For Your Future Good Fortune (victory gtboan drive) (1944) / J. S. Hallam. Library and Archives Canada, C-091584 CC by 2.0
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
- Canada’s History gives us a perspective on the experiences of the Daughters of Confederation, describing how their greatest ambition was to secure a suitable husband. As author Anne McDonald notes, one of our greatest sources of information about the confederation conferences are the diaries and letters by female relatives of the Father of Confederation, but they are also important documents for what they can tell us about the lives of women in this period.
- The Canadian Journal of History is offering Volume 50, Issue 3 (Winter 2015), Special issue on Natives and Newcomers, for free!
- Beth Robertson discusses the pace of academic life and the politics of inclusion. The ability to be up to date on the latest in everything is something that is really on feasible for the most privileged among us. Slow scholarship has the potential to correct this imbalance by focusing on long-term benefits and relationships. I very much agree. Just consider the pressure to finish a doctorate as quickly as possible, which requires substantial funding, and the so-called expiry date of recent grads. I’ve been working on a blog post about this, so stay tuned.
- Carson Murphy of the Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Centre celebrates Pride Month by looking at the challenge of reading between the lines when it comes to the history of LGTBQIA individuals in 19th century Canada.
- Fan girl alert! Adam Gaudry has just published a new article with the Canadian Encyclopedia on Métis identity. It’s an absolute must read for all Canadian historians, and would be great for students as well.
- Sarah Glassford and Ruby Madigan discuss their experiences of teaching (Glassford) and learning (Madigan) in a course on Canada’s First World War. The blog post is written as a conversation between Glassford and Madigan and provides a great perspective on dynamics in teaching from both perspectives, as well as great ideas for future courses. I’ve personally used images from the Canadian War Museum’s online exhibit to teach classes on WW1, and I’ve always had great responses!
- This week on Unwritten Histories, I talk about how I integrated active learning techniques into my introductory Canadian history survey classes, and provide detailed information about how you can do the same!
- On BC Studies’ Blog this week, Kelly Black discusses the colonial legacy of the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway. The railway was built on stolen land, “granted” by the provincial government to Robert Dunsmuir and his investors in 1886. In the years since, large sections of this original land grant were sold off to private companies, which, as Black notes, “had the effect of privatizing crown lands – and First Nations territories – within its boundaries.” Looking forward to Part 2!
- Over at NiCHE, Jessica DeWitt has once against posted her fabulous list of publications in environmental history worth reading, this time for May 2016.
- Also on NiCHE this week, Daniel Macfarlane writes about the recent decision by eight states to allow the city of Waukesha in Wisconsin to divert water from Lake Michigan. Environmentalists unanimously condemned the decision since it sets a dangerous precedent of selling water outside of the Great Lakes watershed.
- New History Slam Episode! In this episode, Sean Graham talks with Gavin Benke of Boston University about Enron and its influence on the financial community.
- In another professor/student collaboration, Jordan Stanger-Ross and his student, Ariel Merriam have profiled a letter written in 1942 by Naka Nagata requesting access to her own money, so she could use the money to buy winter clothing for her children. The letter is one of thousands written by interned Japanese-Canadians to the Custodian of Enemy Property following the seizure of their personal property. This letter is one of the documents being analyzed as part of the Landscapes of Injustice Project, under the direction of Stanger-Ross. In conjunction with the project, 1,400 case files from the Custodian of Enemy Property have been digitized and made available through Canadiana.org. This is a great resource for teaching Canadian history, and an amazing project overall.
- Coinciding with National Aboriginal Day (June 20) Historica Canada has released two new History Minutes.
- The first deals with the subject of residential schools, focusing on the experiences of Chanie Wenjack. Wenjack was an Anishinaabe boy who lived at Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, and died at age 12 while attempting an escape. You can read more about Wenjake here, and the education guide for this minute is here.
- The second minute is called Naskumituwin, and deals with the creation of Treaty 9 from the perspective of George Spence, 18 year-old Cree hunter. You can learn more about Treaty 9 here, and the education guide for this minute is here.
