Chris Lund. Two tourists – one man and one woman – stop on Québec’s highway 6 near Cap Chat on the Gaspé Peninseula to buy home-made bread. July 1950. Library and Archives Canada. Copyright : Expired. 4292759
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
- September 30th was Orange Shirt Day, in remembrance of the Indian Residential School system. Here are some resources for you to teach this subject:
- From the BC Teachers’ Federation: Gladys We Never Knew
- From the Manitoba Teachers’ Association: Orange Shirt Day Lesson Plans
- From Facing Canada: Activities for Engaging Your Community on Orange Shirt Day
- From Team ReconciliAction YEG on the UofA Faculty of Law blog: In the Media: Orange Shirt Day
- From Curio.ca: Reconciliation: Creating New Relationships
- Sean Carleton wrote another fantastic Twitter essay about #Orangeshirtday and why it’s important.
- Find out more about the history and origins of Orange Shirt Day here.
- Joanne Hammond wrote about what her children learned in this Twitter essay.
- And Adele Perry commented on what her children learned both before and after the TRC Final Report.
- As usual, Jessica DeWitt is back with her weekly look at the most popular words in #envhist! This week, those words are: “History,” “Will,” and “Environment.”
- Merle Massie shared this amazing image of the version of “O Canada” that her grandparents sang at their 1967 citizenship ceremony.
- Remember that terrible book Ian Mosby mentioned last week from his son’s kindergarten class? Scholastics Canada has informed us that the book is no longer in print.
- The Convict Voyages map has just been updated, and includes information on penal colonies and convicts in the area we now call Canada!
- Paul Seesequasis shared this lovely image of four Indigenous girls with puppies from 1955!
- ASI has shared this beautiful image of a Wendat bone awl.
- Elise Chenier has written a must-read piece for Active History, responding to complaints about “students these days.” She talks about vulnerability, good teaching, curiosity, and learning.
- Beyond Borders is back this week with a new post by Virginia Grimaldi about teaching global history in elementary and high school classrooms. In an era of declining history enrollments, Grimaldi argues that global education is the key to increasing student interest in history.
- Krista McCracken has written a must-read piece about the importance of open-access publishing, particularly for research that comes out of community engagement.
- Kelsey Power recently visited the new “Death in the Ice” exhibit at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, which deals with the Franklin Expedition and the recent discoveries of the HMS Erebus and Terror, and reviewed it for British Naval History!
- This week on Borealia, Christopher C. Jones reviewed Harvey Amani Whitfield’s North to Bondage: Loyalist Slavery in the Maritimes.
- The Pedagogy and American Literary Studies blog has put together a lesson plan for teaching about the work of 19th century Anishinaabe poet, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, also known as Bamewawagezhikaquay, or “Woman of the Sound the Stars Make Rushing through the Sky.” Though this lesson was originally designed for an American literature course, Schoolcraft was actually from Sault Ste. Marie.
- Robynne Mellor has written a new post for NiCHE, introducing herself and explaining her role as the new NiCHE New Scholars representative. In the post, she also outlines some of her plans for the year, which sound fascinating!
- The Age of Revolutions blog continues its series on information networks this week, with a 2-part post on using Palladio to study these networks. Palladio is a digital tool that produces images to help represent data. In the first post, author Melanie Conroy focuses on maps, and in the second post, she talks about network graphs.
- Poor Olivar Asselin is back at the front, even though the war is over. Find out what he thinks of the Belgian people and the popularity of French-Canadian soldiers in this letter to his wife, Alice.
- Chelsea Vowel has written another fantastic Twitter essay about the meaning of Métis identity, responding to individuals with European and (maybe) Indigenous ancestry who seek to call themselves Métis. There still seems to be confusion around the fact that the Métis are a distinct post-contact Indigenous group with historic roots in Red River, and that this is not a catch-all term for individuals with European and Indigenous ancestry.
- Along similar lines, this week Darryl Leroux spoke at the Université de Montréal about historical revisionism and the “Metis of the East.” You can listen to the broadcast here, and you can read about how these same “Metis” tried to have the talk cancelled for being hate speech here.
- All week long, Allan Downey was teaching about the history of lacrosse and Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty over on the @IndigenousXca account! Check out his Twitter essays on
- This week on Unwritten Histories, we were back with a new Historians’ Histories interview, featuring Anne Dance! Anne is not only a fantastic environmental historian, but she is also the director of the Parliamentary Internship Programme in Ottawa!
- While not Canadian specifically, this is a fantastic checklist for teachers who want to assess their cultural competence.
- And on a related note, check out this fantastic post by Marie Carrière on checking your privilege, and territorial acknowledgments as stealing.
