Hudson’s Bay Squirrel, Black Squirrel, Grey Squirrel. Peter Mazell. Peter Winkworth Collection. Library and Archives Canada, e002140128. Copyright expired.
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
Environmental History
- The most commonly-used words in #envhist last week, according to Jessica DeWitt, were: “Maize,” “Franklin,” and “CrossRef.”
- She also posted two new sets of her comps notes for these two articles:
- And finally, she also put together her monthly list of the best reads in #envhist from December on NiCHE.
- Also on NiCHE this week is a piece by Lindsay Marshall on animals’ roles in constructing historical narratives.
- For reasons known only to them, LAC’s latest Flickr album is all images of squirrels. See the images for yourself here.
Military History
- The identity of the WW2 soldier on the new Royal Canadian Mint’s 2019 silver proof dollar has just been confirmed as Private George Herman Baker.
- This is a really neat reunion story about a baby that was saved by three Canadian soldiers in 1941.
- The last veteran of a 1943 bombing raid on a German dam has died.
Archaeology
- Check out these neat archaeological finds that were made during construction of a new bridge in Calgary.
- The Bayers Lake Mystery Walls in Nova Scotia remain just that, a mystery.
History Education
- Thanks to the work of Steve DeRoy (Anishinaabe/Saulteaux and a member of the Ebb and Flow First Nation), Google has added more than 3,000 Indigenous lands to Google Maps and Google Earth.
- And also check out how the giant Indigenous Peoples Atlas floor map is instilling pride and hope for Indigenous peoples and helping teach settler Canadians about the Indigenous lands they live on.
- There is also a new app to help you learn whose land you’re on!
- There is now a toolkit for Wet’suwet’en supporters! This includes material for educators.
- If you’re a faculty member, you need to read this blog post about what Indigenous students want faculty to know, based on an interview with Kiel Harris (Gitxsan/Gitanyow), Kelsey Hewitt (Anishnaabe/Lac Seul First Nation) and Anika McAlpine (Cree/Moose Cree First Nation).
- Blair Stein created this awesome infographic on how to read history!
- WIkiedu profiled Maddie Knickerbocker’s awesome work in her recent course on “Aboriginal Peoples of North America to 1850!”
- The Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network has just published the Indigenous Ally Toolkit! CBC spoke with two of the contributors, Dakota Swiftwolfe and Leilani Shaw.
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration History
- The Canadian Encyclopedia published a new entry this week for solider and activist, Masumi Mitsui.
- In his latest blog post, Patrick Lacroix explored outmigration from Canada between 1849 and 1857.
- LAC has just acquired a book that was owned by Adolph Hitler, outlining an plan for a Holocaust in North America. This thread provides additional details.
- LeAndra Nephin (Omaha Tribe of Nebraska) has written a new post for the Beyond the Spectacle blog, on the growing trend of white Europeans appropriating Indigenous culture.
- Matthew Wangler has written the first of a two part series on Retroactive looking at the history of the Doukhobors in Alberta. This first post focuses on their early experiences.
Indigenous History
- Two Beothuk ancestors will be returned to Canada after being held by the National Museums of Scotland since the 1850s. However, as Martha Troian pointed out, it’s important to note that the Museum will not be returning the funeral objects.
- A historic Indigenous church in Prince George was vandalized this week.
- Find out about a new exhibit on the Sixties Scoop by the Legacy of Hope Foundation, called “Bi-Giwen: Coming Home – Truth Telling from the Sixties Scoop.” It features the stories of twelve survivors, including Adam North Peigan (Piikani First Nation). Content warning.
- The Canadian government has officially apologized for the 1957 Ahiarmiut forced relocations.The apology is largely the work of Elder David Serkoak (Inuit). This article also includes a detailed explanation of what happened during and as a result of the forced relocations. Content warning.
- Joanne Hammond explained why Indigenous communities still don’t have control over their education systems.
- Check out the fantastic work that awesome person Erin Millions is doing!
- The CBC has profiled a new exhibit featuring drawings made by children at the Nk’Mip Day School in the 1930s and 1940s. Content warning.
New France/British North America
- In the latest blog post from The Atlantic Loyalist Connections blog, Isabelle Goguen focused on attempts in New Brunswick to legalize slavery following the arrival of white Loyalists, and how racial identity became the determining factor in determining the status (free or enslaved) of the Black Loyalists.
- M. Opal explained that what we think of as “western civilization,” wasn’t really western at all, and depended heavily on technology developed outside of Europe.
- In the latest pieces from the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Brooke Newman explored British royal perspectives on slavery and the rights of colonial subjects from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.
- Karin Wulf has put together a massive thread of resources for teaching the history of North America up until about 1850. Please note that she does use the language of Vast Early America, which some people (including myself) consider problematic.
- Helen M. Rozwadowksi has published a new blog post on Lapham’s Quarterly about how Early Modern European cartographers mapped the oceans. Warning, she does include language like “discovery.”
Political History
- Christo Aivalis has written a great new piece for Active History this week, about why the Winnipeg General Strike still matters, 100 years later.
- It’s disappointing, but it’s still not surprising to hear that Ontario is appealing the Huron-Robinson Treaty ruling.
- Shirley Tillotson published a new thread on tax history this week, on how late 18thcentury colonial merchants avoided some import duties by using products and vessels from Nova Scotia.
