<P> A 1999 discovery of the body of Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi has provided archaeologists with significant information on indigenous tribal life prior to extensive European contact . Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi (meaning Long Ago Person Found in Southern Tutchone), or Canadian Ice Man, is a naturally mummified body found in Tatshenshini - Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia, by a group of hunters . Radiocarbon dating of artifacts found with the body placed the age of the find between 1450 AD and 1700 AD . Genetic testing has shown he was a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations . Local clans are considering a memorial potlatch to honour Kwäday Dän Ts'ìnchi . </P> <P> Aboriginal people in Canada interacted with Europeans as far back as 1000 AD, but prolonged contact came only after Europeans established permanent settlements in the 17th and 18th centuries . European written accounts noted friendliness on the part of the First Nations, who profited in trade with Europeans . Such trade strengthened the more organized political entities such as the Iroquois Confederation . The Aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million in the late 15th century . The effect of European colonization was a forty to eighty percent Aboriginal population decrease post-contact . This is attributed to various factors, including repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), inter-nation conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts with colonial authorities and settlers and loss of land and a subsequent loss of nation self - suffiency . For example, during the late 1630s, smallpox killed over half of the Huron, who controlled most of the early fur trade in what became Canada . Reduced to fewer than 10,000 people, the Huron were attacked by the Iroquois, their traditional enemies . In the Maritimes, the Beothuk disappeared entirely . </P> <P> There are reports of contact made before Christopher Columbus between the first peoples and those from other continents . Even in Columbus' time there was much speculation that other Europeans had made the trip in ancient or contemporary times; Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés records accounts of these in his General y natural historia de las Indias of 1526, which includes biographical information on Columbus . Aboriginal first contact period is not well defined . The earliest accounts of contact occurred in the late 10th century, between the Beothuk and Norseman . According to the Sagas of Icelanders, the first European to see what is now Canada was Bjarni Herjólfsson, who was blown off course en route from Iceland to Greenland in the summer of 985 or 986 CE . The first European explorers and settlers of what is now Canada relied on the First Nations peoples, for resources and trade to sustain a living . The first written accounts of interaction show a predominantly Old world bias, labelling the indigenous peoples as savages, although the indigenous peoples were organized and self - sufficient . Although not without conflict, European / Canadian early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful, compared to the experience of native peoples in the United States . </P> <P> The Portuguese Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area visited by Cabot . In 1493 Pope Alexander VI--assuming international jurisdiction--had divided lands discovered in America between Spain and Portugal . The next year, in the Treaty of Tordesillas, these two kingdoms decided to draw the dividing line running north--south, 370 leagues (from 1,500 to 2,200 km (930 to 1,370 mi) approximately depending on the league used) west of the Cape Verde Islands . Land to the west would be Spanish, to the east Portuguese . Given the uncertain geography of the day, this seemed to give the "new founde isle" to Portugal . On the 1502 Cantino map, Newfoundland appears on the Portuguese side of the line (as does Brazil). An expedition captured about 60 Aboriginal people as slaves who were said to "resemble gypsies in colour, features, stature and aspect; are clothed in the skins of various animals...They are very shy and gentle, but well formed in arms and legs and shoulders beyond description ..." Some captives, sent by Gaspar Corte - Real, reached Portugal . The others drowned, with Gaspar, on the return voyage . Gaspar's brother, Miguel Corte - Real, went to look for him in 1502, but also failed to return . Scholars believe that Miguel Corte - Real carved inscriptions on the controversial Dighton Rock . </P>

Where did canada's first nations come from