“Piscines de l’île Saint-Hélène, 10 juillet 1965.” Archives de la Ville de Montréal. VM94-Ud-27-017. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
- @IndigenousBeads posted another great Twitter essay on Indigenous beadwork, cultural context, and non-Indigenous people doing Indigenous beadwork.
- This week’s most used words in #envhist, according to Jessica DeWitt are: “Morton,” “People,” and “Anthropocene.”
- The Vancouver as it Was blog has a new piece about Russian Prince, Prince Sergeie Alexandrovish Volkonsky, who apparently taught fencing in Vancouver in 1926 and hoped to become a Canadian citizen.
- George William Colpitts wrote about his experiences at the CHESS field school for NiCHE this week. He focuses specifically on the visit to Crawford Lake, and the interpretation of past environments.
- And later in the week was another post about CHESS, by Mica Jorgenson. Jorgenson discusses connections between Indigenous communities and mining operations, grounded by an approach based on hope and practicality.
- Olivar Asselin is back this week, talking about his experiences in the trenches and asking his family to pray for him.
- This week on Active History, David Atkinson has written a response to the abhorrent editorial in the Vancouver Sun by Martin Collacott. Atkinson picks apart Collacott’s argument, and discusses both his imagined pasts and the continuity of white supremacist arguments against (Asian) immigrants.
- Mica Jorgenson and Carly Ciufo have authored the latest post from Beyond Borders, talking about their experiences at the CHA. Ciufo talks about her experience presenting a poster, while Jorgenson reflects upon the relationship between environmental and transnational history.
- Don’t miss Krista McCracken’s latest article on survivor-driven residential school history, based on her work at the Shingwauk Residentials Schools Centre.
- This week on the LAC blog, Catherine Butler presents a short guide to their collection of Crown Land patents, the patents that were issued when First Nations reserves (which were considered crown land) were broken up and sold to private owners.
- Histoire Engagée is back this week with a review by Bernard Ducharme of the recent issue of Cahiers d’histoire, produced by the graduate students of UdeM, which was a special issue on the subject of race, racialization, and history.
- Joanne Hammond was on fire this week, with several superb Twitter essays, including:
- This one on the theme of dispossession and Canada 150;
- This one, exploring the shoes on exhibit at the Met Museum as part of the “Plains Indians: Artists of the Earth and Sky” exhibition;
- And finally, this one on the concept of “deep time,” and why Canada150 seems rather silly compared to 15,000 years of Indigenous history in North America.
- And she later shared this article about the 11,500-year-old remains of a three-year-old child from Alaska.
- In honour of the 150th anniversary of the birth of modern lacrosse, the Canadian Encyclopedia has created a special exhibit honouring 14 of the sport’s best players.
- The latest Heritage Minute has been released, and looks at experiences of the Trinh family, who escaped Vietnam in 1979 and came to Canada as refugees. You can see the minute itself here, and the accompanying Canadian Encyclopedia page here.
- Andrew Nurse is back with the second of a three part series on the historical context of cultural appropriation. In this latest post, he explores how historians approach the issue of cultural appropriation and what we can learn from looking at historical examples of the practice.
- This week on Unwritten Histories, I had the chance to sit down and talk with Jenny Ellison about her work on the new Canadian Museum of History exhibit, Hockey! It’s one of my favourite posts, so you should definitely check it out!
- The academic historical community in Canada is speaking out against the recent cuts at BAnQ.
- Martin Pâquet et Karine Hébert, the president and vice president of the Institut d’Histoire de l’Amérique Française, have written a letter protesting the recent cuts to BAnQ.
- And so has Adele Perry, president of the Canadian Historical Association.
- You can read the English version here.
- And here is some news coverage of these protests, and others.
- In the latest Ben Franklin’s World Podcast, Liz Covart speaks with Andrés Reséndez about the enslavement of Indigenous peoples in North America. This is a very important part of our history, and one that is often left out.
- Veronica Strong-Boag has written a new piece for the BC Studies Blog. In this post, she explores the relationship between language and social justice in a Canadian context.
- Also on Unwritten Histories this week was the latest post about Upcoming Publications in Canadian history! Find out about the new books coming next month.
- The latest article from the Champlain Society’s blog, Findings/Trouvailles, is out! This latest one, by Nicholas Overgaard and Mairi Cowan, is about 17th century treatments for mental illness in New France, which could include opium or relics from Jean de Brébeuf.
- Check out this four-dollar-note issued in 1872 by the Bank of Acadia! Apparently, this was the shortest-lived bank in Canadian history, in operation for only 120 days.
- The Atlantic Loyalist Connections Blog has a new post this week by Leah Grandy looking at the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for Northumberland County, and focusing on Indigenous peoples encounters with the legal system.
