Eastern Subarctic Flashcards by Daniel Chao

Where is the Eastern Subarctic

Northeastern Manitoba, northern Ontario and Quebec, Labrador, and Newfoundland

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What period were the first inhabitants of the Eastern Subarctic from

Paleo Indian Period

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Who were the first occupants in the Paleo Indian Period

Clovis culture
11,500 - 10,900 BP

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Describe the Paleo Indian Period (Time, hunter/gatherer, Tools, practices)

Period of transition for North America (Warming, Extinctions, landscapes)

11,500 – 7,500 BP across southern Canada

Megafauna hunters

Started to see regional cultural diversity

Tools: clovis points, shaft straighteners

Habitation near water sources
Quarry sites
Seasonal dispersal
Ochre used in burials

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Describe early Eastern Subarctic habitation

Few sites (glaciation)

8000 BP

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Describe the Archaic Period in the Eastern Subarctic (Date, Diversity)

7,500 BP - 3,000 BP
Diversification of cultural practices based upon the region
Shield and maritime archaic

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Describe the Shield Archaic (location, hunter/gatherer, Technology, 3 main categories of tools, resources, major archaeology issues)

Inland Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba

Terrestrial hunters

Technology based on land resource exploitation

Three main categories of tools: Scrapers, knives, projectile points (spear heads)

Watercraft use

Copper usage

Preservation, site visibility, access

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Describe the Maritime Archaic (Subsistence, Migration, tools, practices)

Subsistence based on maritime resources

Dugout boat construction

Migration based on resources

Toolkits adapted to dual environment exploitation

trade networks wiht the south

Ornamental and religious items

Burial mounds

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Describe the time period after the archaic (cultural behaviours, time)

Following the end of the Archaic periods in the Eastern Subarctic new cultural behaviours emerge in the maritime and boreal forest regions
3,000 – 1,000 BP

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Who replaced the maritime Archaic after the Archaic

Within coastal regions the Maritime Archaic peoples are replaced by the Early Pre-Thule and Dorset cultures

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What did the Shield Archaic transition to? Practices?

Shield Archaic transitions to the early woodland period

Same subsistence period

Introduction of pottery

Few grave goods

Doors always faced east (rising sun)

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What is the Laurel tradition

Culture of the woodland period.

Characteristic pottery unlike modern ceramics

Conoidal or pointed bases

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Describe the occupation of newfound lands

First occupation dates for the island ~5,000 BP
Maritime Archaic culture
Introduction of Pre-Thule and Dorset groups about 2,800 BP

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Describe the late Woodland Period (Time, subsistence, traditions)

1,000 BP to European contact

No major shift in subsistence (diversification based on region)

New stylistic tradition

Blackduck pottery

Selkirk pottery

continuation of Laurel traditions

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Types of pottery in the late woodland period

Blackduck pottery
Selkirk pottery

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Describe rock art. Two forms?

Imagery on rock facts in important locations

Two forms: pictographs and petroglyphs

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Pictographs vs Petroglyphs

Pictographs
Images that are painted onto rocks
Paints a mixture of coloured ochre and a binding agent (water, grease)
Petroglyphs
Images that are chipped into a rock face

Describe the current Eastern Subarctic Populations

Part of the larger Algonquian language family

Cree

Naskapi

Montagnais or Innu

Algonquin

ANishinaabe

What is the culture in Newfoundland that developed form the Maritime Archaic

Beothuk culture

Describe the Beothuk culture (Structure, Subsistence, where did they live, technology, practices)

Structured around extended families
Primary subsistence from seals, salmon, and sea birds
Primarily lived on coast
Maritime technology (Harpoons, canoes)
Terrestrial technology
(Bow and arrow, drive lanes)
Elaborate burials

First European contact in Newfoundland?

