin. The roof and walls were made from mats of bull rushes and cat tails sewn with bone

needle, woven together with split spruce root,

swamp milk wood, or nettle fiber in sheets that

were approximately 4’ by 10’. The grain of the reeds

runs vertically aiding in the efficiency of the rain 116

run-off. The structure was pliable, lightweight, and

had an effective insulation space by way of air

cavities (dead air space) with convectional

currents being retarded by organic filament. The

interior hearth area surrounded by stone created a heat mass forming a thermal lag radiant floor.

The intake of fresh air was provided by a birch

bark cylinder travelling under the ground tempering

the incoming air.

Items needed: - birch bark - moss - leaves

- reeds - mats (for inside walls) - saplings - rocks

Images: 117

118

Links: www.nativetech.org/wigwam/construction.html

Wigwam Construction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqMLbcKk2bA

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: “Three Sisters” Cultivation

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Food

First Nations’ hunter standing in a clearing with a

Scene: few large trees, and mounds of soil where

corn is to be planted.

Cultivate environment, plant corn and supporting Objective: veggies.

Procedure:

First Nations’ woman introduces the way corn is

cultivated. Mi’kmaq People learned these

techniques from the Haudenosaunee.

Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to

climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving

the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen

to the following year’s corn. Bean vines also help

stabilize the corn plants, making them less 119

vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-

rooted squash vines become a living mulch,

shading emerging weeds and preventing soil

moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the

overall crops’ chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash also help to discourage predators

From approaching the corn and beans.

Images:

120

121

Links: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/IroquoisVillage/slideonea.html http://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm

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First Encounters Learning Module

Title: View Of Children

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Culture

In a First Nations settlement sitting with an elder. Scene: There are children around.

Objective: Learn about the view of children in the First Nations culture.

Performance: Conversation

Elder engages in a conversation about the role of

children in the First Nations’ culture.

- Seen as coming directly from the world of spirits.

- Considered pure beings up to 7-8 years.

- Lots to teach others - Adults need to be attentive

to what they say

- Role of father is more of a mentor

- Restarting the circle of life in the East

- Circle of Life

Images: 123

View of Children

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What was the traditional Mi’kmaq belief about the origins of children? How did this impact the ways in which Mi’kmaq children were raised? Define and describe the Great Circle of Relations. Where else have you encountered such a philosophy?

Decision-Making:

What moral decisions are inherent in following the worldview represented by the Great Circle of Relations? How did this way of being affect the manner in which the Mi’kmaq traditionally raised their children? Why were children not punished for misbehaving, according to the traditional ways of the Mi’kmaq? How did that perspective affect the children, the adults, the community and the culture as a whole through the centuries?

Comparative:

Compare the traditional Mi’kmaq way of raising children with your culture’s perspective. In what ways are children treated alike in the two cultures? How does their treatment differ? How are children taught to be independent adults in each culture? Research another indigenous world culture, and compare its traditional beliefs about child- 124 rearing with the traditional beliefs of the Mi’kmaq. Although they may be far apart geographically, how do their beliefs compare?

Ranking:

Consider the traditional roles of the adults in the lives of Mi’kmaq children, and the teachings that each adult would impart to the children. Consider the roles of adults in your culture, and the teachings that are a part of raising children. How would you rank the relative importance of the teachings, across the centuries? Are there some that are still of value today?

Causal:

What would have been the impact upon the Mi’kmaq of living according to their traditional philosophy of the Great Circle of Relations, when they came into contact with the colonizers? Analyze the traditional style of education of Mi’kmaq children, and consider the type of adult it would have produced. Is your education going to produce the same results? What personal qualities were important to the Mi’kmaq at the time of their encounters with the colonizers? What qualities are important to society now?

Speculative:

If you could return to a traditional Mi’kmaq community of centuries ago, what aspects of being a child in the village would you appreciate? What aspects of your childhood would you find difficult or confusing? Overall, how would you describe your reaction to the experience? If the colonizers had shared the same worldview as the Mi’kmaq with respect to the Great Circle of Relations, what do you think would have been the effect upon the history of the colonization of the New World? Describe some historical changes that might have taken place (or not taken place at all).

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Eel Fishing

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

You can speak some Mi’kmaq, a language of the Algonquian family! Go to the site, Mi’gmaq- Mi’kmaq Online and look for the words of various fish: https: //www.mikmaqonline.org

Decision-making:

The Mi’kmaq chose ga’t not only as a food source, but also as a source of ceremonial offering, tools, clothing and medicine. Research the various uses of ga’t and describe why the Mi’kmaq would have chosen the eel as the best source for each of the material needs listed. Were there any other living things in their natural environment that could have replaced ga’t for these purposes?

Comparative:

The Mi’kmaq traditionally used two different spears to fish for eel, depending upon the season. Compare the two spears, and describe how each served its seasonal purpose. Research other First Peoples who also used spears for fishing. In what ways were their spears similar and in what ways were they different? Consider form, including sturdiness, as well as function and effectiveness.

Ranking:

Research the fishing spears of a variety of indigenous cultures from ancient times until the present day. What similarities do they possess, across thousands of years of evolution? Rank the efficacy of the spears with respect to materials, size, durability and function. Did the passage of time measurably improve the product?

Causal:

Consider the effects that a philosophy of inclusion and reciprocity has upon a culture. The principles of sharing and reciprocity are very important to the Mi’kmaq culture. The sharing of ga’t is an important part of the Mi’kmaq traditional way of life. Research some traditional stories of the Mi’kmaq connection to ga’t, and consider the cultural effects of the resulting strong relationships within the community. The eel fishery in the Maritimes now is strongly regulated. Research the history of the Maritime eel fishery, and consider the effects to the Mi’kmaq of the rise and fall of this important cultural connection.

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Speculative:

What would be the effects upon the traditional Mi’kmaq way of life if the eel becomes overfished and/or extinct? In addition to the loss of a vital food source, how would the loss of the kat affect the cultural and spiritual way of life of the Mi’kmaq?

Fishing Practices:

The Mi'kmaq practiced a seasonal round of resource harvesting that typically brought them to the shore in the spring and summer and to inland areas during the fall and winter. They arrived at the coast in the early spring, when the ice was melting and fish were plentiful in rivers, streams, and inshore waters. Winter flounder was one of the earliest fish to become available, and was followed by a string of other species until the early fall – smelt, herring, salmon, sturgeon, trout, cod, bass, plaice, and eels.