- This week, LAC has a new blog post about their records relating to the Stony Mountain Penitentiary, formerly the Manitoba Penitentiary and Asylum, first established in 1871. This includes records from inmates.
- Active History premiered a new monthly series featuring reports from the Manitoulin Island Summer Historical Institute (MISHI) 2017. The first report, by Victoria Jackson, Daniel Muchinson, and Carolyn Podruchny, focuses on building connections.
- You can also find out more about MISHI in this article by Nicole Latulippe, which describes the participation of Elder Lewis Debassige, of M’Chigeeng First Nation, and the Ojibwe Cultural foundation.
- With the recent controversy (that isn’t really a controversy) about American athletes taking a knee during the American anthem, Sidney Crosby commented that he had no problem visiting the White House. But as Shannon M. Reminded us in this Twitter essay, Crosby’s hometown of Cole Harbour was not, and is not, immune to racial tensions.
- Again, while not specifically Canadian, you will want to check out this great article by Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni on why research methodologies must be decolonized.
- And on a similar note, check out this blog post by Nathan Sentance, a Wiradjuri archivist on why classification systems in memory institutions need to be revised to more fully integrate Indigenous ways of knowing.
- Stephanie Bellissimo is back this week with a new blog post about Canadian food production in WW1. All hail the farmerettes!
- This year marks the 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson’s death, and in the latest History Slam podcast, Sean Graham speaks with Martha Johnson about a new art exhibit that pays tribute to Thomson’s work.
- Andrew Nurse’ latest piece on cultural appropriation for Active History appeared this week. In it, he talks about how the practice of history in Canada involves a certain degree of cultural appropriation, and that this is a contradiction that cannot be fully resolved.
- Nurse’s post just so happened to coincide with a new article on The Canadian Encyclopedia about the Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
- And also new this week in The Canadian Encyclopedia is this piece by Max Dagenais on the Association des Frères-Chasseurs.
- Check out this fantastic discussion initiated by Carmen Nielson about how settler educators can learn to properly pronounce words in Indigenous languages.
- Also new this week from LAC is a Flickr album with images of steam power. See the images themselves here.
- Instantanés remembers the great 1889 landslide of Old Quebec, in Quebec City. They position this as one of the great forgotten events of history, and I’m sad to say that even though my dad was born and raised in Quebec City, this is the first time I’ve heard of this tragedy.
- The latest blog post from Acadiensis is by Jane Jenkins, reviewing Jennifer Hubbard, David J. Wildish, and Robert L. Stephenson’s edited collection, A Century of Maritime Science: The St. Andrews Biological Station.
- Daniel Macfarlane has written a new piece for NiCHE on the benefits of using a history of emotions methodology to understand the history of Niagara Falls.
- Bill Waiser is back with a new blog post on Saskatchewan’s history. This week he looks at the 1933 riot at a temporarily work relief camp in Saskatoon, a riot that left one man dead.
- Jean Desclos and Henry Laban interviewed Maurice Demers about his work on Quebec missionaries in Latin America in the middle part of the twentieth century for Radio Ville Marie this week. The interview is now available from Histoire Engagée.
- This week LAC returned to its “Who Do We Think We Are” series, featuring guest curator Annabelle Schattmann. Schattmann spoke about the Chewett Globe and an 1865 map of Canada West.
- Andrew Stuhl has written a new piece of the Whitehorse Press Blog about “cold places” as subjects of interest to environmental historians. The piece is an excerpt from an upcoming article that will soon be appearing in Environment and History.
- The Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto blog is back this week with late-nineteenth century programmes from past concerts at the St. Michael’s Cathedral.
- David Blocker has written a two-part post for Active History, contextualizing the current NDP Leadership Race with a look at past conventions. You can see part 1 (on 1971 and 1975) here, and part 2 (on 1989 and 1995) here.
- Do you want to write for NiCHE? They want to hear from you!
- The latest biography from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for noted golfer, George Seymour Lyon. FYI: I’m allergic to golf. 😉
- Jenny Ellison, who is apparently going for some kind of record for most consecutive roundup mentions 😉 has written a new post for the Canadian Museum of History blog! In this piece, she takes a look at the Team of the Century, and the Summit Series!
- The September blog post from Findings/Trouvailles is out this week, along with what looks like a new website design! The latest post is by Hayley Goodchild, and discusses the letters written by James W. Roberston, then head of the Dairy Department at the Ontario Agricultural College, in the late 1880s and early 1890s about the problems facing Ontario’s milk industry.
- There was a fascinating discussion on Twitter about the meaning of archival work, relating to a tweet mentioning a letter from Bertrand Russell to Oswald Mosley that is held by McMaster Rare Books. I can’t link to all of the discussion directly here, but here is the main thread.
