List Of First Nations Peoples In Canada
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The following is a partial list of First Nations peoples of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, organized by linguistic-cultural area. It only includes
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
people, which by definition excludes
Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...
and Canadian
Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
groups. The areas used here are in accordance to those developed by the ethnologist and linguist
Edward Sapir Edward Sapir (; January 26, 1884 – February 4, 1939) was an American anthropologist-linguistics, linguist, who is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the development of the discipline of linguistics in the United States ...
, and used by the
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History () is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of Canada, as well as support related res ...
.


Northwest Coast

These people traditionally eat fish, primarily
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
and
eulachon The eulachon ( (''Thaleichthys pacificus''), also spelled oolichan , ooligan , hooligan ), or the candlefish, is a small anadromous species of smelt that spawns in some of the major river systems along the Pacific coast of North America from no ...
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
canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...
s, 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 pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...
s, a trait attributed to other tribes as well. In 2000 a
land claim A land claim is "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include Aboriginal title, aboriginal land cla ...
was settled between the
Nisga'a The Nisga’a (; ), formerly spelled Nishga or Niska, are an Indigenous people in British Columbia, Canada. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The origin of the term ''Niska'' is uncertain. The spelling ' ...
people of
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
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 The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...
** Shishalh (
Sechelt Sechelt (, Sechelt language, shíshálh Language: ch'atlich) is a district municipality located on the lower Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Approximately northwest of Vancouver, it is accessible from ma ...
) ** Squamish ** Pentlatch (a.k.a. Puntledge, extinct) ** Qualicum **Comox-speaking: *** K'omoks (Kwak'wala speaking today) *** Sliammon ***
Homalco The Homalco First Nation (Comox language: Xwémalhkwu, also spelled χʷɛmaɬku) is a First Nations government located in Bute Inlet near the upper Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The Homalco are also known, with their neighbours t ...
***
Klahoose The ƛoʔos Klahoose are one of the three groups comprising the ''ʔayʔaǰuθəm'' Tla'Amin or Mainland Comox. The other two divisions of this once-populous group are the χʷɛmaɬku Homalco and Sliammon (which is a corruption of "Tla A' ...
** Halkomelem-speaking ***Hulquminum (Island Halkomelem): ****
Hwlitsum The Hwlitsum or Lamalchi or Lamalcha are an Indigenous people whose traditional territories were in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. Their traditional villages were on Canoe Pass, which is known in their language as Hwlitsum, and on ...
(Lamalcha or Lamalchi) ****
Snuneymuxw The Snuneymuxw First Nation (pronounced ) is located in and around the city of Nanaimo on east-central Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The nation previously had also occupied territory along the Fraser River, in British Columbia. Pr ...
(Nanaimo) **** Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) **** Cowichan *****
Somena The Somena (or S’amuna’) are one of several Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓-speaking indigenous peoples living in the Cowichan Valley- Duncan region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The Somena were one of seven tribes or nations that were ...
(S’amuna’) *****
Quw'utsun Quamichan (or Kwʼamutsun) is a traditional nation of the Coast Salish people, commonly referred to by the English adaptation of ''Quʼwutsun'' ("warm place") as the Cowichan Indians, or First Nations, of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, ...
*****
Quamichan Quamichan (or Kwʼamutsun) is a traditional nation of the Coast Salish people, commonly referred to by the English adaptation of ''Quʼwutsun'' ("warm place") as the Cowichan Indians, or First Nations, of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, ...
***** Clemclemaluts (L’uml’umuluts) ***** Comiaken (Qwum’yiqun’) ***** Khenipsen (Hinupsum) ***** Kilpahlas (Tl’ulpalus) ***** Koksilah (Hwulqwselu) **** Penelakut ***Hunquminum (Downriver Halkomelem) ****
Musqueam The Musqueam Nation ( Hunquminum: ) is a First Nation whose traditional territory encompasses the western half of what is now Greater Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. It is governed by a band council and is known officially as the Musq ...
****
Tsleil-Waututh The Tsleil-Waututh Nation (, ), formerly known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Inlet Indian Band, is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ("TWN") are Coast Salish peoples w ...
(Burrard) ****
Katzie The Katzie First Nation or Katzie Nation (Hunquminum: ) is a First Nation whose traditional territory lies in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. According to their oral tradition, the Katzie people are the descendants of the ...
**** Kwantlen ****
Kwikwetlem The Kwikwetlem First Nation, also known as the Coquitlam Indian Band, is the band government of the Kwikwetlem, a Sto:lo people living in the Coquitlam area of British Columbia, Canada. They traditionally speak the Downriver dialect of hən̓q ...
(Coquitlam) **** Snokomish (extinct) **** Tsawwassen ***Halqemeylem (Upriver Halkomelem) **** Sts'Ailes (Chehalis) **** Sto:lo (Fraser River Salish) ***** Aitchelitz ***** Leq'á:mel ***** Matsqui ***** Popkum ***** Skway ***** Skawahlook ***** Skowkale ***** Squiala ***** Sumas ***** Tzeachten ***** Yakweakwioose ***** Chawathil *****
Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to t ...
***** Kwaw-kwaw-Apilt ***** Sq'éwlets (Scowlitz) ***** Seabird Island ***** Shxw'ow'hamel ***** Soowahlie ** North Straits Salish-speaking *** Songhees (a.k.a. ''Songish'', a.k.a. ''Lekwungen'') *** T'Souke (
Sooke Sooke () is a district municipality on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, by road from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Sooke, the westernmost of Greater Victoria's Western Communities, is to the north and west of t ...
) *** Semiahmoo *** Malahat *** Lummi ***
Klallam The Klallam (; also known as the S'Klallam or Clallam) are a Coast Salish people Indigenous to the northern Olympic Peninsula. The language of the Klallam is the Klallam language (), a language closely related to the North Straits Salish lang ...
*** Tsartlip *** Tsawout *** Tseycum *** Pauquachin ***
Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...
*
New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...
(no language affiliation) * Nuxálk (''Bella Coola'') ** Kimsquit **
Tallheo Tallheo is the location of a former village of the Nuxalk known as Talyu, and is a former cannery town near Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada, on North Bentinck Arm. Tallheo is also the name of the dialect of the Nuxalk language spoken by t ...
**
Stuie Stuie is a community in the Bella Coola Valley of the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, located at the confluence of the Atnarko and Talchako Rivers, which is the "start" of the Bella Coola River. Stuie is the site of a histori ...
**
Kwatna This is a list of Nuxalk villages. By 1953 there were only two bodies of Nuxalk left: The Kimsquit, on Dean Inlet; and the Bella Coola Indian Reserve No. 1, Bella Coola, at the mouth of Bella Coola River. Older writers speak of the Nuhalk (Nuxalk ...
* Tsimshianic peoples (Northern Mainland) **
Tsimshian The Tsimshian (; ) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace and ...
(Sm'algyax speaking) **
Gitxsan Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan and Kitksan) are an Indigenous people in Canada whose home territory comprises most of the area known as the Skeena Country in English (: means "people of" and : means "the River of Mist"). Gitksan territory enco ...
(Gitxsanimaax speaking) **
Nisga'a The Nisga’a (; ), formerly spelled Nishga or Niska, are an Indigenous people in British Columbia, Canada. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The origin of the term ''Niska'' is uncertain. The spelling ' ...
* Haida (Haad kil speaking) *Southern Wakashan peoples **
Nuu-chah-nulth The Nuu-chah-nulth ( ; ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tri ...
(incorrectly called ''Nootka'') ***
Tla-o-qui-aht The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations () are a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation (band government) in Canada. They live on ten reserves along the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The band is part of the Nuu-chah-n ...
(''Clayoquot'') ***
Mowachaht The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations are a First Nations government on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations are a member nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Counc ...
- Muchalaht ***
Ahousaht Ahousaht, also spelled Ahousat ( or )), is the principal settlement on Flores Island (British Columbia), Flores Island, in British Columbia, Canada. Accessible only by water or air, Ahousaht is a small community predominantly composed of Nuu-chah- ...
(formed from the merger of the Ahousaht and Kelsemeht bands in 1951) *** Ehattesaht *** Hesquiaht *** Cheklesahht ***
Kyuquot Kyuquot (pronounced "ky YOO kit") is an unincorporated settlement and First Nations community located on Kyuquot Sound on northwestern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Meaning people of Kayukw in the Nuu-chah-nulth language, it is ...
*** Nuchatlaht *** Huu-ay-aht (formerly Ohiaht) *** Hupacasath (formerly Opetchesaht) *** Toquaht *** Tseshaht *** Uchucklesaht *** Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Ucluelet) **
Ditidaht The Ditidaht ee-tee-dotFirst Nation is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The government has 17 reserve lands: Ahuk, Tsuquanah, Wyah, Clo-oose, Cheewat, Sarque, ...
** Pacheedaht *Northern Wakashan peoples (Central Coast) ** Kwakwaka'wakw ***
Laich-kwil-tach Laich-kwil-tach (also spelled Liǧʷiłdaxʷ), is the Anglicization of the Kwak'wala autonomy by the "Southern Kwakiutl" people of Quadra Island and Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada. There are today two main groups (of perhaps five ...
(Euclataws/Yuculta a.k.a. Southern Kwakiutl) **** Weewaikai ( Cape Mudge) **** Wewaykum ( Campbell River) **** Kwiakah *** Koskimo *** 'Namgis (Nimpkish) **
Haisla Haisla may refer to: * Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada. * Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language. * Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which repr ...
( Kitamaat) *** Henaksiala **
Heiltsuk The Heiltsuk , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', or ''Híɫzaqv'' are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Central Coast Regional District, Central Coast region in British Columbia, ...
( Bella Bella, at the community of the same name) **
Wuikinuxv The Wuikinuxv (, ("Backbone people"); also Oweekano (Pre-1976); ''Oowekeeno'' (1976-2003) (variations: ''Oweekeno, Owekano, Oweekayno, Wuikenukv, Wikeno, Owikeno, Awikenox'', or the Rivers Inlet people) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Nor ...
(Owekeeno) *
Tsetsaut The Tsetsaut (Nisga'a language: ''Jits'aawit''; in the Tsetsaut language: ''Wetaŀ'' or ''Wetaɬ'') were an Athabaskan-speaking group whose territory was around the head of the Portland Canal, straddling what is now the boundary between the US sta ...
(extinct Athapaskan-speakers)