Fishers employed a variety of methods. They set loosely woven baskets in rivers and streams to act as nets and also built stone weirs (underwater fences or dams) to corral fish. They fished with bone hooks as well as with spears and a three-pronged leister able catch salmon, sturgeon, and other large species. The Mi'kmaq also harvested shellfish, sea mammals, seabirds, and their eggs during the spring, summer, and early fall

Mi'kmaq fishermen used sharp bone tips to harpoon porpoise and seals and a three-pronged spear to catch fish. They used copper to make fishhooks and also employed nets. Mi'kmaq women fashioned weirs by weaving branches between stakes driven in the river bed until the river was blocked and the fish forced to swim into a trap. The Mi'kmaq also built birch bark canoes. Raised at the sides and with upturned ends, the canoe could navigate rivers and streams as well as the open sea for fishing or transportation.

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First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Spear Fishing

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Food

Scene: First Nations’ hunters are sitting in a canoe at night.

Objective: Catch a sturgeon.

Procedure:

Introduced to the fundamentals of sturgeon fishing.

For large fish like the sturgeon and the salmon, the

Mi’kmaq used a spear. At night, birch bark torches

were used to attract sturgeon. Being a curious

fish, it would circle around the canoe and when

harpooned would swim furiously, dragging the

canoe until it became exhausted.

Images: 128

Links: http://kenelwood.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/torches/

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Spear Fishing

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

Describe the spear that the Mi’kmaq traditionally used for fishing. What features of the spear allowed for greater success in catching big fish like sturgeon and salmon? Describe a sturgeon. In what ways would such a fish have been a benefit to a traditional Mi’kmaq community?

Decision-Making:

The Mi’kmaq traditionally chose to assist any visitors in need. With what you know of history, would this decision ultimately benefit the Mi’kmaq with respect to their relationship with the colonisers? Why or why not? The elaborate Mi’kmaq system of spear fishing at night with a lit torch existed in other cultures as well. What was another culture centuries ago that chose this method of fishing for maximum return? Where in the world was this practised, and what type of fish was caught?

Comparative:

Successful traditional fishing practices sustained the Mi’kmaq for thousands of years. What caused these practices to be so successful? How do they compare with today’s methods of fishing? Which methods were or are more sustainable and why?

Compare the traditional spearfishing methods of two First Peoples’ cultures. What were the challenges inherent in each? How successful was each method, in comparison to the other?

Ranking:

Rank the relative merits of a variety of different fishing methods, from traditional spear fishing to modern high-tech fisheries. Which methods are the most and which are the least beneficial for the environment? How and why?

Research fishing spears and harpoons from ancient times until the present day. What similarities do they possess, across thousands of years of evolution? Rank the efficacy of the spears with respect to materials, size, durability and function. Did the passage of time measurably improve the product?

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Causal:

Describe the decline of the traditional fishing methods of the Mi’kmaq following the arrival of the large commercial fishing fleets. What were the ripple effects upon the communities of the loss of their traditional fishery?

The Mi’kmaq taught the colonisers how to spear fish. What were the ripple effects of this very hospitable gesture across future centuries?

Speculative:

If the Mi’kmaq had not been spear fishers, what other methods might they have used to catch salmon and sturgeon? Take into account the available resources. Would another method have been more efficient in your opinion? Why do you think they stayed with spear fishing over thousands of years?

Design and describe the most efficient and effective fishing spear, using only natural products. In what ways does your design compare with the Mi’kmaq fishing spears of long ago? In what ways does it differ? What, if any, are the improvements?

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First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Smudging

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Medicine

Scene: In a large multi-family wig-wam.

Objective: Cleanse your spirit by smudging

Procedure: Collect necessary items

Introduced to the concepts of smudging

The effects of smudging are great and surprisingly

swift. Therituals involved in the process help in

attracting love, banishing stress, giving you energy,

in soothing you. They have the capacity to turn a

place into a soothing sancturary.

The smudging supplies include a braid of sweet

grass, a ceremonial feather, an abalone bowl, and

a glowing ember. The Elder proceeds to

- Ignite the sweet grass braid and burn it for a short period.

- Extinguish the flames so the sweet grass

smokes and picks up the smudge bowl.

- with the feather wafts the smoke to each person

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Images:

133 134

135

136

Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfT9XCKyL9A&feature=related http://isabellasnow.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Use-A-Smudge-Stick

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Smudging

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is a smudging ceremony and what materials traditionally are gathered for a Mi’kmaq ceremony? What are the health and spiritual benefits of a smudging ceremony?

Decision-Making:

What is the significance of each of the articles chosen for the Mi’kmaq traditional smudging ceremony? When a person is invited to take part in a traditional Mi’kmaq smudging ceremony, what are the steps that they will undergo as part of their spiritual cleansing? What is the significance of each step?

Comparative:

Compare the traditional Mi’kmaq smudging ceremony with that of another of the First Peoples. In what ways are the ceremonies similar, despite perhaps vast distances between their traditional territories? How would this have been possible in past centuries?

Cleansing and purifying ceremonies are common for many of the world’s cultures and religions. Choose another culture where a cleansing ceremony takes place, and compare it to the traditional Mi’kmaq smudging ceremony. What materials are involved? How do the two ceremonies compare with respect to goals and outcomes?

Ranking:

The shaman ranked as a very important member of a Mi’kmaq community. Explore other cultures, both First Peoples and indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world, to find others who also held a medicine person in very high esteem. What were these people called? What were their roles, and how did they fulfill them?

Consider the activities in which you engage on a regular, ongoing basis. Make a list, including basic everyday survival activities (e.g. eating), as well as those activities that define you (e.g. your sports, music, games, family, travel, friends, etc.). Rank these activities in order of their importance to your personal wellbeing. Where on your list does an activity fall that has the same effect on your body and spirit as might a smudging ceremony? Do you have any spiritual/physical healing factored into your life? Why or why not?

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Causal:

Smudging ceremonies have formed an integral part of Mi’kmaq culture for many generations, surviving colonisation and its negative impact upon many aspects of traditional Mi’kmaq ways. What would be the impact upon a people of a tradition such as smudging being carried forward through the generations to the present day? Examine the social and spiritual effects of cultural preservation and revitalisation, with a particular emphasis on the Mi’kmaq people.

Speculative:

What traditions exist in your culture? Are there some that have disappeared over the centuries? What caused this to happen? How would it affect your culture today, if its spiritual and social traditions were to be removed from daily life? Would it affect you personally? Consider future generations in your response.

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First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Cedar Bark Tea

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Medicine

Outside a wig-wam near a wooded area Scene: with a few sickly men and a First Nations’ healer.

Collect the ingredients for the cure of scurvy. Objective: Consume the cure.

Procedure: Collect

First Nations’ healer sees symptoms of sickness in

the French men and suggests a remedy to help the

sickly men. The healer describes the required tree

to prepare the cure: small-sized, averaging 12m

(40 ft.) high, evergreen, crown is conical, dense,

layered and compact. Branches arching. Trunk strongly tapered, often gnarled with thin reddish-

brown bark. Branchlets yellowish-green, clad in

sheathing foliage.

