It was probably over 10,000 years ago, towards the end of the last major ice age, that human beings first lived in what is now Manitoba. Generation after generation of American Indians made use of the resources they found around them, surviving and growing in numbers; over time, their societies developed, in material, cultural and spiritual terms.
At the turn of the 19th century, the southern part of the province was home to mostly Cree and Ojibwa-Saulteaux peoples. They were nomadic, surviving through hunting, fishing and gathering food; however, many became actively involved in the fur trade with European Canadians.