• The characteristics of the occupied territory
• The political structure
• The Housing, Food and Lifestyle
• Clothes
• The role of women and men's economic activities

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The characteristics of the occupied territory

The climate and resources of the territory had a great influence on the lifestyles of the First Nations, whether they were semi-sedentary or semi-nomadic.

The Algonquians

In eastern Canada there were many Algonquian nations. They mainly occupied the Canadian Shield and the Appalachian region. We often associate the term nomad with groups that move around with no established territory, but this was not the case for the Algonquians. Each Algonquian nation travelled within its own territory in order to take advantage of the resources available according to the season. Since the soil and climate of the Canadian Shield and the Appalachians were not suited to horticulture, the Algonquians met their needs by hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering wild fruit.

The Iroquoians

For their part, the Iroquoians occupied territories where it was possible to grow the Three Sisters (corn, squash and beans). In eastern Canada, they could be found along the Great Lakes in Ontario, and in the Saint Lawrence Valley. Because they only moved their villages every fifteen years or so, we refer to them as being semi-sedentary.