Its Freezing Here!!!

Canada has extremely cold winters but, we deal with this problem by wearing gloves or mittens to keep our hands warm, heavy coats to keep our upper part of our body warm, hats to keep our heads warm, boots to keep our feet dry from snow and snow pants or ski pants to keep our legs warm. We also wear lots and lots of layers of clothes under our jacket. We put on all that just to keep warm and we have heaters at our houses. Think about how Europeans settlers, vikings, and Aboriginal people survived Canada's dreadful winters.

The Aboriginal people, vikings and European settlers are all considered as immigrants to Canada. The Aboriginals were the first to find Canada and the first ones to settle there. It is believed that Aboriginals arrived from Asia about 30 000 years ago by way over of a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska after the last ice age. When they reached Canada they all spread across Canada forming colonies such as the Huron, Algonquian and etc. Vikings were however the second to arrive to Canada but they did not make permanent settlements. They stayed in Lance aux Meadow for about 25-30 years and most of them went back to there homeland. Europeans were the last ones to settle in Canada but not the last immigrant in Canada. After the vikings, European Explorers from England, France, and Spain came to Canada. They did not expect to find new land, they set sail to the west just to find silks, spices and other Asian goods. After awhile, the countries were competing over new land. Each country sent people to claim the land and possibly start a settlement there. That's how immigrants started coming to Canada.

As the new area opened for settlement, most settlers were facing some serious problems. These problems include:

- building houses
- providing themselves with basic needs
- diseases/ viruses such as cholera and smallpox
- COLD WEATHER

The cold weather and diseases were probably the main and serious problem they had. To begin with, diseases wiped up a lot of European and aboriginal populations. Due to the weather which most Europeans were unprepared for led them to lack of food and water. It also led them to a disease called scurvy which killed most Europeans. To face all these hardships and problems the aboriginals helped them a lot. If it weren't for the Aboriginals, the Europeans wouldn't have fur for clothes to keep them warm during winter, a cure for scurvy, and probably some really good hunting areas to hunt for food. The Aboriginals survived by using what the environment provided them with, such as:

- wood from trees for houses
- animals such as buffaloes for food and clothing.
- water from lakes/rivers to drink.
- the soil to grow vegetables, wheat for bread, barley, and oats.

The Europeans also farmed and grew most of there food, they traded with the aboriginals which provided with other needs.

Immigrants decided to leave their homeland and move to Canada, they even probably decided to stay there despite the cold weather because of the following reasons:

-They were not allowed freedom of worship.
-The government had control over their way of life.
-Men were forced to serve in the army.
-There were no jobs or the jobs were low-paying jobs.
-Many were poor and barely made enough to survive.
-Farmers wanted to own their own land.
-Cities were overcrowded, dirty and polluted.

Some of the reasons listed above are some of the reasons why my parents decided to move to Canada. First of all, the country we used to live in had a lot of crimes going on such as kidnapping. Second of all, people there did not have as much human rights as they should have. Third of all, my parents wanted their children to have better education.

My family and I were totally new to snow and cold temperature. In the country I used to live in had snow but the chances were once or twice in three years. We actually didn't face a lot of hardship because we had other family members living in Canada and they told us about the cold. So we were sort of prepared for upcoming hardships we may face. Therefore, the dreadful winter in Canada did not effect my family and most of the immigrants because of the technology we have right now and also because we are aware of what we may face. Unlike the Europeans who were not only unprepared but they had no experience of the cold. In other words, they were unaware.
Three new information i learned from this assignment:
From the http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/premierescommunautes/jeunesse/021013-2051.6-e.html I learned that " Even tough life was hard in New France, it was way better than what they would expect in France". I also learned exactly why there is a lot of immigrants in Canada from the following site, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/premierescommunautes/jeunesse/021013-2051.6-e.html




href="http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/history&people/aboriginals.html">http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/history&people/aboriginals.html

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/premierescommunautes/jeunesse/021013-2051.6-e.html