So, this is a bit of a broad question, and if any experts in the field want to narrow it down to their topic of expertise, I'd be jazzed.
I live in Toronto, and have spent a good amount of time in Vancouver as well. However, despite all this, I know very, very little about the First People who lived here before me. There are some records dating to post-colonial times, but what I'm more curious about is before European contact. Do we have history of the North Americans, especially up North in Canada? I know we have some Mayan / Aztec / Central American civilizations, but what about up here?
They must have had their great civilizations and great people. Their version of Alexander the Great. Do we have any records? Any knowledge on this? What do we know? How did different civilizations across this massive land live (depends on where, I know, but I guess I'm curious for hearing about the different experiences)? And, if not, why do we know so little?
Again, I know this is an immensely broad topic and I'm terrible at narrowing. If your area of expertise is the Lakota around the Mississippi in 9th century AD, I'd love to hear about it. Mostly, I just want to hear what pre-colonial civilizations were like for First People in NA, specifically in what we now know as Canada. :)
Thanks!
Your "bit of a broad question" has a bit of a broad answer! Broad questions are hard to answer.
You might like to dive into the FAQ page "Americas Before Columbus and Native American History" with dozens of discussions, though many of them are post-Columbus.
You might also be interested in the AskHistorians book list page, "Book list: Americas" . Unfortunately, little there appears to be pre-Columbian, and the pre-Columbian section has but 3 books, all for slices of the U. S. However, please do note the first one on the whole page, 1491 by Charles Mann. That covers a lot pre-Columbian. (I'm reading it now, but so far I've seen little that covers anything in what is now Canada.)
This is not to discourage discussion. I hope you get a lot more replies! More questions, data, and debate are welcome.