- Stacy Nation-Knapper and Kathryn Magee Labelle have a new post on Active History this week recapping their Decolonizing 1867 panel.
- In honour of Pride Month, the UofT Press blog has some reading recommendations!
- The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has a new blog post this week looking at one of their new exhibits, “Four Freedoms,” referring to Roosevelt’s famous reference to the four fundamental freedoms: of speech, of belief, from fear, and from want. The exhibit is international in scope, but also addresses the issue of food insecurity in Canada’s north.
- For National Aboriginal Day, McGill-Queen’s Press released an excerpt from Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws, by Marianne Ignace and Ronald F. Ignace
- Sarah Shulist has another fantastic blog post this week, about the politics of naming, and why it is so important to use the proper terms when referring to Indigenous peoples and languages.
- Hey current and former Montrealers! Who remembers Blue Bonnets?
- There is a new HGIS project available from Brock University, a look at 150 years of maps of Niagara.
- And in more HGIS news, the Harvest Moon Oral History Project, based out of the University of Winnipeg and about Clearwater, Manitoba, is now available to the public.
- Adam Gaudry has written a fantastic piece for UofA about Canada150 and colonialism, and the alienation that many Indigenous peoples feel as a result of the “celebration.”
- The latest biography from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is for James Henry Fleming, a noted naturalist.
- Christopher Moore was reminded, and reminded us, about the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History’s collection of interviews that can now be searched online.
- Bill Waiser’s latest blog post takes a look at Dr. William Todd, a surgeon with the HBC who initiated smallpox vaccinations among Indigenous communities near Fort Pelly in 1837. His work, which saved countless lives, has largely been ignored in the historical record, mostly because George Simpson (governor of the HBC) did not like him.
- In LAC’s latest entry in their Who Do We Think We Are series, Sarah Hurford serves as guest curator. She discusses the role that the TRC played in spreading awareness about residential schools, and the importance of remembering that the legacy of these schools lives on in their former students and their descendants.
- LAC has also published its first enhanced e-book, titled “Lingua Franca: A Common Language for Conservators of Photographic Materials,” which you can read for free at the link above.
- David Stubbs reviews Charles Forrester’s new book, Monty’s Functional Doctrine: Combined Arms Doctrine in British 21st Army Group in Northwest Europe, 1944-45 for the Laurier Centre this week.
- If you’d like to learn about the real life impact of colonialism on Indigenous peoples in the 20th century, check out this letter, discovered by @LawladyINM among her late mother’s papers.
- Following the announcement (more on this below), that Langevin Block will be renamed, Matthew Hayday investigated whether the historical record supports the claim that Sir Hector-Louis Langevin was an “architect” of residential schools. He shared his findings with Active History.
- There were also a couple of editorials published this week, including this one by Tabatha Southey and this one by Serge Gauthier.
- David Tough also had a really great response on Twitter.
- In honour of Museum Week, the Canadian War Museum shared this amazing image of a suit made for pigs who were used to test the effects of various weapons. This says something, but I’m not sure quite what.
- Gail Dever explores BAnQ’s collection of digitized postcards. Find out what is available and how to download the images yourself.
- Also on LAC this week is a collection of images of the Dominion Archives Building, the former home of LAC itself. You can see the images themselves here.
- The Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto has shared some letters from WW1 soldiers dating to 1917.
- Patrick Mannion reviewed Gerhard P. Bassler’s Escape Hatch: Newfoundland’s Quest for German Industry and Immigration, 1950-1970 for the Acadiensis blog this week.
- The latest episode of the Lesbian Testimony Blog podcast featured an interview with Chrissy Taylor, the former vice-president of the Vancouver Pride Society.
- Queen’s Archives shared this amazing photograph of an “old school laptop,” filled with promissory notes. A lot of promissory notes…
- Jay Young and Alison Little have a new post on Active History this week, speaking about their work on a new exhibit at the Archives of Ontario called “Family Focus: Early Portrait Photography.”
- This week, the Official Blog of Heritage Winnipeg profiled the former All People’s Mission, which has been renovated and transformed into the Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre.
- In advance of Canada Day, Canada’s History has announced the return of their online archive of previous issues. 70% of them, dating back to 1920, are currently available, and the rest will be soon!
- The Council of Nova Scotia Archives is launching a new project called “Community Albums,” allowing local archives to create virtual exhibits about communities across the province.
- The Archives of Manitoba explores how the Russian Revolution impacted the HBC.
- LAC has officially opened offices inside Pier 21.
- And they’ve also just released their latest issue of Signatures, which you can read here.
- And along the same lines, you can now read the latest issue of Curious, by the Royal BC Museum. This issue was written entirely by Indigenous authors, experts, and scholars.