When proper tree is found, the healer proceeds to

make cedar bark tea. 140

The sickly men drink the tea cautiously.

Images: 141 142 143

Link: http://ontariotrees.com/main/leaves.php?type=F Cedar Bark Tea

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is scurvy? What are its symptoms, and what are some of the cures for this condition? How is the cedar bark tea prepared? What are the properties of the white cedar that make its tea particularly effective in curing scurvy?

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Decision-Making:

The first explorers chose to set out from their homelands, and ultimately to colonize the New World. As well as scurvy, what other unfamiliar hazards did they encounter upon their arrival? What choices did they have to make to ensure their survival under these previously-unknown conditions? The First Peoples, including the Mi’kmaq, sometimes chose to share their traditional knowledge with the colonisers. Discuss the worldview of the Mi’kmaq people, with respect to their perspective on sharing their knowledge and their way of life.

Comparative:

What type of tree is the white cedar? Describe it, and compare it to the other types of cedar trees with which it could be mistaken. In what ways are the various components of the various cedar trees alike? In what ways do they differ in appearance and function? Compare the traditional techniques for making cedar bark tea with the method used by another of the First Peoples for making a type of medicinal infusion. In what ways are the two traditional remedies similar, and how do they differ?

Ranking:

Research and rank the medicinal qualities of a variety of different teas in use around the world, including several traditionally prepared by indigenous cultures. Which culture believes in the virtues of each type of tea? What medicinal qualities are there in each tea? After thousands of years of use in some cases, which teas now have been “tested” by Western-style practitioners, and what are the results of that research? What were the various challenges met by colonisers in the New World? Rank the obstacles with respect to how each affected the colonisers’ abilities to develop permanent settlements. Which were surmountable, perhaps with great discomfort, and which were basically insurmountable without assistance? Where does scurvy fit on your list?

Causal:

Traditional medicine generally is closely-guarded knowledge for most First Peoples. How did the decision by the Mi’kmaq to share with the colonisers the cure for scurvy alter the course of history in that part of the New World?

Speculative:

If the Mi’kmaq had not shared their traditional medicinal knowledge with the colonisers, chart what you believe would have been the outcome for the future Which major events do you believe would have been altered and how? Research a variety of botanical species, to learn about their potential medicinal properties. “Invent” a cure for a common ailment, using a plant as the basis for your product. If you try to make your potion, check that the plant you have chosen is safe for human consumption.

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First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Canoe Building

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Tools

First Nations man has a couple of birch bark Scene: canoes around in various states of completion.

Objective: Collect supplies to build a birch bark canoe.

Procedure: Collection

Introduced to the concepts of canoe building:

Birchbark canoes are perfectly suited to their

Purposes as transportation and hunting vehicles

For the complex system of lakes and rivers in

North America. All the materials used in their

Construction are found naturally in the

vicinity of the builders as well as around the

waters on which they are paddled. While the

hull of the canoe is made of bark (white side in), all the wooden components are made of

local white cedar. All of these parts are

held in place either by friction or by being

bound with spruce or balsam root, and

with basswood bark. 146

Seams are sealed traditionally with a

mixture of pine pitch and animal grease.

Images:

147 148

149

150 151

http://www.nfb.ca/film/Cesars_Bark_Canoe http://www.flickr.com/photos/39084174@N04/sets/7215761919438837 6/ http://www.cyberus.ca/~jriver/eng_photo_tour1.htm

Canoe Building

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What components did the Mi’kmaq use in constructing a traditionally fabricated canoe? What purpose did each component serve in the overall construction? Describe the canoe-building process, step by step. What made the canoes so strong, seaworthy and light?

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Decision-Making:

The Mi’kmaq in ancient times had used moose hides stretched over a wood frame to construct their canoes. Why do you think they chose to change their technique? What were the benefits of change? Why do you think that some Mi’kmaq people in Newfoundland continue to make the traditional hide canoes to this day? The colonisers chose different materials to construct their boats. What materials did they use, and why?

Comparative:

The Mi’kmaq and the colonisers required seaworthy vessels for different purposes. Compare the uses each culture made of its boats. How were the uses similar, and in what ways did they differ? Many First Peoples utilised boats of one type or another, depending upon their geographic location. Compare the Mi’kmaq canoe with the vessels of one or more other First Peoples, with respect to construction materials, ease of resource harvesting, ease of construction, durability and functionality.

Ranking:

The canoe formed an integral part of traditional Mi’kmaq culture. List the important aspects of daily life for the Mi’kmaq, including the basic necessities. Include transportation on your list. Where on the list would you place the canoe, and why? The colonisers used their vessels in different ways, and for different purposes, than the Mi’kmaq. List the important aspects of daily life for the colonisers, including the basic necessities. Include transportation on your list. Where on the list would you place the colonisers’ vessels, and why?

Causal:

What would have been the impact of the Mi’kmaq birch bark canoe upon the potential for trade with neighbouring First Peoples? What trading partners did the Mi’kmaq have pre- contact? Were these alliances kept after the arrival of the colonisers? Why or why not? In terms of contact with inland First Peoples, how did the colonisers’ use of the birch bark canoe aid in the process? Where did they travel? What were the benefits to the colonisers in these contacts? In what ways did the contact affect the inland First Peoples involved?

Speculative:

If the colonisers had not been shown how to make canoes by the First Peoples including the Mi’kmaq, how would their exploration of the New World been altered? Which geographic areas of the country would have been virtually inaccessible, or very arduous to access? Chart your speculations on a map.

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Snowshoes

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Snowshoes are believed by some researchers to have been initially developed in Central Asia. Indigenous Peoples who moved into North America via the Bering Strait brought this technology with them. As these peoples then adapted to the terrain and climate in which they settled, the snowshoe acquired different designs and shapes to be suitable for each individual area and usage.

Links: https://www.snowshoemagazine/2012/08/17/snowshoes-and-the-canadian-first-nations https://www.canadianicons.ca/collections/snowshoe

Snowshoes are a native invention. The Mi'kmaq created different shapes and weaves for various snow conditions. They also created the toboggan, a Mi’kmaq word. In fact, the best hockey sticks were made by the Mi’kmaq people. In 1863 the Starr Manufacturing Company in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, began to sell the Mic-Mac Hockey Stick.

With snowshoes, the Mi’kmaq could walk all day long without hardly feeling tired, whereas without them, they exhausted themselves very soon. To make them, one had to make a strong frame of black ash and be a good weaver. Women were often specialists at weaving snowshoes artfully, sometimes incorporating a special design.

