In Canada, the term Indigenous peoples (or aboriginal peoples) refers to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples. These are the first inhabitants of the land that is now Canada. Within the 2016 census by Statistics Canada, over 1.6 million people in Canada identified as Indigenous, making up 4.9 percent of the national population. Though severely threatened — and in certain cases extinguished — by colonial forces, Indigenous culture, language, and social systems have shaped the event of Canada and still grow and thrive despite extreme adversity.