Norse contact around 1,000 BP

Estblished L’Anse aux Meadows

Vinland

Traded but conflict lead to the Norse leaving

Describe the permanent European settlement in Newfoundalnd

Italian John Cabot reached the coast of Newfoundland in 1497
* Commissioned by Henry VII of England to find a passage to Asia
* Made landfall on what today is believed to be Bonavista Bay in eastern Newfoundland
* Did not leave the shore
- Basque whalers and cod fishers enter around 1525

How did the european settlers interact with Algonquian groups and Beothuk groups

Trading relationships between the Basque and Algonquian groups
Beothuk groups avoided contact

Describe the extinction of the Beothuk Culture

Populations moved inland to avoid contact
Which impacted their subsistence bcause they relied on maritime resources they were out competed

Infectious diseases and violence with European settlers led to a population decrease over the next 300 years

What is Shanawdithit

* Shanawdithit – “Last of the Beothuk 1801 Encountered trappers and was taken to St. Johns where she reufsed to work and died of tuberculosis provided much of the known oral history of Beothu culture

Describe the inland contact with subarctic groups

* First major European settlement in Quebec– Samuel de Champlain * Gradual expansion north and west as European fur market expanded * English directly enter region through James Bay in 1670 * Royal Charter granted to the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670 - Inland trade impacted Indigenous groups - Disruption of traditional economies and subsistence practices Introduction of alcohol and diseases Increase in violence

Describe the interaction between subarctic groups and the government

No large involvement by government within these regions Treaties were drafted in conflict areas

What is the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement

Implemented in 1975 Response to hydroelectric development in Northern Quebec Delineated: indigenous land rights, environmental and social protections, economic development and compensation, education, government, health care

What are mammoths (Genus, Time period, size, Subsistence, adaptions, how much did they need to eat)

Elephantid genus Wooly mammoths present in NA during last Ice Age Between 2.3m and 3.5m high Weighed between 2.8 and 8.2 metric tons Grasses and sedges Adapted to the cold trunk allowed them to pick up plants and large sections of grass Molars adapted for grinding and processing plants Adults needed to forage 180 kg daily Well suited for Beringia

What happened after 8,000 BP in the east?

Settlement beginning at about 8,000 BP Northern Plano point tradition Transition to Shield Archaic technologies at around 6,000 BP Technology similar to that of the Shield Archaic in the Eastern Subarctic (lanceolate points, spear and possible atlatl, copper usage)

Describe the artic peoples in the subarctic around 4, 000 BP (Migration, which cultures, meet the shield archaic?)

Cooling period that occurred ~4,000 BP Expansion of Pre-Thule (Pre-Dorset) groups eastward Also moved to the south Likely did not meet the shield Archaic groups Moved north around 2,600 with warming

Describe migration with warming temperatures around? (which culture developped)

New peoples move into the newly established boreal forests Taltheilei tradition

Describe the early Taltheilei (When, technology)

2,600 BP - 1,800 BP Lanceolate points Chi-thos

What are Chi-thos

Circular hide scraping tools

Describe the middle Taltheilei (When, tech)

1,800-1,100 BP * Use of lanceolate points similar to the Northern Plano * Smaller points that may be from arrows * Occupied only the high northern portions of the southern provinces

Describe the Laurel tradition in this region (When, where, tech)

* 1,600 – 700 BP * Emerges and expands from the east * Occupies the southern boreal forest areas * Atlatl use with bow and arrow suspected of being used ~900 BP

Describe the Late Taltheilei (When, Tech)

* Late Taltheilei – 1,100 – 300 BP * Side- and corner-notched points * Spear, atlatl, and bow and arrow use

Describe the blackduck and Selkirk in this reaction

* Blackduck – 1,200 – 600 BP * Selkirk – 700 – 300 BP

Who is associated with who out of the following groups Past: Taltheilei Selkirk Dakota Modern: Siouxan language/ wahpeton nation Athapaskan language groups Cree (Algonquian)

* Taltheilei associated with Athapaskan language groups * Selkirk associated with Cree (Algonquian) Dakota and Whapeton

How did trade with Europeans impact Indigenous societies within this region

* Cree migrated west with the trade * Attempted to exclude Athapaskan groups from direct contact * Smallpox in Cree groups forced them south * Athapaskan and Inuit groups moved south in response

What was settler and governmental interaction with the region based around

Resources

What are the ecological practices in this region

* Anthropogenic burning * Practice of using traditional knowledge in ecological management * Controlled fires set to create a patchwork of environments in the boreal forest * Grasslands or “islands” * Custom hunting areas * Also rejuvenated the forest * New growth * Diminished the impact of fires regionally