- Which initiated a fascinating discussion about “sunk duties.”
Social History
- Also new this week from The Canadian Encyclopedia was an entry on outlaw Bill Miner.
- Who doesn’t love a caboose? But how about one on skiis?
- This piece on the “weird” history of Canada’s Food Guide neglects to mention how the Guide was developed through experiments on children in residential schools, but does include some interesting information about the contents of the guide over the years. You know what’s really weird though? Colonialism.
- The latest biography from The Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for Roman Catholic priest, Gaspard Dauth.
The History of Gender and Sexuality
- The Ontario Medical Association has apologized for not including a single woman-identified physician in their calendar of historical physicians.
- These are some cool found photographs of Toronto women in 1961.
- Camille Robert spoke to Radio-Canada about the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.
- Rabble.ca published an excerpt from Tarah Brookfield’s upcoming book, Our Voices Must be Heard: Women and the Vote in Ontario.
Local History
- In honour of the recent eclipse, CBC shared the history of the University of Saskatchewan Observatory, celebrating ninety years of existence.
- The Vancouver As It Was blog explained what the word “calithumpian” means.
- This week Whistorical shared how folks in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s had fun in Parkhurst.
- Heritage Winnipeg profiled the Centennial Concert Hall.
- There were two new posts this week on the What Floats to the Top of My Desk blog:
- One on a clipping regarding the move of the Hastings Mill Store.
- And another on the Empress of Japan’s figurehead.
- There were two new posts from Heritage Nova Scotia this week:
- One by the Nova Scotia Museum on runner Aileen Meagher.
- And another on concert singer, Portia White.
- Something strange may lie beneath the streets of Toronto, and it sounds like it came out of a steampunk novel.
- The Chilliwack Museum and Archives blog profiled the Royal Hotel.
Digital and Public History
- The UBC Digitizer’s blog shared the first in a new two-part series on from images of the CPR in their collection.
- The Committee for Commemorating Cornwallis and Indigenous History has a new name.
- The Arctic Relations website launched this week, sharing scholarship and stories from and on the region and connecting the public and academics.
- The Virtual Museum of Canada launched a new online exhibit on Chilliwack’s Chinatown.
- Find out how Quebec’s cultural institutions are partnering with Wikipedia.
- Do you remember the news about the rediscovery of a 6,000-year-old Heiltsuk village, Hauyat? Well, there is now a new interactive website telling the history of the site and the story of the Heiltsuk language! Heiltsuk Elders played a vital role in designing the website, which contains recordings of stories, teachings, and cultural fundamentals.
Doing History
- This is a really important and powerful piece by Jennifer Evans.
- This is a must-read piece by Nathan Dize on Nursing Clio about reading and interpreting emotion in the archives and the emotional labour of archival research, particularly with respect to archives of slavery.
- Russell Potter explained where his fascination with the Franklin Expedition came from.
- While dealing with Australian history, I really liked this post by Kiera Lindsey about the role of speculation and the imagination, particularly with respect to sensory clues, in historical research. It reminds me of Laura Ishiguro’s talk at the IFRWH in August.
- Speaking of which, this week on Unwritten Histories, I interviewed Katrina Srigley, Stacey Zembrzycki, and Franca Iacovetta about their new edited collection, Beyond Women’s Words.
- And Stephanie was back with her monthly look at upcoming publications in Canadian history!
- The Peel Art Gallery, Museum, and Archives explain how you can help archivists help you!
- Gail Campbell honoured Beckey Daniel for her work with Acadiensis, upon the occasion of her retirement.
- Jessie Loyer (Cree/Métis) put together a fantastic Twitter thread on how Brian Deer, from Kahnawake, created a library classification system for the National Indian Brotherhood. It remains in use today!
Miscellaneous
Podcasts
- The latest episode of the Living Heritage Podcast features a discussion with Holly Everett on roadside memorials, grave markers, memorial assemblages, and culinary tourism in Newfoundland.
- In the latest episode of the Witness to Yesterday podcast, Patrice Dutil spoke with Joe Martin about the secret history of banking in Canada.
- Sean Graham was back this week with a new episode of the History Slam podcast, featuring a talk with Brian Chick about his new book, Written in Stone: A Modern History of Curling.
- The new episode of the Manitoba Food History Podcast is all about beer!
- The latest episode of the Juno Beach and Beyond podcast features an interview with Roger Sarty on the Battle of the Saint Lawrence.
- This week the Secret Life of Canada podcast looks at the history of water.
Better Late Than Never
- The latest blog post from BAnQ explains how to tell the difference between reproductions and fake historical documents.
Calls for Papers
- Histoire Engagée has put out a call for contributors to its ongoing series on women’s history. They are asking for proposals before February 15.
- The Junto has also put out a call for contributors to a new series on food and hunger in Vast Early America. Proposals are due March 15.
- This looks like a neat conference on Labour and the Canadian Carceral State at Brock. Proposals are due April 1.
As you are reading this, I am currently in Ottawa freezing my butt off! I’m in Ottawa for the 11th Canada’s History Forum and the Governor General’s History Awards ceremony. Which is why this roundup only goes to Friday! Don’t worry, I’ll catch anything I miss in the next one! 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 Historians’ Histories! See you then!
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