The differing economies of these peoples, for example, would necessitate that the young in various parts of the northern half of the continent be taught skills that differed from nation to nation. What a Huron woman needed to know to be a successful farmer and mother in her sedentary society, with its large population concentrations and reliance on horticulture, was dramatically different from what a Cree hunter and fisher in the northern boreal forest required. Similarly, the lessons about proper social behavior that were imparted to the young in a hierarchical, class-ordered society such as the Tsimshian on the Pacific were different from those transmitted among a more egalitarian Algonkian people such as the Montagnais or Maliseet on the east coast. There were also differences within specific Aboriginal cultures according to the age of the children. At puberty, in particular, instruction usually became both more formal and more exacting. Pre-contact Aboriginal education had varied features largely because the indigenous peoples of North America had different economies and social structures prior to the arrival of the European.

      However, there was also a number of striking similarities, including the absence of anything approaching the European’s institutional approach, or schooling. Aboriginal peoples did share a number of methods for imparting the lessons that their children would need to grow into healthy adults. The common elements in Aboriginal education were the shaping of behavior by positive example in the home, the provision of subtle guidance towards desired forms of behavior through the use of games, a heavy reliance on the use of stories for didactic purposes, and, as the child neared early adulthood, the utilization of more formal and ritualized ceremonies to impart rite-of-passage lessons with due solemnity.