- What I love about these new minutes is that they are narrated by relatives of the individuals featured, which really shows the multi-generational impact of colonial violence.
- Histoire Sociale has a new issue out this week too! It’s their regular May issue, so you can look forward it its inclusion in my best of journal publications for June in a couple of weeks. Also, this issue features a review essay on oral history and trauma by me! I’d love to hear what you think!
- In the latest report from “New Directions in Active History,: Jay Young and Krista McCracken look at how archives can be used by historians and academics for community outreach. Using the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre archives programs as an example, they are that historians and activists can work together with communities to make archives inclusive and accessible to the public.
- Just for fun, here’s a neat history of the historian’s friend and foe, microfilm.
- So much history in the news this week!
- New insights into the serpent mounds of Ontario suggest it might be a summer solstice monument. This article considers the mounds of the context of pre-contact North America, particularly with respect to the influence of Cahokia on more northern indigenous groups. I talk about this in my pre-confed classes, so I’m happy to see new research!
- A replica Viking ship stopped in Quebec City this week!
- Francis Pegahmagabow, of the Ojibway nation, was honoured with the unveiling of a bronze monument in Parry sound. Pegahmagabow, whose Ojibway name was Binaaswi (the wind that blows off) was the most decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian history. Credited as the deadliest sniper and scout of WW1, Pegahmagabow fought for a Canada that did not even recognize him as a citizen.
- The movement to restore Indigenous names to locations in the North West Territories is gaining strength. Place names are visible reminders of a location’s history and importance, and the restoration of Indigenous names to locations in Canada is an important step towards recognizing the Indigenous histories of these places and the ongoing presence of Indigenous peoples in these areas. This past Tuesday, the Dehcho Dene community of Trout Lake formally changed its name to Sambaa K’e (place of trout).
- One problem with this article is that while noting at the start that “South Slavey” is not an acceptable term for the Dehcho Dene or their language, the author uses the term at the bottom of the piece to explaning the meaning of Sambaa K’e.
- Similarly, Andrew Kurjata has written an amazing piece at medium.com about naming in Prince George and why restoring Indigenous names is so important. This is a must-read for all Canadian historians.
- A couple of news items out of the Canadian Museum of History this week.
- Archaeologists have confirmed that Indigenous peoples lived in the area around Kamloops Lake prior to contact with Europeans. While this has been long recognized by the local Indigenous peoples, the Skeetchestn, the presence of artifacts was, as the article noted, “an opportunity to ‘corroborate’ the oral histories of the local First Nation community.” Sigh.
- Another important archaeological find has been made in New Brunswick on the site of a future highway. A seemingly-intact encampment has been found on what was once the beach of a lake.
- Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders has issued an official apology for Operation Soap, a police raid on 4 gay bathhouses in 1981. Operation Soap led to one of the largest mass arrests in Canadian history, where nearly 300 men were arrested. While Operation Soap is not very well known in Canada, it was a pivotal moment in the history of Canada, roughly equivalent to Stonewall in the US.
- CBC talks about the changing role of Heritage Minutes, in response to the release of the latest History Minute on residential schools (mentioned above).
- Three Indigenous youth leaders from Nunavut spoke before the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples on Tuesday about the reality of life for Inuit in the North. The three youth leaders, all Inuit women, spoke to their experiences as well as the devastating impact that racist policies from the Canadian government have had on Inuit communities.
- Finally, Ottawa is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeals which agreed that residential school survivors should have control over what happens to their testimony. Survivors currently have the option to have their testimony archived at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, or be destroyed after 15 years. As someone who does oral history, I view this as a tremendous betrayal of the principles of oral history. As a Canadian historian, I see this as another attempt by the Canadian government to take control of the culture and experiences of the Indigenous peoples of Canada, furthering the violence done to the survivors of residential schools and of the larger colonial regime.
Don’t forget to check back for a new blog post, every Tuesday at 10am PST.
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