First Peoples of North America

First Peoples: The original inhabitants of North America before European contact, encompassing diverse First Nations and Inuit groups.

First Nations: Term used since the 1970s to replace "Indian," referring to both Status and Non-Status Indian peoples in Canada, without a legal definition; often replaces "band" in community names.

Inuit: Aboriginal people in northern Canada (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Northern Québec, and Labrador) living above the tree line; "Inuit" means "people" in Inuktitut, with "Inuk" as the singular form.

Indigenous: Originating from a place; the original people of a country.

Language families: Groups of languages likely evolved from a common language.

Dialects: Variations of a language used by different groups, regionally or socially, differing in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Oral tradition: Knowledge passed down through generations by spoken word.

Treaty: Formal agreement between sovereign nations, specifically between First Nations and the federal government, clarifying Aboriginal rights to land and resources and outlining government responsibilities in social, educational, and economic areas.

Repatriate: To bring something back that was taken out of a country.

Worldview: A set of values, beliefs, and assumptions about the world and how it works.

Holistic: Emphasizing the interdependence of parts of a whole, prioritizing the whole over individual parts.

Consensus: Group agreement reached through dialogue and discussion.