” Group of 10 children posing outdoors.” 1961. Rosemary Gilliat. Library and Archives Canada, e010835871 CC BY 2.0
This week’s top stories: Louis Riel Day, Black History Month, the Franklin Expedition, and settler colonialism.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
- Robyn Lacy has a brand-new blog post on what happened to dead bodies in Colonial Canada. You know, when the ground was too frozen to dig a grave. The answer: dead houses. Funnily enough, still a problem in Montreal. I would be curious to see how this worked for Jewish and Muslim colonists, due to the requirement that bodies be buried within 24 hours.
- Joanne Hammond laid down some more truth about why we really have no idea how humans arrived in North America, and why archaeology is still learning from past mistakes.
- This week was Louis Riel Day!
- The University of Manitoba history department posted a link to some photos of Louis Riel from the UM archives.
- The University of Alberta Faculty of Law Faculty blog asks, “What if Louis Riel was tried today?”
- And later in the week, they wrote another post about Métis identity.
- The Canadian Museum of History launched a new tour on Métis history.
- There were several new updates to The Canadian Encyclopedia entries this week, including:
- As well as some new entries, including:
- What do you know about Vancouver’s tiniest building?
- This week the ICH shared an interview on the Baccalieu Trail with Lester Mitchell and Gordon Rogers.
- It was a busy week over at NiCHE!
- Jessica DeWitt and Sean Kheraj are back again, talking about Jessica’s picks for the best environmental history articles from January 2018.
- The latest episode of their podcast, Nature’s Past, dropped. This episode features Sean Kheraj, Jennifer Bonnell, and Owen Temby (plus Matt Dyce and Jonathan Peyton) talking about PiCHE.
- And then PiCHE’s first articled premiered, by Dyce and Peyton, on representations of Canadian geography on film in the 1950s.
- Darryl Leroux has an update on his research, and why all of these “Eastern Metis” organizations are anti-Indigenous.
- And he has a French version too!
- Larry Dohey discusses the experiment that was the Labrador Court of Civil Jurisdiction, in operation from 1826 to 1833.
- Last week’s most commonly-used words in environmental history, according to Jessica DeWitt were: “San,” “Areas,” and “Vegetation.”
- I’m in love with this ironically accurate map that Claire Campbell posted this week.
- I’m kinda in love with these pictures of teenagers learning how to put on makeup at The Bay in Victoria in 1960.
- It was also a busy week on the LAC blog
- First up was a blog post about why local newspapers are so important, both in the present and as historical sources.
- They also released their latest podcast episode on William Lyon Mackenzie King, featuring an interview with Chris Dummitt about Mackenzie King’s diaries.
- Next was a fantastic look at Rosemary Gilliat’s images from her trip to the Arctic in June 1960.
- The following blog post looked at how inscriptions in books can provide important information about their owners. I’ve always wondered if anyone will find a book that I’ve added an inscription to.
- And finally, they added a new Flickr Album with the collective passport of Canada’s 1948 Olympic Men’s Hockey team. See the images themselves here.
- This week on Unwritten Histories, Sarah York-Bertram and I teamed up to write a basic introduction to teaching and learning about settler colonialism in Canada.
- Active History also posted several new blog posts this week:
- Britanny Dunn wrote the latest post in their ongoing series on Canada’s First World War, on how officers (as opposed to regular soldiers) made the transition to civilian life.
- In the latest post in their series reflecting on the Manitoulin Island Summer Historical Institute, Phil Hendersen writes about how his experiences learning about connections influenced his research.
- Sean Graham is back with the latest episode of the History Slam podcast. In this episode, he interviews Brian Thorn about his latest book, From Left to Right: Maternalism and Women’s Political Activism in Postwar Canada.
- Peter A. Stevens finished off the week with a post on Indigenous and settler relations in Canadian cottage country’s past and present. And don’t miss the comments in this post.
- Joanne Hammond pokes some holes in BC Heritage Week.
- And then later discusses the possible existence of an ancient Indigenous bridge at the current cite of the Alexandra Bridge.
- In their latest blog post, the UBC Digitizer’s blog profiles their Yip Sang Collection.
- Sarah York-Bertram also wrote two fantastic Twitter essays this week:
- David Tough has written an additional article for Beyond Borders’ series on “Who Pays for Canada? Taxes and Fairness,” on the adoption of the left-right political spectrum in Canada, and how it served to illustrate political difference, particularly around issues of taxation.
- And then later in the week, they posted the final blog post in the series, by Laura Madokoro, on how taxation was used as a tool to fight against the permanent settlement of migrants form China, whether through the head tax or Montreal’s laundry taxes.
- The Franklin Expedition exhibit opens next next week at the Canadian Museum of History. Russell Potter has a short sneak preview.
- And he also shared the story of noted explorer Heinrich Klutschak, and the sad end to his life.
- This week the McGill Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections blog focused on David and Bess, lion cubs who came to Expo 67 as part of the Ethiopian Pavilion, and the role that the Zoological Society of Montreal played in their care and protection.
