Alberta and Saskatchewan
The View in 1905

Quick Facts about the Map:

Canadian National Geography Standards Used:
Geographic Skill #2: Acquiring geographic information
Geographic Skill #4: Analyzing geographic information

What is the date of this map? Who was the creator of the map? What sources of information did the map creators use? What information is provided in the legend? What is the scale of the map and what does this mean? List three things in this map that you think are important. Where do you think the map was produced? Why do you think the map was drawn? What evidence in the map suggests why it was drawn? Write a question to the mapmaker that is left unanswered by this map? Which treaty applies to the area in which you live? What do you notice about the geographic location of the Royal North-West Mounted Police posts north of the 54 th parallel and north of the detachment at Saddle Lake? What would be the reason for this?

Research your community's history!

Canadian National Geography Standards used:
Essential Element #4: Human Systems
    Patterns and processes of migration past and present / Patterns of culture in
    Canada and the world
    Human settlement patterns and land use / Changes in human settlement
    patterns over time
    Processes of cultural diffusion / Convergence and divergence of culture
    Impact of human migration
Essential Element #2: Places and Regions
    Perceptions of places and regions

• Find the oldest business building or the oldest homestead in or near your community. Take a picture of it. Research architecture from other countries at the same time period to find out where the influence came for this particular style of architecture. Design a replica of it with cardboard, popsicle sticks and a glue gun.
• How did your community get its name? Suggest alternate appropriate names and why they would have been suitable? Write a play about the naming of your community and act it out with others.
• Who were the first Europeans to live in your community? What aspects of their culture did they bring with them and adapt to their new home? Design a rubric that illustrates your findings.
• Which Aboriginal people lived in this area before the Europeans came and how did the arrival of the Europeans affect their lives and culture? How did the Aboriginal people who lived in this area affect the lives of the Europeans? What action or celebration can you and your class design that would give tribute to the Indian cultures that you are a part of, or whose land your community now resides on?
• Ask community people in museums or special care homes or the local rural municipality office or an Elder or mayor’s office who might have lived in your community the longest and then see if you can interview them to find out what the community was like when it was first established. Remake this information into a visual presentation for your class.
• Indian cultures have always had a human relationship with particular places that have ethical, cultural, medicinal and spiritual elements with are interwoven with patterns of economic use. These attributes were often more important than the physical, tangible remains of past human use of land ¹ How did the signing of the treaties affect this relationship for an Indian culture near your community?
  ¹from: (Goldring and Hanks, 1991: 14) http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/r/pca-acl/sec3/index_e.asp

Evolution of settlement

Canadian National Geography Standards used:
Essential Element #4: Human Systems
    Changes in human settlement patterns over time
    Types and patterns of human settlement
Essential Element #2: Places and Regions
    Physical and human characteristics of places
    and regions within the province/territory and Canada
    Changes in places and regions over time
Essential Element #5: Environment and Society
    Human modification of the physical environment

• Between 1890 &1910 there was a population boom as thousands of settlers came to the Canadian West. On half of a sheet of Bristol board, create a colourful poster that could have been used to attract European settlers to a particular area on the map. Consider what kinds of things would have interested them most about relocating to this particular place. Select a particular community on the map and on the other half of the paper design another poster that would attract people to relocate there today.

Rail line expansion

Canadian National Geography Standards used:
Geographic Skill #1: Asking geographic questions
Essential Element #2: Places and Regions
    Changes in places and regions over time
Essential Element #3: Physical systems
    Causes and patterns of extreme natural events
Essential Element #4: Human Systems
    Transportation and communication networks in Canada and the world
Essential Element #5: Environment and Society
    Effects of human modification of the physical environment
Essential Element #6: Uses of Geography
    Influences of physical and human features on historical events
    Interaction of physical and human systems and
    influence on current and future conditions.

• What connection is there between avalanches and railroads? Approximately how many kilometres of railroad and which communities would this connection have impacted?
• Select one of the communities on the map and illustrate how the presence of the rail line changed the community’s character.

Growth of the Park System

Canadian National Geography Standards used:
Essential Element#5: Environment and Society
    Environmental issues
Essential Element #2: Places and Regions
    Critical issues and problems of places and regions

• The creation of a national system of parks dates back to 1885 when hot springs were discovered in what would later become the Rocky Mountains Park, now known as Banff National Park;
• When, where and why did the idea of national parks emerge?
• What recent developments/changes have been made to the national parks act?
• Which National Parks are located in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Identify unique characteristics of each of them using photographs or other online media as illustrations in a diagram, using Inspiration software (www.inspiration.com)
• Can you recommend some suggestions for ways in which schools and National Parks might be more closely involved?

Treaties

Canadian National Geography Standards used:
Essential Element # Places and Regions:
    Critical issues and problems of places and regions
Essential Element # 4: Human Systems
    Convergence and divergences of cultures
    Patterns of global power and influence

• How does the verbal agreement of Treaty 4 differ from the land cessation indicated on the map? A good starting place for information would be the Indian and Northern Affairs website and the Office of the Treaty Commissioner.

Tapping in to critical and creative thinking

• Read through the numbered annotated locations and look at where each is found on the map.
• Using the information that is given in some of these numbered texts, develop a list of questions about the information, making use of the following starting words:

1. What if _____________________________________________?
2. What is most important about _________________________________?
3. As a result of ____________________, what is now possible in regards to __________________?
4. What is my personal connection to _______________________?
5. If I were to research more about __________________, what categories would I structure my findings into?
6. What have I found out about _________________________ before?
7. What does the writer mean by _______________________?
8. What is missing from this information about ______________________?
9. What does the text about _____________________reveal about dominant groups/power relationships within culture
10. Compare ____________________ to a similar occurrence in _____________.

Select one of your questions and find some information to provide you with an interesting answer that you will share in a group. Use three different sources of information including a novel or poem, another map, and a photograph or painting.