For winter travel, the Mi'kmaq made snowshoes out of wooden frames and animal-hide webbing. Mi'kmaq people made snowshoes and toboggans. In fact, the English word "toboggan" is from the Mi'kmaq word taba'gan.

Jesuit missionaries referred to the snowshoe as a “broad piece of network.” Mi’kmaq called it “aqam”—indicating that the first snowshoes were made from White Ash (Aqamoq). Later, they used Beech to make the snowshoes. The curved ends of the shoes were bound together with leather made from moose skins. Women wove the shoes in a crisscross and diagonal design.

Activity Snowshoes Part 1

Background Information

One of the earliest modes of transportation for the Mi'kmaq included snowshoes, which enabled Mi'kmaq to travel in deep snow during the winter. They also used snowshoes for stalking moose and caribou and tending their trap lines during the winter months.

The snowshoe is a curved wooden frame with a webbing of tightly stretched rawhide. Sometimes one or two wooden bars are fitted across the shoe to give it added strength. 154

Snowshoes are made in different shapes.

The Mi'kmaq snowshoe is circular like an animal's paw. They were tied onto the foot and ankle with leather straps. The heel and toe were left free to move.

The wide frame and webbing of the snowshoe helped to spread the person's weight over a large area. Instead of sinking into the snow, the Mi'kmaq could skim over the surface.

Things to Do

Using the description above, build a model Mi’kmaq snowshoe. For more information on the design conduct image searches on the web for ‘Mi’kmaq bearpaw snowshoes’ (or rabbitpaw) or just ‘bearpaw snowshoe

Activity Snowshoes Part 2

Background Information

Hunting and trapping were the main reasons the Mi'kmaq traveled in winter. Much of their winter travel consisted of walking. The deep snow prevented them from manoeuvring freely, especially when they were in chase of an animal. To solve this problem of walking in deep snow they invented snowshoes.

Things to Do

Why do you think the Mi'kmaq chose to have their snowshoes shaped like a rabbit paw. Are you familiar with any other shapes of snowshoes. Create drawings of the various designs of snowshoes used in Canada.

Activity Snowshoes Part 3

Background Information

The late John N. Jeddore (1922-2016) was an elder on the Conne River Reserve. An expert Mi'kmaq snowshoe craftsman, he also designed eel spears. He felt it was very important to preserve the culture and language of his people, the Mi'kmaq as well as for other cultures to know, appreciate and respect the Mi'kmaq way of life. See www.seethesites.ca/designations/john-nicholas-jeddore.aspx johnnjeddore.blogspot.ca

Definitional:

What materials did the Mi’kmaq traditionally use to make snowshoes? Describe each of the 155 four resources, including where and how it was harvested, and its use in the creation of snowshoes.

Decision-making:

Snowshoes were used by many First Peoples, and came in many different shapes and sizes. Research the Mi’kmaq snowshoe, and discuss why the people chose a circular “bear paw” shape for their traditional snowshoes. Include weather, climate, the type of hunting undertaken, and the need for transportation in your research. Comparative:

Research several First Peoples’ traditional snowshoes from different territories and climate zones. In what ways are they similar, and how do they differ? Consider shape, size, materials, ease of construction, durability and traditional uses in your comparison.

Ranking:

Travel in winter traditionally was challenging in northern climates. The Mi’kmaq, for example, developed the toboggan to transport goods and materials across the frozen landscape. Research the various means of travel and transportation used by First Peoples, and rank each according to its availability of necessary resources, ease of construction, durability and appropriateness for the terrain and climate.

Causal:

In our post-contact era, the evolution of gas-powered vehicles such as the snowmobile and the ATV has radically impacted the Mi’kmaq traditional means of transportation. What have been the effects of trading in snowshoes and toboggans for snowmobiles and ATVs? What advantages did snowshoes have over motorized vehicles for hunting? What would be the justification for switching to a powered vehicle?

Speculative:

Given your understanding of the resources traditionally available, design a means of winter transportation that would have been useful to the Mi’kmaq in previous centuries. Remember to take into account the tools traditionally available to harvest resources and to construct the equipment. What resources would be necessary? How easy would your equipment be to construct? How durable would it be, given the terrain over which it would be needed? Is it possible to improve upon Mi’kmaq traditional ingenuity? See if you can, and present your “invention” to the class.

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157

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Bow and Arrow

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Weapons

First Nations’ Hunter in a clearing. Scene:

Objective: Hit a target with a bow and arrow

Procedure:

Introduced to the concept of using a bow and arrow

Bows were made from unsplit maple branches;

Rough hewed with a stone axe or knife and

finished by scraping with oyster shells.

Arrows were made from light split cedar. They

were bone-tipped with bird feather flight guides

(often sea eagle)

Images: 158

Links: http://books.google.ca/books? id=7XGBr4TwlTcC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=Bow+and+arrow+huron &source=bl&ots=JZkHIPk fl4&sig=huWNSqcLR1uR91qpEt2jYAXPijk&hl=en&ei=EcmFTqCsLqX3 0gH7z4zlDw&sa=X&oi=b ook_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q =Bow%20and%20arrow %20huron&f=false

159

Bow and Arrow

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What materials did the Mi’kmaq use in making a traditionally fabricated bow and its arrows? What purpose did each material serve in the overall fabrication? What properties did each resource gathered to make a bow and its arrows have, with respect to durability, flexibility and function?

Decision-Making:

Why did the Mi’kmaq traditionally choose the raw materials that they did when fabricating bows and arrows? What were the advantages over other natural resources that were available?

Comparative:

The colonisers arrived with iron weapons and ammunition. Compare the benefits and drawbacks of such a weapon in the New World with the traditional bow and arrow of the Mi’kmaq. The bow and arrow traditionally was the weapon of choice for many First Peoples. Choose one or more other First Peoples who used the bow and arrow, and compare their weapons with those of the Mi’kmaq. How were they similar or different with respect to size, materials, ease of fabrication and function?

Ranking:

List the various types of wood and feathers available in the territory traditionally inhabited by the Mi’kmaq. Rank the properties of each species of wood and feathers with respect to ease of harvest, durability, flexibility and function. Were there other natural resources that would have suited the purpose of making bows and arrows equally well? Why or why not? Research the types of weapons that the colonizers brought and used in the New World. Which were the most efficient, given the new surroundings? Which were less effective than the traditional bows and arrows? Rank each according to its practicality, as well as its ease of repair, durability and function.

Causal:

How did the bow and arrow assist in the daily traditional life of the Mi’kmaq? What types of animals were hunted, and why? What was the variety of uses made of the animals killed in the hunt? Whose responsibility was it to prepare the various parts of the animals for use in the community? What was the effect of the colonizers bringing iron weapons into the traditional territory of the 160

Mi’kmaq? How did these weapons affect the course of history in the region?