Plains

These people traditionally used
tipi A tipi or tepee ( ) is a conical lodge tent that is distinguished from other conical tents by the smoke flaps at the top of the structure, and historically made of animal hides or pelts or, in more recent generations, of canvas stretched on ...
s covered with skins as their homes. Their main sustenance was the
bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...
, 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 The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
**
Plains-Ojibwa The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations band government in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Al ...
*
Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...
**
Kainai The Kainai Nation () (, or , romanized: ''Káínawa'', Blood Tribe) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,965 members in 2024, up from 11,791 in December 2013. tra ...
(''Blood'') ** North Peigan **
Siksika The Siksika Nation (; syllabics , ) is a First Nation in southern Alberta, Canada. The name ''Siksiká'' comes from the Blackfoot words ''sik'' (black) and ''iká'' (foot), with a connector ''s'' between the two words. The plural form of ''S ...
*
Dene The Dene people () are an Indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal, subarctic and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term ...
**
Chipewyan The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene group of Indigenous Canadian people belonging to the Athabaskan language family, whose ancest ...
* Nakoda **
Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...
** Stoney * Plains-Cree * Tsuut'ina (''Sarcee'')


Plateau

*
Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, norther ...
(''Kootenay'') *
Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...
*
Sinixt The Sinixt"Sinixt Nation…" (; also known as the Sin-Aikst or Sin Aikst,Reyes 2002, ''passim.'' "Senijextee", "Arrow Lakes Band", or—less commonly in recent decades—simply as "The Lakes") are a First Nations People. The Sinixt are d ...
* St'at'imc (Lillooet) ** Lil'wat **Lower Stl'atl'imx (Skatin, Semahquam, Xa'xtsa) ** Nequatque * Nicola *
Nicola Athapaskans The Nicola Athapaskans, also known as the Nicola people or Stuwix, were an Athabascan people who migrated into the Nicola Country of what is now the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia from the north a few centuries ago ...
(extinct) *
Nlaka'pamux The Nlakaʼpamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', '' Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''K ...
(Thompson) * Secwepemc (Shuswap)


