VOCABULARY YOU NEED TO KNOW cordillera: a chain of mountains delta: a flat, broad land formed by where a river would drain into a large body of water
GENERAL INFORMATION The Cordillera is located on the west coast of Canada and includes British Columbia, the Yukon, southwest Alberta and part of North West Territories. The climate of the Cordillera’s coast is mild, wet and rarely has snow that stays. The interior of the Cordillera is usually colder and dryer with larger amounts of snow. In the summer, it is warmer and there is less rain. The landscape of the Cordillera has long chains of high rugged mountains. This includes the Rocky Mountains and the Coastal Mountains. Parts of this region are covered with forests. The natural resources of the Cordillera are forestry (this is the biggest industry in the region), agriculture, mining (iron, lead, zinc, silver, copper and nickel) and fisheries (the west coast is famous for salmon).
Most of the people in the Cordillera live in extreme south lowlands [Vancouver] and southern plateau due to the warmer climate. Bathed by warm, moist Pacific air currents, the British Columbia coast, indented by deep fiords and shielded from the Pacific storms by Vancouver Island, has the most moderate climate of Canada's regions.
Vancouver Island's west coast receives an exceptional amount of rain, giving it a temperate rain forest climate. Although it does not contain the diversity of species of a tropical rain forest, the island's west coast does have the oldest and tallest trees in Canada: western red cedars 1,300 years old and Douglas firs over 90 metres high.
VOLCANOES? From British Columbia to just east of the Alberta border the land is young, with rugged mountains and high plateaus. Signs of geologically recent volcanic activity can be seen in Garibaldi Provincial Park in southern British Columbia and at Mount Edziza in the north. The Cordillera happens to be the only region in Canada with any active volcanoes. The Cordillera is made up of three main chains of mountains. The first would be the Eastern mountain chain it is made up of the Mackenzie and the Rocky mountains. The Interior mountain chain is made up of the Columbia, the Skeena, and the Ogilvie mountains. The last chain would be called the Western mountain chain it is made up of the coast mountains, which run along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Just west of the Rocky mountains there is a long, deep valley called the Rocky Mountain Trench which happens to be the longest valley in North America. There also happens to be some very important rivers that run through the Cordillera they include the Yukon, Fraser, Columbia, Thompson, peace, Athabasca, and the North Saskatchewan.
The Rocky Mountains, the Coast Mountains and other ranges, running north to south, posed major engineering problems for the builders of the transcontinental railways and highways. Canada's highest peaks, however, are not in the Rockies, but in the St. Elias Mountains, an extension of the Cordillera stretching north into the Yukon and Alaska. The highest point in Canada, mount Logan (6050 m), rises amid a huge icefield in the southwest corner of Yukon, the largest icecap south of the Arctic Circle.
The British Columbia interior varies from alpine snowfields to deep valleys where desert-like conditions prevail. On the leeward side of the mountains, for example, a rain-shadow effect is created, forcing Okanagan Valley farmers to irrigate their orchards and vineyards.
CLIMATE The Cordillera has two main climate areas:
1.) The Southwest coastal plains-
has mild, wet winters and warm summers when it does snow, the snow usually happens to melt away fairly quicky.
However the mild weather has resulted in a long growing seasons, such makes plains good for farming.
The Western slope of the coast mountains get more of the precipation which includes rain and snow. The Eastern side on the other hand the climate is alot drier.
2.) Mountains and Interior plains-
The mountains have cold winters and cool summers.
Northern places such as the Yukon and North West Territories, the summers are short and cool, even though the days are long and sunny. Winters are the somewhat opposite have long and cold days which have few hours of daylight.
The precipation in the north is fairly light 200-400mm because its the "rain shadow" of the Alaska mountain range.
As the land rises above sea level the air gets cooler, which is why some mountaintops stay snowy all year round
Higher the Latitude the cooler the temperatures will get.
Population is greater in areas that have a moderate climate.
The southern interior which has a warm and sunny climate, allows many people to make a living in farming, however little farming is done in the Yukon and Northwest Territories where the climate is more cold and dry.
In places with lots of snow people can enjoy some of the best skiing in the world, and places where climate is moderate people can enjoy hiking and biking all year round.
HOW DOES THE CLIMATE AFFECT THE PEOPLE? Peoples of the Ocean and waterways:
the rich supply of fish and sea mammals provide food which also provides jobs in the regions fishing and tourism industries.
water gave people a way to travel throughout the region which was very important and useful considerating the mountainous region was fairly difficult to travel by land through.
the ocean provides routes to other parts of the world, which developed the large fishing industry here.
Mountain People:
prevented European explorers and fur traders from getting to the Cordillera.
Also made it difficult to build railways and roads.
Steep mountain slopes are not good for farming or building.
and avalanches are always a danger in the Cordillera.
Sea gulls, puffins, bald eagles and oyster catchers just happen to be some of the many birds in the Cordillera.
Mountain goats are found on the mountain slopes of the coast.
Northern sea lions and fur seals warm themselves on the rocks, as do dolphins and whales.
Some fish in the coastal areas include Halibut, sturgeon, herring, eulachon and salmon.
Eastern and central interior areas:
Brown and black bears live in the forests of the eastern and central interior, and grizzlies live in the mountains along with some less forested areas.
There are more Grizzly bears in the Cordillera than anywhere else in the world. Mountain lions, lynx, bobcats, bighorn sheep, marmots, ducks, owls and woodpeckers are some of the many animals that live in this area. Northern Areas: moose, wolves, arctic foxes, snowy owls and bald eagles are some of the animals that are located in this area. Large herds of barren-ground caribou come through the area every year.
WHAT IS A "POTLATCH"?
The word comes from the Chinook language ad it means, "to give". A potlatch is a celebration for many First Nations who live in the Cordillera region. It brings people together to sing, dance, eat and share important stories.
A Potlatch is not just a party. A Potlatch is a magnificent and planned party. It's a really big deal. Planning for a potlatch might take an entire year, or even longer! Today, as in olden times, each person invited to a potlatch receives a present. This present can be as simple as a pencil or as complicated as a carving. At any particular potlatch, everyone receives the same present.
Big Event Potlatches: Indians in ancient Washington State have always been generous people. In olden times, other tribes visited the rich coastal Indians in the Puget Sound area hoping to trade pelts of fur for dried seaweed for sea salt flavoring, dried fish, dried clams, dried salmon, and dried meat. They were delighted with their greeting. The Kitsap Peninsula and the Puget Sound area soon became the meeting place for nearly all of the tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Each fall, tribes from up and down the coast would gather in the Puget Sound area to celebrate a potlatch and prepare to trade. A Potlatch was (and still is!) a wonderful festival with weddings and stories (the tall tale type) and feasting and dancing and trading.
Head Tax A tax put into place by the government that required immigrants to pay a fee to enter a country.
Prospectors People who searched for valuable gold or minerals.
The Gold Rush A time when many, many people moved to a specific area in an attempt to find gold.