- In the latest episode of the Historical Reminiscents podcast, Krista McCracken discusses the lack of education around administration and leadership, particularly with respect to public history.
- The National Post published a strange piece on how guilt can result in teaching inaccurate Indigenous histories, arguing that historians tend to “exaggerate” the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples. Ian Mosby basically ripped this to shreds in a great Twitter essay.
- Tina Adcock kindly shared her preliminary syllabus for an upcoming course on environmental history and the history of science!
- The Archives and Rare Books librarian at McMaster Library put together this really helpful guide on incorporating primary source research into course assignments.
- Also this week on Unwritten Histories, Stephanie Pettigrew was back with her monthly roundup of upcoming publications in the field of Canadian history.
- Heritage Winnipeg is back with a new blog post on the private social club, the Manitoba Club.
- There is new information about Everett Klippert! The Calgary Gay History Project spoke with Robert (Bob) Johnson, who used to be Klippert’s boss, about his experiences.
- This week Eve Lazarus tells the story of the 1947 Shootout at False Creek Flats, that led to the death of police officers, Charles Boyes and Oliver Ledingham.
- In honour of Walk Your Dog Day, the Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto posted some adorable images of dogs from their collections!
- The City of Vancouver Archives continues in their quest to learn information about the house at 2116 Maple Street.
- There is a new archival collection on Jean Marlow available from the Royal Botanical Gardens.
- The latest episode of Witness to History has been published, “Battling for the Maritimes, 1690-1793,” featuring Patrice Dutil speaking with Jeffrey Lennox on his new book, Homelands and Empires: Indigenous Spaces, Imperial Fictions, and Competition for Territory in Northeastern North America, 1690-1793.
- Histoire Engagée is back with another reflection by editors Christine Chevalier-Caron and Pascal Scallon-Chouinard, on their work to ensure that the discipline of history is as diverse and complicated as its subject.
- Check out what’s new at the Maritime History Archive at Memorial.
- The latest biography from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for Frederick Banting. Really? How did he not have one already?
- This week Instantanés looks at the construction of Jordi Bonet’s Grand Théâtre de Québec.
- The Chilliwack Museum and Archives blog looks back at life of Frederick Walter Lee.
- Whistorical looks back at the week of February 22 from 1979 to 1985.
- Canada’s History and the Archives of the City of Montreal look back at the golden age of the Montreal Red Light district.
- Black History Month
- In the latest post on the Acadiensis blog, David Frank discusses African-American actor, singer, and political activist Paul Robeson, and his politicized 1945 concert in Saint John, New Brunswick.
- This week on the Atlantic Loyalist Connections blog, Leah Grandy discusses what historians can learn about naming culture among individuals of African descent who were enslaved in the United States from the “The Book of Negroes.”
- Adrienne Shadd spoke with CBC about Hamilton’s Black history, and why the preoccupation that so many have with the Underground Railroad obscures and erases much of Black Canadian history.
- Canada’s second black parliamentarian, Howard McCurdy, has passed away.
- The Retroactive blog profiled Calgary Stampeder (the football team, not the rodeo) and actor, Woody Strode.
- CBC profiled Marelene Clyke, who became one of the first Black women from Nova Scotia to enlist as a reservist in the Canadian Women’s Army Corp in 1951.
- This week The Star published another story about the Toronto West Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the Original 8, and how they helped newcomers establish themselves in Canada.
- Find out about a new documentary from Jenna Biley and David Este on the history of African-American settlers in Alberta, We are the Roots: Black Settlers and Their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies.
- More here!
- Afua Cooper spoke with CBC about how New Brunswick has covered up their history of slavery.
- Bee Quammie argues that Black History Month has outlived its purpose.
- Canadian History in the News
- This week Vancouver celebrated the Lunar New Year with a parade, marking forty-five years of this tradition.
- As Alberta and BC square off over the Trans Mountain pipeline, Jason Colby draws parallels to Dave Barrett’s attempt to block the transfer of a captured orca to Marineland in 1975. I guess not everyone loves Marineland… (oh come on, I had to!)
- This year marks the 45th anniversary of the visit of the Yukon Native Brotherhood to Ottawa, beginning a process that would lead to the signing of the Yukon’s Umbrella Final Agreement.
- Cross-Country Checkup spoke with George Erasmus on Trudeau’s recent announcement about affirming Indigenous rights, implementing an Indigenous legal framework, and fostering self-governance.
- CBC spoke with several archivists and archives from across the country about how they are implementing the TRC’s Calls to Action. And Jo McCutcheon was interviewed!
- Time and time again, Indigenous knowledge has proven to be lightyears ahead of Western science.
- A recent update on this, with more specific examples, is here.
- Senator Mary Jane McCallum has written an amazing letter criticizing Senator Lynn Beyak about her gross ignorance on residential schools.
