The Canadian Museum of Civilization: Gateway To Aboriginal Heritage
http://www.civilization.ca/

The Canadian Museum of Civilization is an excellent resource on the histories and cultures of the Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.  This section of the Museum’s website has comprehensive material on Canada’s  First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. 

The website is divided into 4 main sections: Objects, Photos and Papers, Themes and Kids and Teachers.

The Objects section is divided by culture area. On a colour coded map of Canada, the Arctic, Pacific Coast, Plains, Plateau, Western Subarctic and Woodlands and Eastern Subarctic culture areas are highlighted.

Photos and Papers covers material culture, historical events, traditions, cultural diversity and much more. It holds thousands of historical and contemporary images of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. This collection originally grew out of the dedicated work of Canada's first anthropologists and researchers in the late 19th century.

The Themes section is devoted to the photographs James Alexander Teit (1864-1922) took during the years he was employed by the Geological Survey of Canada between 1911 and 1918 (Canadian Museum of Civilization).

The Kids and Teachers section has a wonderful collection of games and learning activities.  Games include a Word Cache, Bead Amaze (discover traditional Aboriginal bead patterns), Spelling Tree, Arctic Glimpses (a sliding tile puzzle), People, Places and Things (an identification game), Gateway Wordplay and Gateway Adventure in Colouring.

In the Learning Activities section, teachers will find a wealth of lesson plans, worksheets, and information packages for grades 4-12.  There are separate activities for K-Grade 4, Cycle 1-2; Grades 5-8; Elementary Cycle 3, Secondary Cycle 1 and Grades 9-12; Secondary Cycle 2.

Secondary teachers should check out the Treasures of Canada webquest for their students.  Students can work independently or in small groups in the role of museum curators.

Teachers of all grades will find The Canadian Museum of Civilization: Gateway To Aboriginal Heritage a great resource for their students.

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