List of First Nations peoples in Canada

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This is a shorter, easier-to-understand overview of some First Nations peoples in Canada. It covers groups organized by traditional linguistic and cultural regions and notes that Métis and Inuit are not included. The regional divisions come from the work of Edwards Sapir and are used by the Canadian Museum of History.

Pacific Coast
People here traditionally ate fish from the sea and rivers (especially salmon and eulachon), as well as fish from lakes, berries, and roots. Recent discoveries about clam gardens show they used a wider range of coastal resources than just hunting and gathering. They built dug-out canoes and houses from split planks of wood and used stone and wooden tools. Totem poles are a well-known feature of this area. In 2000, the Nisga’a Nation in British Columbia won a land-claim settlement returning more than 2,000 square kilometres of land.

Plains
Plains peoples lived in tipis covered with animal skins. Their main food was bison, which provided both meals and clothing. Feathers were used in large headdresses worn by some Plains leaders, a symbol that is sometimes mistakenly thought to belong to all First Nations.

Boreal Forest
These groups live in the boreal forests of western Canada. They were originally hunter-gatherers, relying on caribou and moose and later the fur trade. Most spoke Athapaskan languages, with Cree and Inland Tlingit as notable exceptions. In the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and the northern parts of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, several major groups are found.

Far north and northern regions
In these northern areas, many First Nations communities continue to live in challenging climates and environments, with distinct languages and cultures.

St. Lawrence and Central Ontario
The Iroquois are the largest First Nations group near the St. Lawrence River. This region also includes the Wyandot (formerly known as the Huron) in central Ontario, and the League of Five Nations that once lived in what is now the United States, south of Lake Ontario.