- Someone thought it would be a good idea to interview the current Lord Cornwallis about his predecessor’s statue in Halifax. It starts around 29 minutes. The best part: his offer to put the statue in his garden.
- Do you remember how last week I reported that the Mi’kmaq name “Skmaqn” will be added to the Port-la-Joye-Fort Amherst National Historic Site? John Jo Sark, a member of the Mi’kmaq Nation traditional government, believes that this is an insult.
- Can someone just kill the Solutrean Hypothesis? Please?
- In this great article, APTN spoke with Ry Moran and Matthew A. Sears about fighting anti-Indigenous racism and settler denialism.
- Do you know what tuckpointing is?
- The BC Canucks honoured Larry Kwong this week. Kwong became the first man of Asian descent to play in the NHL. when he played one shift with the New York Rangers against the Habs.
- This was a rather neat story: a 1954 letter from a Korean War naval officer from Ontario, Paul Morrison, and addressed to John Nuttal, was discovered in a 1939 Buick in BC. What’s even better is the couple who discovered the letter tracked down and reunited Morrison and Nuttal!
- In the latest Dig It column, Ramsay McKee discusses the First Peoples in the area we now call Kamloops.
- Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi Nation) gave a talk this week at the Indigenous Women’s Symposium on Indigenous ways of knowing about plants and the relationship between Indigenous women and plants.
- Most people aren’t aware of this, but North America was home to sophisticated and complex civilizations long before contact, like the civilization centred around the ancient city of Cahokia. Part of the reason for this lack of knowledge is that white settlers attributed the archaeological remains to basically everyone else, except the Indigenous peoples who actually built them. Because the truth would destroy their carefully constructed mythologies about “primitive” Indigenous societies.
- All educators need to listen to this podcast episode from Unreserved on making space for Indigenous knowledge in academia.
- Mica Jorgenson was profiled in The Citizen for her research on gold mining landscapes.
- As the Olympics end this week, some Korean War veterans and South Koreans are remembering a hockey game that was played on the Imjin River in 1952.
- Have you ever wanted to own a part of the Canada Museum of Science and Technology? Just head to Kijiji.
- But it’s a good thing that this sled wasn’t sold...
- A group of individuals representing the historic community of Lincolnville, Nova Scotia, are asking for compensation for the government’s 1799 reclaiming of land they had previously promised to the Black Loyalists.
- Meanwhile, the British Treasury is now admitting that it paid out compensation for lost income to former slave owners up until 2015. And no, that is not a typo.
- The Times Colonist has profiled ethnomusicologist Ida Halpern, who collected songs and rituals from Indigenous communities along the Pacific northwest in the 1940s and 1950s. And the article does mention that it is the families of those who made these records who hold the intellectual property rights to these songs and ceremonies.
- AMC is making a horror film about the Franklin Expedition, called The Terror. I’m not going to comment on that, (besides just oye) but CBC spoke with the lead actress, Nice Nielsen, an Inuk woman from Nuuk, Greenland.
- A statue of Sir. John A. Macdonald in Regina’s Victoria Park was vandalized this week.
- Find out why urban renewal is not always a good thing, with this look at Saint John’s before the movement took hold.
- Do you know the history of UBC’s Ponderosa Cake?
- Earlier in the week, there was an article on CBC about one mother being upset because her daughter’s school had sent home a book for her to read about residential schools. The mother’s own mother had attended residential school, and found the book to be triggering.
- The author of the book, Jenny Kay Dupuis, who based the book on her grandmother’s experiences, wrote a Twitter essay about why hard stories are important.
- Harold Bérubé talked about the historic rivalry between Montreal and Quebec City. I don’t remember this, but my dad’s side is from Quebec City. I grew up with the rivalry between Montreal and Toronto. And I will now refrain from commenting so as to avoid offending anyone. 😉
- Despite this article, I still do not understand the appeal of Coronation Street.
- The Globe and Mail reviewed Robyn Maynard’s Policing Black Lives: State Violence from Slavery to the Present.
- Better Late than Never
- I missed this Twitter essay by Paul Seesequasis on the mass hanging at Fort Battleford in 1885, and its connection to the Stanley decision, from last week.
- Calls for Papers
- The Canadian Journal of Disability Studies has issued a CFP for an upcoming special issue on the theme of “Shapes and Sites of Transinstitutionalization.” Submissions are due July 1, 2018.
- The Ontario women’s History Network has issued a CFP for their annual conference. This year’s theme is “public history and women’s/gender history, with emphasis on museum exhibits, and teaching opportunities.” Proposals are due May 1, 2018.
I am once again without words after a hell of a week, but I would echo the words of Waubgeshig Rice:
To Indigenous youth in this country:
You are valued.
You are admired.
You are credible.
You are remarkable.
You are talented.
You are respected.
You are cherished.
You are revered.
You are powerful.
You are beautiful.
You are important.
You are great.
You are loved.— Waubgeshig Rice (@waub) February 23, 2018
I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup. If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice. And don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a brand new blog post. See you then!
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