- This week’s Throw Back Thursday post from the ROM is all about the “fussiness” of curatorial work.
- Find out about how spring-cleaning happens when you work in an archive!
- This is also your change to learn about the digitization of the Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics and the amount of work that goes into each release.
- Eve Lazarus takes a look at the Chinese Labour Corp, a “secret division” of the British Army in WW1. After being “voluntold,” these men were brought from China to William Head (outside Victoria), before being sent on to Europe.
- The Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, part of Ryerson University, has posted a series of lectures by academics from across the country, speaking about the history of immigration in Canada. The recordings were originally made during the 1980s, so much of the history is out-dated, but it’s an interesting retrospective of the historiography of ethnic communities in Canada.
- Stephanie Ann Warner has a new post on the Vancouver Island World War One Connections blog, all about the life of Harold Monks.
- This week on Twitter, some of us were playing History Detectives. I was one of those people, and our findings will appear in a future blog post. But Sean Kheraj also went on the hunt for information about a photograph, and found some amazing information in the process. (Who else misses that show?)
- Canadian History in the News
- So apparently it’s been 20 years since the Tamagotchi craze. Damn, I feel old. Also, I totally had one.
- A really lucky guy accidentally discovered that he actually owned two Group of Seven paintings, not just one.
- I think I just missed this one by the skin of my teeth, but David Johnston, the Governor General, made a serious error and referred to Indigenous peoples as “immigrants too.”
- Of course, there were several great responses to this on Twitter including
- And don’t forget to read Justin Ling’s piece on the historical background of this asinine remark.
- Find out more about the Toronto Park that honours George Robert Grasett, the doctor who tended to the newly arrived Irish Famine refugees.
- The CBC brought must-needed attention to the exploitation of Indigenous farm workers in Manitoba as part of a government program involving sugar beet farms, from the 1940s to the 1980s.
- This one straddles the line between the past and the future: how will we communicate with generations in the distant future about the radioactive waste that is being produced now?
- Do you subscribe to the Globe and Mail? If you do, you now have access to roughly 100,000 digitized photographs from their archives!
- The National Film Board of Canada has launched a three-year initiative to “redefine” its relationship with Indigenous peoples. Which is great to hear.
- Find out about the first museum exhibit to be entirely curated by The Nehiyawak (Cree) of Quebec. The exhibit, called “Footprints: A Walk Through Generations” celebrates the role of walking in Nehiyawak culture.
- Exploration Place, the oldest museum in Prince George, has signed a formal agreement with the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation to act as the official repository of Lheidli T’enneh history. They will also create a permanent exhibit showcasing the history of the community, known as Hodul’eh-a (A Place of Learning).
- Check out some of the photographs currently being exhibited at the Toronto Public Library on World Refugee Day, which is celebrated each year on June 20th.
- June 21st was National Aboriginal Day, so there were lots of related news stories.
- More than 3,000 Indigenous communities in Canada have been added to Google Maps and Google Earth.
- Unreserved looked at the #resistance150 movement, profiling the always awesome Marty Grave Kosta, among others.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to change the name of National Aboriginal Day to National Indigenous Peoples Day.
- He also announced that the Langevin Building would be renamed.
- The framing is again problematic, but the CBC spoke with four Inuit women who are working to revitalize Inuinnaqtun.
- Also with Canada150 rapidly approaching, there has also been quite a bit of news coverage
- Jerry Dias wrote for the Huffington Post, arguing that we need to use the holiday to acknowledge Canada’s faults and make substantive changes.
- The original copy of Treaty 7 is now on display at Fort Calgary.
- The Vancouver International Airport (which is, ironically, actually in Richmond) has signed a 30-year agreement with Musqueam First Nation. Yay!
- Ian Mosby is back in the news this week, calling for a public inquiry into medical experimentation on students in residential schools. Many children were intentionally malnourished, resulting in high rates of diabetes in Indigenous communities.
- Which, as Christie Belcourt points out, is hugely significant!
- Bev Sellars wrote about her experiences at a Truth and Reconciliation Commission event in Vancouver, where she was asked to place an object in the sacred bentwood box that was carved for the TRC by Luke Marston. Sellars also reflects on her experiences with the TRC and her family history with residential schools. I highly recommend reading the piece.
- CBC remembers the sexual assault and murder of Emanuel Jaques in 1977, an event that sent shockwaves through the LGTB+ and Portuguese-Canadian communities.
- Matt Lennox reviews two new Canadian history books, including Adam Montgomery’s The Invisible Injured: Psychological Trauma in the Canadian Military from the First World War to Afghanistan.
- So, remember how a few weeks ago, a white politician was celebrated for speaking in Kanienke’haka? Well Romeo Saganash was just slammed for speaking in Nehiyawak.