Speculative:

Given the natural resources in the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq, design what you feel would be the “perfect weapon” for use in hunting and defence. Would it resemble the bow and arrow, or would you develop another resource? Would you use the same natural materials in designing your weapon? Why or why not? Imagine the conflicts between the Mi’kmaq and the colonisers taking place with only the bow and arrow as the available weapon. How might the colonisers’ strategy have been different if they had not had their iron weapons? What do you imagine the outcome would have been, if conflicts had to be decided without firepower? Why?

161

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Lance

Teaching Culture: First Nations

Resource Type: Weapons

Scene: The player is outside a First Nations’ Dwelling

Objective: Collect the materials needed to make a lance

Procedure: Collection

Introduced to the concepts of making a lance.

Lances were made of beech and were used for

spearing moose, beaver, salmon, and trout.

They were usually bone-tipped.

Mi’kmaq People used spears and harpoons to

catch certain sea animals. Certain animal bones

were used to make the tips of these weapons.

Items needed for crafting:

- wood for shaft - stone - leather - feathers and beads

Strip bark; create notch; nest the stone; wrap

with a rawhide cord; soak rawhide for

a few days; use feathers and/or beads to

decorate. 162

Images:

163

Links: https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-indian-weapons-tools/the-lance.htm http://www.nativeartstrading.com/lances.htm

164

Lance

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What materials did the Mi’kmaq use in making a traditionally fabricated lance? What purpose did each material serve in the overall fabrication? What properties did each resource gathered to make a lance have, with respect to durability, flexibility and function?

Decision-Making:

Why did the Mi’kmaq traditionally choose the raw materials that they did when fabricating lances? What were the advantages over other natural resources that were available?

Comparative:

The colonizers arrived with iron weapons and ammunition. Compare the benefits and drawbacks of such a weapon in the New World with the traditional lances of the Mi’kmaq. The lance traditionally was a weapon used by many First Peoples. Choose one or more other First Peoples who used the lance, and compare their weapons with those of the Mi’kmaq. How were they similar or different with respect to size, materials, ease of fabrication and function?

Ranking:

List the various types of wood, bone and feathers available in the territory traditionally inhabited by the Mi’kmaq. Rank the properties of each species of wood, bone and feathers with respect to ease of harvest, durability, flexibility and function. Were there other natural resources that would have suited the purpose of making lances equally well? Why or why not? Research the types of weapons that the colonizers brought and used in the New World. Which were the most efficient, given the new surroundings? Which were less effective than the traditional lances? Rank each according to its practicality, as well as its ease of repair, durability and function.

Causal:

How did the lance assist in the daily traditional life of the Mi’kmaq? What types of animals were hunted with the lance, and why? What was the variety of uses made of the animals killed in the hunt? Whose responsibility was it to prepare the various parts of the animals for use in the community? What was the effect of the colonizers bringing iron weapons into the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq? How did these weapons affect the course of history in the region?

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Speculative:

Given the natural resources in the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq, design what you feel would be the “perfect weapon” for use in hunting and defence. Would it resemble the lance, or would you develop another resource? Would you use the same natural materials in designing your weapon? Why or why not?

Imagine the conflicts between the Mi’kmaq and the colonisers taking place with only the lance as the available weapon. How might the colonisers’ strategy have been different if they had not had their iron weapons? What do you imagine the outcome would have been, if conflicts had to be decided without firepower? Why?

166 167 The Inuit

The ancestors of today's Inuit are the Thule people. By the early 11th century when the Norse had extended their explorations of the North Atlantic. The Thule people had travelled east across northern Canada to settle in present-day Nunavut, northern Quebec and Labrador. Their advanced knowledge of the land and their techniques to exploit its resources gave them the ability to survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Prior to the Thule/Inuit Peoples, archaeologists have identified four waves from Siberia of ‘paleo-Eskimos’ or ‘Tunitt’ as contemporary Inuit prefer to call them: Independence One, 4,500 to 3,700 BP (before present), Saqqaq, 4,200 to 3,700 BP; pre-Dorset, 3,900 to 2,700; and Dorset, 2,700 to 500. All four belonged to the Arctic Small Tool tradition. Different cultures were moving into the Baffin Island/Labrador regions of present-day Canada around the year 1000. Archaeologists tell us that a number of the practices used by the Thule have been carried on in the traditional life style of the Inuit Peoples. The Norse referred to the People that they met as Skraelings. 168

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Ice Fishing

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Food

Scene: Frozen body of water with a skraeling fisherman

Objective: Prepare to ice fish with Skraelings

Procedure: Collection

Introduced to supplies needed to go fishing.

- Spear - possibly Bait - Tool to chop hole in ice

- Warm Clothing - Hooks -...

Procedure:

- Chop a hole in the ice - Scoop out the ice bits

- Dangle a lure to attract the fish

- Spear a fish when it gets close

- Pull the fish from the hole.

Images: 169

170

171

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Harpoon

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Weapons

Scene: Standing on the ice with a Skraeling hunter.

Objective: Harpoon a seal

Procedure:

Introduced to concepts of seal harpooning.

See C.D. Arnold’s essay, “Arctic Harpoons”:

pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic42-1-80.pdf

- a harpoon is a spear designed to secure a

detachable point.

The most complex pre-industrial form was

developed by the Inuit who used both non-

toggling head and a toggle head.

Procedure -

Wait by seal breathing hole with harpoon ready. Harpoon seal when it comes up for air.

Player pulls up harpooned seal.

Images: 172

173

174

Whales

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

In how many ways did whaling support the Inuit in the harsh climate of the North? Describe the preparation of the various whale parts for each specific use in the home and the community. Describe the process of preparing for and going out on a whaling hunt. What skills were required? What were the dangers involved in the hunt?

Decision-making:

Why did the Inuit choose to go out into the ocean and risk their lives to hunt the whale? What benefits did whale hunting bring that offset the immense dangers and risks? List these benefits, with an explanation of what not having each resource would mean to the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit.

Comparative:

Compare the whale with other Arctic mammals/fish/birds as providers of resources for food, shelter, heat, clothing, etc. How does the whale compare with other resources in providing for the traditional needs of the Inuit? Consider in your comparison the ease of harvesting, variety of use, and effort required in producing each needed resource.

Ranking:

For the Inuit, traditional life in the North involved an ongoing process of meeting the basic survival needs of individuals, families and communities. Consider as many survival needs as possible, and rank them according to their complexity. Which needs could be met through basic ongoing management of a particular resource? Which needs required advance planning and preparation? Which needs, such as those met through whaling, involved great danger and uncertainty? Overall, was traditional Inuit life an easy one?

