2010 pt 2: Territorial North Lec 11

Question 1

Territorial North

Answer 1

Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut represent Canada’s last frontier.

Question 2

What about this region?

Answer 2

It is a region rich in natural resources (NON RENEWABLE) but slow to develop.
Of the 6 regions in Canada, it is the largest in area but the smallest in population.
It is one of the most sparsely populated areas on Earth.

Question 3

Aboriginals?

Answer 3

Aborignal peoples make up the majority of the popualtion

Question 4

Economy of the Territorial North

Answer 4

The economic performance of the region is limited to non-renewable resources.
This makes the region vulnerable to sharp fluctuations in global demand (all entirely based on gthe world’s demands!!) for its exports.
Historically, the economy has been subject to boom-and-bust cycles (fluctuations: good and bad times)

Question 5

Aboriginals Demographics?

Answer 5

The Aboriginal peoples currently have a high birth rate but a low death rate, accounting for high population growth by natural increase.

Question 6

Immigration to the north?

Answer 6

MINIMAL

Question 7

When the economy is bad?

Answer 7

When the economy in the region stalls, the non-Aboriginal residents are more likely to move to the provinces for job opportunities

Question 8

What is the difference between a province and a territory?

Answer 8

All about how the area is governed!
Provinces receive their powers as outlined in the Constitution Act of 1867: provinces have a lot of power! Territories exercise delegated powers under the watch of the federal government
Territories do not have control over their natural resources and instead depend on Ottawa for transfer payments.

Question 9

What are the two visions for the north?

Answer 9

1. A Northern Frontier (the vision of large corporation seeking to reap profits by the extractin of resources)
2. A Homeland (the vision of the Aboriginal peoples who have a strong sense of place and appreciation for natural features)

Question 10

Four Physiographic Regions?

Answer 10

1. Canadian Shield (NWT and Nunavut)
2. Interior Plains (Primarily NWT)
3. Cordillera (Yukon)
4. Arctic Archipelago (Northern Nunavut)

Question 11

Vegetation

Answer 11

Vegetation mostly consists of tundra, mosses, grasses, and some shrubs.

Question 12

Arctic Archipelago?

Answer 12

Most of the land is bare!

Question 13

Water?

Answer 13

The region contains many major rivers and thousands of small lakes.

Question 14

What is the climate?

Answer 14

MOST CONSIDERED DESERT! Much of the area is officially classified as a desert because precipitation is less than 250 mm per year.
Summers are short and snowfall is possible at any time of the year.
IN the Southern more populated parts of the region, daytime high temperatures often exceed 20 degrees Celsius in July and August

Question 15

Line of Latitude?

Answer 15

Much of the region is located north of the Arctic Circle (the 66.5 degree north line of latitude)
What is the significance of this line?
Any location north of it will experience at least one day in a year when the sun does not rise and at least one day when the sun does not set.

Question 16

What is seen at night?

Answer 16

The aurora borealis are commonly seen at night (Northern Lights)

Question 17

Temperatures

Answer 17

Temperatures are expected to warm more in polar regions than any other regions on Earth.
This is due to increased solar warming of the land that will occur with the loss of ice and snow.

Question 18

Implications of this solar warming?

Answer 18

• A predicted ice-free Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay by 2050

- A reduced population of polar bears and caribou (polar bears may go extinct!)

Question 19

What happens when ice melts?

Answer 19

90% of sunlight is reflected off a landscape; instead of that energy being reflected off the ice: the land/water ABSORBS the suns energy

Question 20

2 groups of aboriginal people that live in the North?

Answer 20

Inuit’s and Indians (also known as Dene)

Question 21

Inuit

Answer 21

Inuit settlements are often located along coasts. They have historically hunted seals, whales, walrus, and fish.

Question 22

Dene

Answer 22

Dene historically hunted caribou and bows and arrows in the boreal forest

Question 23

European Exploration

Answer 23

In 1576, Frobisher reached Baffin Island while searching for a route to Asia.
A battle ensued between his crew and the Inuit.
Many of the Inuit there soon succumbed to disease

Question 24

Name Change?

Answer 24

The community of Frobisher Bay was renamed Iqaluit in 1987

Question 25

Northwest Passage

Answer 25

From the time of Frobisher’s expedition, many explorers continued searching for a passage to Asia through the region. (GETS YOU FROM ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC)

Question 26

Whaling

Answer 26

In the early 1800s, European whalers set sail for Davis Strait and Baffin Bay.
As the explorers pushed further west, it became necessary to spend the winter on the nearby land
Here, they met Inuit and trade developed between the two groups.
Inuit would hunt game for the whalers in return for knives and rifles.

Question 27

Fur Trade

Answer 27

Demand for the Arctic fox pelt rose in Europe in the early 1900s and this led to the establishment of trading posts in the region.
Inuit’s were heavily involved in the fur trade and by the 1950s it dominated the economy
The arrival of Europeans brought measles, smallpox and other communicable diseases.
Inuit had no immunity to these and hundreds died after early contact

Question 28

Relocation to Settlements

Answer 28

In the 1960s the federal government oversaw the relocation of Aboriginal peoples in the area to small settlements.

Question 29

Why did people relocate to settlements?

Answer 29

1. It was seen as necessary to protect them from the hardships of living on the land
2. Concentrating people in settlements allowed Ottawa to provide services efficiently

Question 30

Positive Impacts of Relocating to Settlements

Answer 30

• Food security
• Access to medical services
• Public Education

Question 31

Negative Impacts of Relocating to Settlements

Answer 31

• Loss of the traditional culture
• Reduction of country food in the diet
• Social issues related to poverty and unemployment

Question 32

Life in Settlements?

Answer 32

The main source of income is from government assistance.
Aboriginal settlements in the North have the highest rates of suicide and alcoholism in Canada
Since few Aboriginal families have abandoned settlement life in favour of living off the land, the positive impacts are seen as outweighing the negative impacts.