List of First Nations peoples in Canada

The following is a partial list of First Nations peoples of Canada, organized by linguistic-cultural area. It only includes First Nations people, which by definition excludes Métis and Canadian Inuit groups. The areas used here are in accordance to those developed by the ethnologist and linguist Edward Sapir, and used by the Canadian Museum of History.

Northwest Coast These people traditionally eat fish, primarily salmon and eulachon from the ocean, as well as fish from lakes and rivers, and roots and berries. Recently discovered clam gardens suggest that they were not limited only to hunting and gathering. They made use of the forests of the Pacific to build dug-out canoes, and houses made of evenly split planks of wood. They used tools made of stone and wood. The native peoples of the Pacific coast also make totem poles, a trait attributed to other tribes as well. In 2000 a land claim was settled between the Nisga'a people of British Columbia and the provincial government, resulting in the return of over 2,000 square kilometres of land to the Nisga'a. Major ethnicities include the: Coast Salish peoples shíshálh (Sechelt) Squamish Pentlatch (a.k.a. Puntledge, extinct) Qualicum Comox-speaking: K'omoks (Kwak'wala speaking today) Tla'amin Homalco Klahoose Halkomelem-speaking Hulquminum (Island Halkomelem): Hwlitsum (Lamalcha or Lamalchi) Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) Cowichan Somena (S’amuna’) Quw'utsun Quamichan Clemclemaluts (L’uml’umuluts) Comiaken (Qwum’yiqun’) Khenipsen (Hinupsum) Kilpahlas (Tl’ulpalus) Koksilah (Hwulqwselu) Penelakut Hun'qumi'num (Downriver Halkomelem) Musqueam Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard) Katzie Kwantlen Kwikwetlem (Coquitlam) Snokomish (extinct) Tsawwassen Halqemeylem (Upriver Halkomelem) Sts'Ailes (Chehalis) Sto:lo (Fraser River Salish) Aitchelitz Leq'á:mel Matsqui Popkum Shxwhá:y Skawahlook Skowkale Squiala Sumas Tzeachten Yakweakwioose Chawathil Cheam Kwaw-kwaw-Apilt Sq'éwlets (Scowlitz) Sqʼéwqel (Seabird Island) Shxwʼōwhámél Soowahlie North Straits Salish-speaking Songhees (a.k.a. Songish, a.k.a. Lekwungen) T'Souke (Sooke) Semiahmoo Malahat Lummi Klallam Tsartlip Tsawout Tseycum Pauquachin Esquimalt Qayqayt (New Westminster) (no language affiliation) Nuxálk (Bella Coola) Kimsquit Tallheo Stuie Kwatna Tsimshianic peoples (Northern Mainland) Tsimshian (Sm'algyax speaking) Gitxsan (Gitxsanimaax speaking) Nisga'a Haida (Haad kil speaking) Southern Wakashan peoples Nuu-chah-nulth (incorrectly called Nootka) Tla-o-qui-aht (Clayoquot) Mowachaht-Muchalaht Ahousaht (formed from the merger of the Ahousaht and Kelsemeht bands in 1951) Ehattesaht Hesquiaht Cheklesahht Kyuquot Nuchatlaht Huu-ay-aht (formerly Ohiaht) Hupacasath (formerly Opetchesaht) Toquaht Tseshaht Uchucklesaht Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Ucluelet) Ditidaht Pacheedaht Northern Wakashan peoples (Central Coast) Kwakwaka'wakw Laich-kwil-tach (Euclataws/Yuculta a.k.a. Southern Kwakiutl) Weewaikai (Cape Mudge) Wewaykum (Campbell River) Kwiakah Koskimo 'Namgis (Nimpkish) Haisla (Kitamaat) Henaksiala Heiltsuk (Bella Bella, at the community of the same name) Wuikinuxv (Owekeeno) Tsetsaut (extinct Athapaskan-speakers)

Plains

These people traditionally used tipis covered with skins as their homes. Their main sustenance was the bison, which they used as food, as well as for all their garments. The leaders of some Plains tribes wore large headdresses made of feathers, something which is wrongfully attributed by some to all First Nations peoples. Major ethnicities include the: Anishinaabe Plains-Ojibwa Blackfoot Kainai (Blood) Piikani (North Peigan) Siksika Dene Chipewyan Nakoda Assiniboine Stoney Plains-Cree Tsuut'ina (Sarcee)

Plateau

Ktunaxa (Kootenay) Syilx (Okanagan) Sinixt St'at'imc (Lillooet) Lil'wat Lower Stl'atl'imx (Skatin, Semahquam, Xa'xtsa) Nequatque Nicola Nicola Athapaskans (extinct) Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) Secwepemc (Shuswap)

Western subarctic These peoples live in the boreal forest in what are now Canada's western provinces and territories. They were originally hunter-gatherers dependent on caribou, moose and the fur trade. Most spoke Athapaskan languages except the Crees and Inland Tlingit. Major ethnicities in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and the northern parts of the western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) include the following: Cree Dakelh (Carrier) Wet'suwet'en Lheidli T'enneh Dene Chipewyan Sahtu (includes Bearlake, Hare and Mountain peoples) Slavey Tłı̨chǫ Yellowknives Dane-zaa (also Dunne-za, Beaver, Tasttine) Gwich'in (Kutchin, Loucheaux) Hän Kaska Sekani Tagish Tahltan Inland Tlingit Áa Tlein Kwáan (Atlin people) Deisleen Kwáan (Teslin people) Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) Southern and Northern Tutchone

Woodlands and eastern subarctic

Major ethnicities include the: Abenaki Anishinaabe Algonquin Nipissing Ojibwa Mississaugas Saulteaux Odawa (Ottawa) Oji-cree Potawatomi Cree Innu Naskapi Atlantic coastal region Beothuk (Newfoundland extinct) Innu (Labrador) Wolastoqiyik Mi'kmaq (Micmac) Passamaquoddy Hydin

St. Lawrence River Valley The largest First Nations group near the St. Lawrence waterway are the Anishinaabe. This area also includes the Wyandot (formerly referred to as the Huron) peoples of central Ontario, and the Haudenosaunee or League of Six Nations who had lived in the United States, south of Lake Ontario. Major ethnicities include the: Anishinaabe Algonquin Nipissing Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Mohawk (Kanien'kehá:ka) Oneida (Onʌyoteˀa·ká·) Onondaga (Onoñda’gegá’) Cayuga (Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫʼ) Seneca (Onöndowa'ga:''') Tuscarora (Skarù:ręˀ) Munsee branch of the Lenape (Delawares) Neutral Petun (Tobacco) Wyandot (Huron'')

List of First Nations peoples in Canada

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