Western subarctic

These peoples live in the
boreal forest Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...
in what are now Canada's western provinces and territories. They were originally hunter-gatherers dependent on
caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...
,
moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
and the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
. Most spoke Athapaskan languages except the Crees and Inland Tlingit. Major ethnicities in the
Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
,
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
and the northern parts of the western provinces (
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
and
Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
) include the following: *
Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
*
Dakelh The Dakelh (pronounced ) or Carrier are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people living a large portion of the British Columbia Interior, Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Dakel ...
(Carrier) ** Wet'suwet'en **
Lheidli T'enneh The Lheidli T'enneh Band also known as the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation and historically known as the Fort George Indian Band is the First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government for the Lheidli T'enneh, a subgroup of the Dakelh people ...
*
Dene The Dene people () are an Indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal, subarctic and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term ...
**
Chipewyan The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene group of Indigenous Canadian people belonging to the Athabaskan language family, whose ancest ...
** Sahtu (includes Bearlake, Hare and Mountain peoples) **
Slavey The Slavey (also Awokanak, Slave, and South Slavey) are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations group of Indigenous peoples in Canada. They speak the Slavey language, a part of the Athabaskan languages. Part of the Dene people, their homeland ...
** Tlicho **
Yellowknives The Yellowknives, Yellow Knives, Copper Indians, Red Knives or T'atsaot'ine (Wíílíídeh dialect: ''Tetsǫ́t'ınę'') are indigenous peoples in Canada, indigenous peoples of Canada, one of the five main groups of the First Nations in Canada, F ...
*
Dane-zaa The Dane-zaa (ᑕᓀᖚ, also spelled Dunne-za, or Tsattine) are an Athabaskan languages, Athabaskan-speaking group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations people. Their traditional territory is around the Peace River (Canada), Peace River in A ...
(also Dunne-za, Beaver, Tasttine) * Gwich'in (Kutchin, Loucheaux) *
Hän The Hän, Han or Hwëch'in / Han Hwech’in (meaning "People of the River, i.e. Yukon River", in English also Hankutchin) are a First Nations people of Canada and an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the United States; they are part of the At ...
*
Kaska The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language, originally spoken by the Kaska, is an Athaba ...
*
Sekani Sekani or Tse’khene are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the northern interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The n ...
* Tagish *
Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahan ...
*Inland
Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...
** 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 The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
*
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
** Algonquin ** Nipissing **
Ojibwa The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thro ...
***
Mississaugas The Mississaugas are a group of First Nations peoples located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are a sub-group of the Ojibwe Nation. Etymology The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word ''Misi-zaagiing'', meaning " hose at theGr ...
***
Saulteaux The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and Ojibwa ethnonyms, other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band governm ...
**
Oji-cree The Anisininew or Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west. The Oji-Cree pe ...
**
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
(''Odawa'') **
Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
*
Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
*
Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...
*
Naskapi The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical region St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our Clusivity, nclusiveland'), which was located in present day northern Qu ...


Atlantic coastal region

*
Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous people of Canada who lived on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. The Beothuk culture formed around 1500 CE. This may have been ...
(Newfoundland ''extinct'') *
Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...
(Labrador) *
Maliseet The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their terri ...
*
Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
(Micmac) *
Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy (Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language, Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'', Plural: ''Peskotomuhkatiyik'') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American/First Nations in Canada, First Nations people who live in northea ...
* Hydin


St. Lawrence River Valley

The largest First Nations group near the St. Lawrence waterway are the
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
. This area also includes the Wyandot (formerly referred to as the Huron) peoples of central
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, and the League of Five Nations who had lived in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, south of
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
. Major ethnicities include the: *
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
** Algonquin ** Nipissing *
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
(''Haudenosaunee'') ** Cayuga (''Guyohkohnyo'') ** Mohawk (''Kanien'kéhaka'') ** Oneida (''Onayotekaono'') ** Onondaga (''Onundagaono'') ** Seneca (''Onondowahgah'') ** Tuscarora (''Ska-Ruh-Reh'') *Munsee branch of the
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
(Delawares) *
Neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...
*
Petun The Petun (from ), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati (Dionnontate, Etionontate, Etionnontateronnon, Tuinontatek, Dionondadie, or Khionotaterrhonon) ("People among the hills/mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the w ...
(''Tobacco'') * Wyandot (''Huron'')


See also

*
Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas Historically, classification of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas is based upon cultural regions, geography, and linguistics. Anthropologists have named various cultural regions, with fluid boundaries, that are generally agreed upon with so ...
*
Indigenous languages of the Americas The Indigenous languages of the Americas are the languages that were used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of non-Indigenous peoples. Over a thousand of these languages are still used today, while many more are now e ...
* List of Canadian Inuit *
List of First Nations governments The following is a partial list of First Nations band governments in Canada: Alberta Atlantic Canada Newfoundland and Labrador * Miawpukek First Nation * Mushuau Innu First Nation * Qalipu First Nation * Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation Ne ...
*
List of Indian reserves in Canada Canada has numerous Indian reserves, also known as First Nations reserves, for First Nations in Canada, First Nations people, which were mostly established in 1876 by the ''Indian Act'' and have been variously expanded and reduced by royal commi ...
*
List of Indian reserves in Canada by population A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
*
List of place names in Canada of Aboriginal origin This list of place names in Canada of Indigenous origin contains Canadian places whose names originate from the words of the First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, collectively referred to as Indigenous Peoples. When possible, the original word or phr ...
* Notable Aboriginal people of Canada


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of First Nations Peoples First Nations in Canada
First Nations peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
*