- There were a number of stories this week about the survivors of residential schools.
- Survivors of the Assiniboia Indian Residential School in Winnipeg have gathered this week for a reunion.
- Sherry Borden Colley spoke with the survivors of the Shubenacadie residential School, located in Nova Scotia.
- A bunch of grade 10 students have been creating a database of biographies of soldiers who served in WW1. Which is freaking amazing.
- 100-year-old printing presses in Dawson City are in need of restoration.
- Learn all about the famous Grand Chief Membertou’s gourd, which dates to the 17th century, and is the only Mi’kmaq artefact that can be traced to a known Mi’kmaq historical figure.
- The Maud will finally begin its journey back to Norway this summer.
- Don’t miss this fantastic article all about the work that Indigenous academics, including anthropologists and archaeologists, are doing in preserving and curating their histories.
- A dozen Métis youth are retracing the historic paddling routes of their ancestors, and are about a third of the way through a 90-day trip from Ottawa to Kenora.
- Roselawn Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Toronto is being restored. Find out how and why this cemetery was forgotten for so long.
- A historical family photograph that was left behind has been reunited with its owner.
- CBC looks back on the history of skateboarding in Canada.
- Skateboarding also has a long history with politics, and this legacy is being continued by Colonialism Skateboards, which has just issued a new series featuring Kent Monkman’s “The Scream.”
- Three Fires Confederacy Pipe Chief Nicholas Deleary is calling on the ROM to return a peace pipe. The ROM will soon be meeting with Deleary to talk about repatriation.
- A new exhibit on Chief Dan George is opening in North Vancouver. CBC interviewed his granddaughter, Charlene Aleck, about his legacy.
- The Premier of Nunavut, Peter Taptuna, says that aretefacts from the Franklin Expedition were removed without permission by private searchers and federal scientists.
- CBC spoke with Chandrima Chakraborty about her new book on the Air India bombing, which was included in this week’s Upcoming Publications post.
- The Vancouver Sun remembers the life and death of Owney, the postal dog who tragically lost his life in a shootout with police. I’m not even kidding.
- One of two colonial rail cars that brought immigrants to the Prairies in the early part of the 20th century is being restored in Calgary.
- Curators at the Royal BC Museum have selected five artefacts they believe represent BC for Canada150. However, the selection speaks more to our imagined history than the real one.
- Find out about Aklavik, a town in the Northwest Territories that refuses to die.
- An electrician may have discovered the oldest settler home in Toronto.
- Ryan McMahon has published his third and final article on his 12-step guide to decolonizing Canada! Its message: listen to Indigenous peoples.
- An American journalist, Wayne Hoffman, has come to Winnipeg and Canora, Saskatchewan, to learn about the 1913 murder of his great grandmother. She, Sarah Feinstein, was a Jewish immigrant who was shot by a sniper while breastfeeding.
- Kristina Llewellyn was interviewed by the CBC about her work on the VR project on the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children!
- Check out this lovely and thoughtful look at the history of Orillia.
- CBC looks back on the Expo 86 land purchase by Li Ka-shing, creating what would eventually become Yaletown, in Vancouver.
- David Wender takes a look at the Metro International Caravan this week for the Torontoist. The Caravan was a scaled-down version of a world fair, highlighting the immigrant communities of Toronto, and ran from 1964 to 2003.
- Better Late than Never
- The Nunavut Department of Culture and Heritage has announced that their museum and archive collections will be transferred to the Canadian Museum of Nature.
- The Saskatchewan Historical Newspapers Online website has a new online exhibit with around 1,000 digitized telegraphs from the 1885 Resistance.
- The Bank of Montreal has an amazing archive with material covering the last two centuries.
- Radio Canada asks: What did the first European settlers in Montreal eat?
- Find out why the former Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School is being preserved as part of the Woodland Cultural Centre and the Save the Evidence Campaign.
- Parks Canada and the Carcross Tagish First Nation are restoring the Yukon brothel where the Trump family got its start.
- Hockey collector Paul Patskou has used original footage of a Leaf’s game in 1951 in order to verify the authenticity of a very special hockey puck.
- The National Post profiled one of Canada’s most prolific and published photographers, George Hunter. One of his images even made it onto the old $5 bill.
- Radio-Canada interviewed Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne about the early history of the settlement of Montreal.
- Calls for Papers
- Early American Studies is seeking article proposals on the subject of women and religion in “early America.” Submissions are due September 30.
That’s it for this week! Last summer was relatively quiet on the Canadian history front, but not this summer! I hope you enjoyed this blog post. If you did, please considering sharing it on the social media platform of your choice! And don’t forget to check back in on Tuesday for our regular new blog post. This week I’ll be taking about my recent experiences learning how little I know. See you then!
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