TRUE OR FALSE: how much do you know about Canada’s Indigenous Peoples?

June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada.

Test your knowledge with this short true or false quiz.

1. The most widely spoken Indigenous language in Canada is Inuktitut.

2. All Indigenous Peoples were given the right to vote in federal, provincial, territorial and local elections in 1960.

3. The last residential school in Canada closed its doors in 1996.

4. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is observed on October 30.

5. In 2021, Mary Simon became the first Indigenous person to hold the post of Governor General.

6. Bear Island is the name some Indige- nous Peoples use to refer to the continent of North America.

ANSWERS

1. False. Cree is the most widely spoken Indigenous language. According to figures from the 2016 census, there were 96,575 Canadians who spoke Cree.

2. True. Until 1960, not all Indigenous groups had the right to vote due to political, socio-economic and ethnic restrictions.

3. True. Gordon’s Indian Residential School in Punnichy, Saskatchewan, was the last federally funded residential school in Canada.

4. False. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place on September 30. The day honours the children who never returned home and survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

5. True. In 2021, Justin Trudeau appointed Inuk leader Mary Simon as the first Indigenous governor general.

6. False. Turtle Island is the name many Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking peoples, mainly in the northeastern part of North America, use to refer to the continent.