When Europeans colonized the land, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people had to learn to live together. For a long time, until the 19th century, Aboriginal people imposed a dynamic of alliances in relations between different Nations and newcomers. Aboriginal people played a central role in all political and economic relations in the territory.
Beginning in the 1850s, however, colonizers imposed their way of life and Aboriginal people faced many problems related to cohabitation.
For example, the fur trade allowed the exchange of products that Aboriginal people appreciated. But this trade has also disrupted traditional trade networks between nations. When the fur trade disappeared, many Aboriginal people had to find new ways to earn a living and to buy European products.
Land occupation has also disadvantaged Aboriginal people. For them, the land did not belong to anyone: those who needed it used the resources. But the Europeans believed it was necessary to divide up the land for each owner. And gradually, the lands where Aboriginals could live dwindled down to tiny reserves.
Tolerance also had no place in beliefs and religions: missionaries imposed Christianity on Aboriginal people, and they were even placed in residential schools where the objective was to wipe out their culture.
Cohabitation has therefore often been a problem for Aboriginal people, who were the first to live on the land. Today, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people want to take on the challenge of building a better society for the future, based on the value of sharing.