Editing Canada (section)

===Aboriginal peoples===
[[Archaeology of the Americas|Archaeological]] and [[Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|genetic]] studies support a human presence in the northern [[Yukon]] from 26,500 years ago, and in southern [[Ontario]] from 9,500 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|year=2003 |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/tcga/tcgapdf/Bortolini-AJHG-03-YAmer.pdf |title=Y-Chromosome Evidence for Differing Ancient Demographic Histories in the Americas|format=PDF|publisher=University College London 73:524–539|doi=10.1086/377588|accessdate=2011-05-23}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite journal| last=Cinq-Mars| first=J| year=2001| title=On the significance of modified mammoth bones from eastern Beringia| journal=The World of Elephants&nbsp;– International Congress, Rome| url=http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.palanth.com/forum/upload_download/articles/cinqmars_elefanti_01.pdf|format=PDF| accessdate=2011-05-23}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web| last=Wright|first=JV| publisher=Canadian Museum of Civilization| url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/archeo/hnpc/npvol04e.shtml| title=A History of the Native People of Canada: Early and Middle Archaic Complexes| date=September 27, 2009| accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>
[[Old Crow Flats]] and [[Bluefish Caves]] are two of the earliest archaeological sites of human ([[Paleo-Indians]]) habitation in Canada.<ref>{{cite web
 | last = Griebel
 | first = Ron
 | title = The Bluefish Caves
 | publisher = Minnesota State University
 | url = http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/northamerica/bluefishcaves.html
 | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080624012628/http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/northamerica/bluefishcaves.html
 | archivedate = 2008-06-24
 | accessdate =2011-05-23 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 | title=Beringia: humans were here
 | work=Montreal Gazette
 | date=May 17, 2008
 | url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/saturdayextra/story.html?id=2a31375e-e834-407d-b8db-2a0010ad4acf&p=2
 | accessdate=2009-09-18 }}
</ref><ref>{{cite web| last=Cinq-Mars| first=Jacques| title=Significance of the Bluefish Caves in Beringian Prehistory| publisher=Canadian Museum of Civilization| year=2001| page=2| url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/explore/resources-for-scholars/essays/archaeology/jacques-cinq-mars/significance-of-the-bluefish-caves-in-beringian-prehistory2| accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal societies included permanent settlements,
agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hayes|first=Derek|title=Canada : an illustrated history.|year=2008|publisher=Douglas & Mcintyre|isbn=9781553652595|pages=7, 13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=quM1xyFyfhQC&pg=PA170|title=Indigenous difference and the Constitution of Canada
|first= Patrick
|last=Macklem
|year=2001
|publisher=University of Toronto Press
|page=170
|isbn=0802041957}}</ref> Some of these cultures had faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and have been discovered through archaeological investigations.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sonneborn, Liz|title=Chronology of American Indian History|date=January 2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780816067701|pages=2–12}}</ref>

The [[Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|aboriginal population]] is estimated to have been between 200,000<ref name="dying"/> and two million in the late 15th century,<ref name=Steckel>{{cite book|last=Thornton|first=Russell|title=A population history of North America|editor=Haines, Michael R; Steckel, Richard Hall|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|pages=13, 380|chapter=Population history of Native North Americans|isbn=0521496667|quote=My 7+ million estimate for the area north of present-day Mexico includes...somewhat more than 2 million for present-day Canada, Alaska, and Greenland combined.}}</ref> with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health.<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook of North American Indians: Indians in contemporary society|first= Garrick Alan |last=Bailey |year=2008|publisher= Government Printing Office|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Z1IwUbZqjTUC&pg=PA285|page=285|isbn=0160803888}}
</ref> Repeated outbreaks of European [[infectious disease]]s such as [[influenza]], [[measles]], and [[smallpox]] (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a forty to eighty percent aboriginal population decrease post-contact.<ref name="dying">{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Donna M|coauthors= Northcott, Herbert C|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=p_pMVs53mzQC&pg=PA25|title=Dying and Death in Canada|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2008|isbn=9781551118734|pages=25–27}}</ref>
Aboriginal peoples in Canada include the First Nations,<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Gateway to Aboriginal Heritage: Culture
 | publisher = Canadian Museum of Civilization
 | date = May 12, 2006
 | url = http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml
 | accessdate =2011-05-23}}
</ref>
[[Inuit]],<ref>{{cite web
 | title=ICC Charter
 | publisher=Inuit Circumpolar Council
 | year=2007
 | url=http://inuitcircumpolar.com/index.php?auto_slide=&ID=374&Lang=En&Parent_ID=&current_slide_num=
 | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080226023243/http://inuitcircumpolar.com/index.php?auto_slide=&ID=374&Lang=En&Parent_ID=&current_slide_num=
 | archivedate=2008-02-26
 | accessdate=2011-05-23 }}
</ref>
and [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]].<ref>{{cite web
 | title = In the Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Moot Court Factum of the Federal Crown Canada
 | publisher =[[University of Manitoba]] Faculty of Law
 |year=2007
 |url= http://www.umanitoba.ca/law/newsite/kawaskimhon_factums/FINALWrittenSubmissionsofFederalCrown_windsor.pdf
 |archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5lOHtrRJy
 |archivedate=2009-11-19
 |page=2
 | accessdate=2011-05-23}}
</ref>
The Métis are a [[mixed-blood]] people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nation and Inuit married European settlers.<ref>{{cite web
 | title = What to Search: Topics
 | work = Ethno-Cultural and Aboriginal Groups
 | publisher = Library and Archives Canada
 | date = May 27, 2005
 | url = http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogie/022-905.004-e.html
 | accessdate=2011-05-23 }}
</ref> The Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during the colonization period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/innu_culture.html|work=Innu Culture|title=3. Innu-Inuit 'Warfare'|year=1999|author=Tanner, Adrian|publisher=Department of Anthropology, Memorial University of Newfoundland| accessdate=2011-05-23 }}</ref>