Causal:

Research the effects that the drastic reductions in whaling quotas have had upon the traditional Inuit way of life. How have the people replaced the whale as a main source of food, shelter and sustenance needs? How has the loss of much of the whale hunt affected the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit?

175

Speculative:

Do you believe that with careful conservation, the whales might return to their former numbers in Arctic waters? Consider the reasons for their decline, including overfishing by neighbouring countries, and examine ways in which the situation might be reversed. How would expanding the whale hunt affect the Inuit of today, who have come to rely less upon it than their ancestors?

Narwhal

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

Describe a narwhal, including its importance to the Inuit people

Decision-making:

Research the methods used to kill a narwhal, even in modern times. Decision-making forms a large part of the process, and many narwhals still are not successfully harvested as a result of a lack of skill in this area. Describe the skills required, including the decisions that must be made with respect to time, place and environmental conditions in order to bring the hunt to a successful conclusion.

Comparative:

Compare the methods used in the whale hunt and in the narwhal hunt, both pre- and post- contact. How has each remained similar to its time-tested methods over the centuries? In what ways has each evolved with the arrival into the culture of iron and firepower?

Ranking:

Research the various methods of hunting and food gathering used by the Inuit in past centuries. Life was not easy, and there were many dangers inherent in living in a harsh northern climate. Rank the different meat, fish and plant harvesting methods according to your perception of the dangers involved in each. Which foods were the most challenging and life-threatening to acquire?

Causal:

Consuming food with a high nutritive value is a vital human priority for survival. The Inuit 176 traditionally had to gain most of their nutrients from a diet rich in meat products. What benefits would this type of diet produce, and what would be the challenges? Narwhal meat fulfilled a surprising niche in dietary needs. Include this in your list of traditional foods and their nutritional benefits.

Speculative:

Narwhals are systemically hunted to this day. Although they are not an endangered species at this point, the Canadian government considers it a species of “special concern.” What would be the loss to the Inuit if one day they were not able to hunt this particular whale? How are the narwhal products used, even in modern times? What species, if any, could replace the nutritional and resource benefits gained from hunting the narwhal?

What is your opinion on quota harvesting, and would you change the way this has been implemented in the North? Research the quotas established for the narwhal, and consider the government proposals to reduce these in upcoming years. How would you manage such a reduction while still supporting the traditional Inuit way of life?

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First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Spears and Inukshuks

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Weapons

On the shore of a river. Inukshuks on river banks Scene: built to guide the caribou.

Guide the caribou into the river Objective: so men can spear them.

Procedure:

Introduced to concepts of caribou spear hunting.

Inukshuks, built of piled-up rocks, would indicate

a good hunting and/or fishing spot

The more recently-built Inunngaat are not Inuksuit (the plural of Inukshuk) as they have a formation

with a head, arms and legs, in other words, an

imitation of a person

Images:

178

Links: YouTube: Peter Irniq explains the meaning of an Inukshuk www.inuitartofcanada.com/english/legends/inukshuk.htm

Heritage Minutes: Inukshuk https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/inuksh

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Inukshuk

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is the story of how the inuksuit came to be an integral part of the Inuit culture and way of life? What is another example of an Inuit story that embodies an important aspect of the culture?

Decision-making:

How did the creation of the inuksuit, from their beginnings in myth-time, grow to be an integral part of the Inuit culture? What decisions have the people made with respect to their use and symbolism in the vast territories of the North?

Comparative:

Choose several photos of traditional inuksuit located out on the land. Compare the figures, and share the similarities and differences between them. For those that have a stated purpose (e.g. navigation), do you see any design similarities or differences based upon their stated importance to the Inuit people? Symbolic figures traditionally have been important to many First Peoples. Choose one or more other First Peoples in the world who have symbolic figures, and compare their figures with those of the Inuit. How are they similar or different with respect to size, materials, ease of fabrication and function?

Ranking:

There are many different types of inuksuit, each with a different purpose. All are important in their own ways. Create a visual representation of the various inuksuit, placing them in a hierarchy of use from the most practical to the most spiritual. Accompany your visual representation with an explanation of why you created it the way you did.

Causal:

What is the effect of the inuksuit upon the lives of the Inuit today? Stone figures are still used for their traditional purposes, but in what other ways have they come to be known? Are aspects such as tourism and artistic license a benefit or a detriment to the traditional ways in which the inuksuit are viewed?

Speculative:

If you were travelling across a vast landscape in the North with an Inuit guide, what would be 180 the variety of ways in which you would need to trust your guide’s traditional knowledge? Use the inuksuit as just one example of Inuit traditional knowledge that continues to be valued today.

The inuksuit hold a place of respect and honour in the Inuit culture. What would be the effects upon the people of the loss of the inuksuit in a world increasingly dominated by technology, including GPS? In what ways are the inuksuit irreplaceable?

Spears

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer for basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

How were the Inuit predecessors' spears made? What materials were collected and formed into these highly effective weapons? Who were the principal users of these weapons?

Decision-making:

Why did the Inuit predecessors choose to hold sacred ceremonies for the fish that they speared, and for the rivers from which they took the fish? Describe the worldview and the spiritual perspective of the Inuit predecessors.

Comparative:

Research and examine photos of the various types of Inuit predecessors' and Inuit spears, including the kativak. Compare the spears with respect to their materials, form and function. What was each specifically designed to do? How did the design of each help to maximise its effectiveness?

Ranking:

Spears have been an important weapon in the cultures of many First Peoples around the world. Research spears from several cultures, and rank them according to their ease of manufacture and use, effectiveness, and, in particular, their ingenuity. Which culture do you feel developed a weapon with an attention to detail and functionality that stands out above the rest?

Causal:

What have been the effects of outside contact with Northern indigenous peoples, with respect to the creation and use of spears? In what contexts are spears still used? What weapons generally have replaced spears for both hunting and fishing? What are the advantages and 181 disadvantages of these changes, as they affect traditional food harvesting?

Speculative:

Design and create a spear based upon your knowledge of the Inuit predecessors' and Inuit weapons. Plan your spear design to be used in the hunting of one particular type of food source. Modify your weapon according to your knowledge of the resources you have available to you today. In what ways is your spear similar to the ancient ones, and in what ways is it different? How effective would your spear be in comparison with the Inuit traditional spears.

182

183

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Igloo bullding

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Tools

Scene: Skraeling encampment

Objective: Find out how to build an igloo.

Procedure: Collection

Introduced to concept of igloo building.

Supplies that will be needed to build an igloo.

- Snow knife

- Snow blocks

- Furs

- Supply bundle

- Make heel marks to outline the location

- Cut blocks

- Make first ring of blocks

- Cut angle in first ring

- Spiral upwards, and trim blocks

- Put in key block - Cut entrance

- Fill with supplies/furs 184

A qulliq provides light and heat.

