Canada's history dates back to a long time before the arrival of the early explorers. Canada existed years before the Vikings arrived in 1000 AD.
Canada's history dates back to a long time before the arrival of the early explorers. Canada existed years before the Vikings arrived in 1000 AD. Those early years are known as prehistory. That means the period of human history preceding written records.
Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures roamed our land. Fossils have been found in many areas of what we now know as Canada. Then, mysteriously, the dinosaurs disappeared. Some scientists believe that a giant meteor struck the earth and the clouds of debris caused by the impact blocked out the sunlight to such an extent that the temperatures dropped. Vegetation died and the dinosaurs starved.
This was the start of the Ice Age. The Rocky Mountain regions of Canada and the regions farther west were almost engulfed in the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, while most of Canada east of the Rockies and the north-central and northeastern United States were covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet.
At that time, the Bering Strait froze, forming a bridge between north Asia and Alaska. One theory suggests that this is how the first aboriginal people arrived in North America. The Native population resents this implication. They say they have always been here. They were hunters and gatherers when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. They lived in caves burrowed into the ice during the ice age, foraging for what food they could find to survive.
Perhaps one of these theories is correct. Or maybe it's a combination of factors. There are, after all, many differing tribes in the First Nations family. We'll never know for sure.
Gradually the ice melted, and moving sheets of ice pushed the land into mountains and carved out valleys. Mighty rivers roared down from the mountain slopes rushing to the seas. The land evolved, vegetation sprouted and the earth lived again. This was the land the Vikings and the early explorers found when they arrived on our shores.
In another article, we'll look at the early years of the Native Americans in Canada - how and where they lived, the differences along the tribes. Canada has made a long and exciting voyage from prehistory to the present, but it has been here since the beginning of time.