- On Friday and Saturday, UBC hosted a political history conference, “Power, Politics, and the State in Canadian History.”. This social historian infiltrated
enemyterritory to live-tweet the final panel: “Canadian History: Uninteresting or just too hard to understand?” Check it out here.- Harold Bérubé was also there, and has kindly posted the abstract to his paper on city governance here.
- The Vancouver As It Was blog takes a look at the history of the first permanent structure of the First Baptist Church.
- The City of Vancouver Archives has announced that nearly 7,00 images of the 1976 Habitat Forum are now available online.
- Saturday was International Podcast Day! LAC celebrated with a special blog post all about their own podcast.
- The Calgary Gay History Project focused on the Vriend vs. Alberta court case, whereby discrimination based sexual orientation was officially prohibited through a Charter challenge.
- Merle Massie uploaded a paper she wrote a few years ago about “Damming Saskatchewan” to her blog this week, including a brief discussion about the vagaries of academic publishing and getting out of academia.
- The first lecture in a new series on Francophone migration to the Americas from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is now available online. This first lecture, by Yves Frenette, is about the arrival of French settlers in New France between 1600 and 1840.
- Stephen Bocking has a short reflection on how perceptions of mapping have changed.
- The South Peace Regional Archives remembers the establishment of the Montrose School.
- In this week’s #TBT from the ROM, Dorothy Burnham is adding the finishing touches.
- The University of Waterloo Special Collections and Archives blog takes a look at the story of Portia White, a Black Nova Scotian singer who was prominent from the 1940s to the 1960s.
- Find out about some of the people working behind the scenes at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum, and Archives, and see what their favourite archival documents are!
- Eve Lazarus’ latest blog post focuses on the construction of the Scotia Tower and the Vancouver Centre in the 1970s, and the heritage buildings that were demolished as a result.
- Active History had a special Saturday post this week, by Carling Beninger, responding to Ry Moran calling on the Canadian government to preserve former residential schools as “sites of conscience.” Beninger contextualizes Moran’s call by considering how it fits with the TRC’s Call to Acton #79 (commemoration of residential school sites).
- Lisa Dillon spoke with Statistics Canada about how she uses historical censuses to research the history of Canadian families.
- The City of Richmond Archives has a brand new database that allows anyone to search places, areas, and landmarks. The database is based on the work of volunteers, and is being continually updated!
- A fantastic artist is making a map labelling each Indigenous nation in western North America in their own languages. See the image here, and provide feedback if you would like here.
- Canadian History in the News
- Catherine Wilson has been in the news this week for her work on the Rural Diary Archives! Check out this article and interview with her on CBC.
- Jana Pruden wrote a lovely essay about the Garneau Tree.
- The Gastown Steam block in downtown Vancouver turned 40 this week. But apparently many people think it’s much older….
- While not specifically Canadian, you should check out this article detailing how the Jesuits returned 525 acres of land in South Dakota to the Rosebud Sioux.
- Kevin McCormick is on a mission to return lost military medals to the families of Canadian veterans. But I can’t help but feel that sometimes these medals were lost for a reason.
- Apparently some people are upset with the Law Society of BC’s decision to remove the statue of Matthew Begbie from its lobby. Of course they are.
- This week hearings began in a lawsuit regarding the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850. Representatives from the Ojibways of Lake Huron, who originally signed the treaty, are suing the provincial and federal governments for their failure to implement the terms of the treaty.
- Many BC teachers are reporting that they do not have sufficient support or resources to implement the new Indigenous curriculum that is being rolled out this year. You mean that cutting education funding in BC has consequences? Who knew? 😉
- Sncəwips Heritage Museum sees an opportunity to use living history as an educational tool.
- There was a lot of news this week about the UN’s investigation of the lack of implementation of Nova Scotia’s Land Titles Clarification Act, which was designed to assist the descendants of the Black Loyalists who were promised title to their lands, but never received it.
- This story provides some background on the issue.
- A report from a UN working group called out Canada for its mistreatment of Black Canadians, and is calling on the government to apologize for slavery, pay reparations to those impacted by racist policies, build more monuments commemorating Black history in Canada, and create a national department of “African Canadian Affairs.” The working group called out Africville as an important example of these racist policies, though the report is not limited to historical racism.
- On Wednesday, the Nova Scotia government announced that it will be providing funding for African Nova Scotians seeking land title in five different communities.
- After ten years of work, a team of researchers working for the federal government will soon be releasing a database containing all known information about Inuit who were taken south for treatment in sanatoriums. This is especially important since the families of these individuals were often never informed about what happened to them, nor where their graves are located.
