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Grade 4 · Social Studies · Unit 3 of 6

Colonization & Treaties

Changes for First Peoples

What your child practises

Age-appropriate, factual coverage of how colonization affected First Peoples (disease, loss of land, the Indian Act, residential schools), historic and modern treaties, and reconciliation today.

BC Curriculum learning standard: The impact of colonization on First Peoples societies in BC and Canada; treaties

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Put these events about treaties and laws in order, from earliest to latest.

    • ✍️Treaty 1 is signed in Manitoba (1871)
    • 📜The first Douglas Treaties are made on Vancouver Island (1850)
    • 🤝The Nisga'a Treaty takes effect (2000)
    • 🏛️The Indian Act is passed (1876)
    Show answer

    The first Douglas Treaties are made on Vancouver Island (1850) → Treaty 1 is signed in Manitoba (1871) → The Indian Act is passed (1876) → The Nisga'a Treaty takes effect (2000)

    Hint: Use the years to help you. The smallest year happened first.

  2. Question 2

    The Numbered Treaties were agreements between…

    📜
    • Britain and France
    • Gold miners and store owners
    • Two fur trading companies
    • First Nations and the government of Canada
    Show answer

    First Nations and the government of Canada

    Hint: Treaties are agreements between nations. They set out rights and promises between First Nations and the government.

  3. Question 3

    Residential schools took many First Nations, Métis and Inuit children away from their families. What were children often not allowed to do there?

    🧡
    • Learn English
    • Go to class
    • Speak their own languages
    • Learn arithmetic
    Show answer

    Speak their own languages

    Hint: Many children were stopped from speaking their languages and practising their cultures. Survivors and communities are now working to bring languages back.

  4. Question 4

    How did many First Nations understand the Numbered Treaties?

    Treaties

    A treaty is a formal agreement between nations. Between 1850 and 1854, James Douglas made 14 agreements, called the Douglas Treaties, with First Nations on Vancouver Island.

    From 1871 to 1921, the government of Canada signed 11 Numbered Treaties with First Nations across the Prairies, northern Ontario, the North and northeastern BC. Many First Nations understood these treaties as promises to share the land. Many of the promises were not kept.

    Most of BC was never covered by a treaty. Today, some First Nations in BC are making modern treaties. The Nisga'a Treaty, which took effect in 2000, was the first modern treaty in BC.

    • As maps of the Arctic
    • As rules for the fur trade
    • As promises to share the land
    • As plans for a railway
    Show answer

    As promises to share the land

    Hint: Read the second paragraph.

  5. Question 5

    Until 1951, Canadian law banned some important First Nations gatherings, like the potlatch. How did this hurt communities?

    📜
    • It had no effect at all
    • It made it harder to pass on laws, history and culture
    • It helped communities grow
    • It made the fur trade bigger
    Show answer

    It made it harder to pass on laws, history and culture

    Hint: These gatherings were important for sharing history, laws and culture in many coastal Nations. Today they are held again.

  6. Question 6

    What does reconciliation mean?

    🤝
    • Signing a sports contract
    • Moving to a new province
    • Repairing relationships and building respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people
    • Forgetting what happened in the past
    Show answer

    Repairing relationships and building respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people

    Hint: Reconciliation starts with learning the truth about the past and treating each other with respect.

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