Images:

185

http://www.nfb.ca/film/How_to_Build_an_Igloo/

Igloo Building

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

186

Definitional:

What is the traditional process for building an igloo? Describe and illustrate the steps, from choosing a suitable location to inhabiting the structure.

Decision-making:

The Inuit today still choose to make and use igloos under certain circumstances. When is the igloo the most functional and appropriate shelter? What types of igloos traditionally were built, and how did each type serve its purpose? Has the igloo-building process undergone many changes over hundreds of years? Why or why not?

Comparative:

Research and compare the traditional winter shelters of several indigenous northern peoples, including the Inuit. In what ways are the shelters similar in construction, materials, design and function? In terms of differences, what environmental and/or social considerations resulted in this variety?

Ranking:

Choose several traditional structures, either the temporary shelters or the more permanent homes of indigenous people from around the world. Classify and rank them according to their insulating properties, materials, sturdiness, ease of construction, and versatility. All will be well suited to their environments. In what ways do you observe this fact? Which have been modified over the centuries, and for what reasons?

Causal:

The Inuit have moved away from living exclusively on the land in igloos and summer tent structures. What has been the post-contact effect of this sociological change? Research and describe the current state of Inuit housing in the North. What are the challenges for northern populations, as their traditional ways of life are eroded? What are the benefits and the challenges to northern communities of the shift to non-traditional housing?

Speculative:

You are the organizer of a northern housing conference, convened to examine the issues surrounding the current Inuit housing situation. What will the conference be called? Who will you invite to attend? Who might your keynote speaker(s) be? What items must be put on the agenda, to ensure that all perspectives are brought to the table? What would you like the conference to achieve, with respect to goals, objectives and plans for the future? Create a conference announcement brochure, detailing all of these considerations.

187

FE_LM_SK_C02 - First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Matri-centrism

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Culture

Scene: Inside a Skraeling dwelling.

Objective: Conversing with a Skraeling woman.

Procedure: Conversation

Engage in a conversation to understand the role

of a Skraeling woman.

Matri-centrism means that you recognize, your

society values the inner power and awareness of

women along with the important work they do to

benefit the community. Primarily the woman gives

birth to and raises the children. In the eastern Arctic,

women wear an amauti, a special parka that has a

built-in baby pouch. A child would be carried in this

pouch for over two years. In addition to preparing food, looking after the

needs of the family, a woman would harvest

plants growing on the tundra for various purposes,

and supplement food resources by gathering

berries, obtaining birds’ eggs, and doing some 188

hunting of smaller animals.

A special tool used mainly by Inuit women is the ulu.

Its shape varies from area to area, but one of the most

common is a semilunar-shaped knife with a handle. A

woman uses it for sewing, eating, butchering, and

other purposes.

Images: 189

190

191

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Preparing Hide

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Tools

Outside a Skraeling dwelling, one or more women Scene: work on a hide

Objective: Preparing an animal hide for use.

Procedure: Collect

Introduced to the concepts of hide tanning.

Required items to tan a hide:

- Raw Pelt

- Frame

- Scraper

- Brains

- Buffing Stick

Procedure: - Remove hide from carcass

- Attach to frame - Scrape clean (hair and dermis, and fatty sub

tissue)

- Mash brains into paste

- Smear brains on hide

- Use buffing stick to smooth out hide and stretch it. - Smoke the hide. 192

Images:

193

194

Birds of the Arctic

These include the gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon, black-bellied plover, ringed plover, red phalarope, ruddy turnstone, purple sandpiper, Baird’s sandpiper, sanderling, Arctic tern, fulmar, common murre, shearwater, kittiwake, jaegers, skuas, snowy owl, snow bunting. The harvesting of their eggs can provide an important food source. Also hunting of the birds themselves could be done with the bola – a device thrown to entangle their legs while in flight.

Link: YouTube: Nuiyak Bola

195

Birds’ Eggs

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is a bola? How effective was it as a weapon? What were the foods that seasonally sustained the traditional Inuit lifestyle?

Decision-making:

The Inuit traditionally chose to hunt for various food sources at different times of year, based upon ease of access. Describe the food sources, including birds’ eggs, the method of hunting/harvesting, and the weather conditions that made each season optimal for that food source to be harvested.

Comparative:

Protein is an important part of a sustenance diet. Compare the amount of protein in the various foods traditionally eaten by the Inuit, including birds’ eggs. Which food sources provided the most protein? Which also provided a high percentage of other essential nutrients in a high- protein diet, such as fat?

Ranking:

Research the major food sources for the traditional Inuit, including seal, caribou, fish, whale, walrus, birds and eggs. In terms of overall benefit to individuals and the community, how would you rank these food sources? Consider nutritional content, ease of access, portability, shelf life/preserving, and the dangers involved in procurement.

Causal:

How did the traditional Inuit diet, including seasonally available birds’ eggs, sustain the people? What have been the effects of changing over to a more non-traditional diet over the past centuries? Discuss the physiological, nutritional and lifestyle changes caused by a reduction in traditional food gathering. How is climate change having an impact?

Speculative:

What do you predict will be the effects of climate change upon what exists of the traditional Inuit way of life? The availability of birds’ eggs depends upon migratory patterns; will these alter with changes in seasons and weather?

196

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Arctic Hare

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Food

Outside a Skraeling dwelling. A few freshly killed hares Scene: on the ground.

Objective: Skin and ‘dress’ a hare.

Procedure:

Introduced to the concepts of skinning a hare.

- Break the skin: Hold rabbit by the back legs and gather a bunch of skin around an ankle. Twist this skin until it breaks. [Hold right] - Get the skin off: Pull the skin down off of the leg. Repeat the process on the other leg. Now work from the rabbit’s hips to its head. [Hold left then right alternating.] - Remove extremities: Possibly using an ulu remove the rabbit’s head and feet. - Take the guts out: Make a cut along the rabbit’s Belly through the rib cage and pelvis. Open the sides of the belly and grasp the windpipe below the severed head and pull it out. Cut under the shoulder blades for the front legs and through the hip sockets for the back legs. Clean and dress.

Step 5: Butcher the meat 197 198

Images:

Links: http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/2007/09/rabbit-skinning- made-easy

199

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Shaman

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Medicine

Scene: Inside a Skraeling dwelling with a Shaman.

Objective: Speak with the Shaman (angakkuq/angatkuq)

Procedure: Conversation

Introduced to the concepts of the Shaman:

An Inuit man or woman who has special powers

To cure the sick and to find hidden things.

During a period of training, learning suitable

rituals, songs, a selected person would gain a

spirit guide (tuumgaq).