- Col. David Currie’s medals, mentioned in a previous roundup, have been sold to a private British collector for $550,000. The collector must now apply for a permit to remove the collection from Canada, which the Department of Canadian Heritage can deny if it believes the medals are of historic national importance.
- Noted Blackfoot architect Douglas Cardinal is designing a new museum about Chief Poundmaker for Poundmaker First Nation. And apparently there is a documentary in the works about the process.
- The recently reassembled inukshuks displayed outside of Pearson Airport have been put together improperly. The configuration of these inuksuks, featuring raised arms, were only used to designate particularly dangerous locations or places where people have been killed.
- Mary Jane Logan McCallum has a new piece in the Winnipeg Free Press about the Brian Sinclair Working Group’s recent report.
- Robert Enright spoke with Kent Monkman about his fantastic work, including his recent exhibit on “Shame and Prejudice,” and the role that Miss Chief Eagle Testickle plays in the exhibition.
- Get out your tissues for this piece about Annette Vardy, a ninety-nine year old woman who has stayed true to her WW2 fiancé who died on his way home to her after the end of the war. She has now found a new home for her engagement ring, which she has worn all this time, and ends the article by saying, “’And I think I’m going to see him very soon.’” Hang on, need to go blow my nose….
- Catherine Evans is calling on the Vancouver Park Board to rename Siwash Rock. The term “Siwash” is Chinook for an Indigenous person, derived from the French “sauvage.” The actual name for the landmark in the Squamish language is Slhx̱í7lsh, which means “standing one.”
- There is a new proposal on the table to amend the citizenship oath that will require new Canadians to agree to honour treaties made with Indigenous peoples. The citizenship guide will also be revised to provide more education on Indigenous history in Canada.
- The National Post reviewed Janis Thiessen’s book, Snacks! I’m still getting over the shock of the NP reviewing a non-political or military history book on Canadian history….
- The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada has unveiled a new plaque honouring Kay Livingstone, noted Black Canadian radio show host and activist for the rights of Black women in Canada.
- Jesse Thistle participated in a new documentary, Family Camera, which looks at how family photographs document our histories. His family is featured at 7:33, 36:35 and 48:16 specifically.
- A new memorial to soldiers and civilians who served in Afghanistan was unveiled in Victoria this weekend.
- The Law Society of Upper Canada has voted to drop the “Upper Canada” part. They are still considering their new name, though I liked James Opp’s suggestion of the Law Society of Canada West. 😉
- A new study is suggesting that the Montreal Olympic Stadium has heritage value.….
- The Trudeau government is preparing an apology for the refusal to accept Jewish refugees on board the MS St. Louis in 1939. Is it just me, or have I been hearing a lot about upcoming apologies that never seem to materialize?
- Michael Ondaatje has donated his archives to the Harry Ransom Centre, part of the University of Texas at Austin.
- Victoria’s public schools have rich archives, but no one is quite sure what to do with them.
- La Presse wondered what happened to the original manuscripts of works by noted French Canadian authors, and has some answers.
- Lethbridge College will now permanently fly the Blackfoot Confederacy flag on campus.
- Find out about some of the fantastic work that is being done on the history of the Dene, their enormous trade networks, and the “Year with Two Winters,” coming out of the second Dene Migration Symposium. Although I was disappointed to see Indigenous oral histories were “verified” by science.
- Melayna Williams reviewed Robyn Maynard’s new book, Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present for Maclean’s
- The latest Historicist column takes a look at the history of “bandits” in the Don Valley in the middle of the nineteenth century.
- There is some more information about the items belonging to Louis Riel that were recently returned to the Métis, and why this is such an important gesture.
- There are two really fascinating folklore stories out of the Northwest Territories
- A heart-shaped rock was discovered at a sacred site near Nahanni Butte.
- And this article explores some of the myths from the area about giant creatures.
- Better Late than Never
- Kathleen Gallagher wrote about how she is learning to including Indigenous content in her classrooms in accordance with the TRC Calls to Action.
- Last week, CBC Ideas devoted an entire podcast to Congress 2017’s theme, “The Next 150: On Indigenous Lands.” This episode was a public forum featuring the work of three Indigenous scholars, Réal Carrière, Keri Cheechoo, and Cherry Smiley.
- Vogue discovered Vancouver’s public art.
- Calls for Papers
- The Canadian Society for the History of Medicine has issued its CFP for Congress 2018. Paper proposals are due November 20th.
That’s it for this week! I’m really grateful that I was able to participate in the “Power, Politics, and the State in Canadian History” conference, and it was wonderful to be able to connect with many people I’ve only met online! I do have some thoughts on the final roundtable, but I will save those for a future blog post. 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 all about an upcoming public history event! See you then!
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