Ancient Canada, The Inuit and Native Cultures of Canada
Polychrome Wood Face Mask, Tsimshian People, British Columbia, 19th Century
Canada is home to one of the largest temperate forests in the world, and further north the arctic world of the Inuit, the last indigenous people of North America to preserve a traditional way of life till this day. The First Nations of Canada do not comprise one single ethnicity, but are perhaps the result of several subsequent migrations that reached the Americas over a succession of thirty thousand years. The Inuit may perhaps be the people who settled during the last of these Siberian migrations, and they established a rich cultural legacy on one of the most hospitable places on earth. the far north is a extremely frigid environment where darkness rules for half the year, and sustenance has to be taken form the rich wildlife of the seas. Further south some of the most developed societies of native peoples populated the pacific coasts, creating a sea faring culture that has been prized through the appreciation of their artistic legacy in carvings, totem poles, and long houses.