Images and Links: www.isuma.tv/suma-productions/angakkulit-shaman-stories www.medicinecircle.ca/services/shamanic-healing/ www.2009.polarhusky.com/logistics/a-to-z/?az=shaman 200

Shaman

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is an angakkuk/angatkuq and what was its role in traditional Inuit predecessors culture? What is the role of traditional oral legends in First Peoples cultures, including the Iglulik legend about the first angakuk/angatkuq? Share this story, and highlight how it fulfilled a role in the transmission of traditional knowledge.

Decision-making:

The Inuit predecessors believed in the power of the angakuk/angatkuq to heal the sick. It has been scientifically documented in modern times that the power of spiritual healing, in addition 201 to physical care, may indeed have positive benefits for those who are ill. Research situations where people have chosen to believe in the power of spiritual healing, and report on the results.

Comparative:

The shaman is a pivotal figure in the cultures of many First Peoples. Choose at least two other First Peoples cultures where the shaman is held in high esteem, and compare the traditions and practices with those of the Inuit predecessors. Examine the role of the shaman, traditional practices, sacred articles used in the healing process, and oral traditions of healing experienced through the shaman.

Ranking:

In a traditional First Peoples culture, each individual had a role to play in ensuring the survival of the community. Create a visual web poster, and include the various roles that Inuit predecessors people assumed in the community in order to keep it vibrant and functioning. Include the angakkuk/angatkuq on your poster. In terms of a hierarchy within the community, where would you place the importance of the angakkuk/angatkuq’s role?

Causal:

The angakkuq/angatkuq’s role was critical in maintaining a spiritual balance in the traditional Inuit predecessors' community. As the culture evolved, new influences encroached on the traditional ways. What caused the angakkuq/angatkuq to lose its significance as a central figure in Inuit communities? What replaced the angakkuq/angatkuq over time as a spirituaak force in the community?

Speculative:

In what ways do you see spiritual icons in modern day religions and faiths filling the same role as the Inuit predecessors angakkuq/angatkuq and the shamans of other First Peoples? What do you think would come out of a conference involving people espousing First Peoples spirituality and the spirituality of today’s organized religions and faiths? Develop a conference agenda, with the stated goal of sharing and comparing spiritual perspectives.

202

FE_LM_xx01 - First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Drum Making

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Culture

Inside a Skraeling dwelling sitting with a Scene: craftsman/ woman

Objective: Learn about drums and drum building.

Procedure: Conversation

Introduced to the concepts of drum making.

Known as a qilaut, and beaten on its edges

with a drum beater, katuk, a bone or piece

of wood usually wrapped with caribou skin.

Materials needed:

- driftwood for frame and handle - rawhide for strings - skin for head

Images and Links:

203

YouTube: How to make an Inuit drum. Sciencenordic.com/inuit-drum-history-longer-realised Icor.ottawainuitchildrens.com/node/31 YouTube: Inuit Drum Dancing – Gjoa Haven Drum Dance Festival YouTube: Traditional Inuit Drum Dance

204

First Encounters Learning Module

Title: Nosebleeds

Teaching Culture: Skraeling

Resource Type: Medicine

Outside a Skraeling dwelling with a man Scene: having a nose bleed.

Objective: Stop the man’s bleeding nose

Procedure: Collection

Introduced to the concepts of stopping a

nosebleed, and explained the procedure/items

that will be needed to do so.

Focus 1 on nape of the neck: Apply ice, snow,

stone, or wrapped-up wet tea. The back of the

neck could also be sucked by someone.

Focus 2 on fingers: Clasp or tie down fingers

With the second knuckle pointing up. Some

Persons tie the fourth finger on the right hand

If it is the right nostril that is bleeding, and the

fourth finger on the left hand for the left nostril. Some always tie the fourth finger on the left

hand and some tie the smallest finger on the 205

left hand (the latter may simply be tied below

the nail.

Focus 2: To stop the bleeding cool the person

down. In the winter, snow is placed on the roof of

the mouth and the person drinks something cold. Large, cool stones are placed on the patient’s

lap and against his sides. Urinating can also help to

stop the bleeding.

After much bleeding, drinking or chewing tea

leaves (Labrador tea, fireweed or ground juniper)

can help to strengthen a person after much

bleeding.

Images and Links: http://www.avataq.qc.ca/en/Nunavimmiuts/Traditional- Medicine/Medicinal-substances/Snow http://www.avataq.qc.ca/en/Nunavimmiuts/Traditional- Medicine/Illnesses/Nosebleeds www.ediblewildfood.com/Labrador-tea.aspx www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.en/article/labrador-tea/

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207

208

Umiaq

Inquiry Questions for Project Development: Multi-media Presentations (please refer to basic inquiry process information/technological applications)

Definitional:

What is an umiaq? What were its traditional uses? Describe the traditional construction process used to build an umiaq. Research the materials, the steps involved in building, and the maintenance of this craft. A variety of individuals were involved in the construction of an umiaq. What role did each fulfill?

Decision-making:

The Inuit chose different means of propelling an umiak, depending upon its use at a particular time. What were the ways of moving the craft through the open waters, and which community members were involved in each? The umiaq was mainly a seasonal-use boat. During which season did the Inuit traditionally choose to take this boat out on the open water? Why was it somewhat seasonally restricted? What types of activities/events were made possible through its use?

Comparative:

The Inuit traditionally used two seagoing vessels, the umiqk and the kayak. Compare these two boats, including the materials traditionally used in construction, the boat-building process, the structure of each, and their different uses. Why were there two different craft, and who used each type? The umiaq and the kayak are still in use today. What are the similarities and the differences in the construction of the two boats, from pre- to post-contact? Which materials traditionally used in their construction have remained, and which have been replaced? Compare the uses of the boats today. Have they changed over time?

Ranking:

Coastal peoples traditionally have depended upon skin boats for thousands of years. Research several cultures and their boats, and rank the vessels according to ease of procurement of materials, construction, repair, propulsion, load, and efficacy of travel. Which boat do you consider the most effective when all factors are considered, and why?

Causal:

The umiaq traditionally could be considered to be the “big rig truck” of the Arctic coastal ocean “highway.” Thousands of kilometres could be traveled by large groups of people. What would be the anthropological and sociological effects of having a boat such as the umiaq in a region of great geographical isolation? What would be the benefits and the disadvantages to 209 the Inuit of being able to travel vast distances?

Speculative:

You are a modern-day Inuit boat builder with great expertise in the area of traditional skin boat building. Design an umiaq using modern materials and technology, while still maintaining the ancient skin covering. What features will you include onboard your umiaq? Remember to take into account traditional features such as low weight and ease of transport to water. What advantages and disadvantages does modern technology bring to the process?

LINK:

YouTube: Umiaq Skin Boat 210