Canadian History Roundup – Week of September 18, 2016

One man, two women and a young boy seated outdoors on an autumn day at a summer cottage on the Gatineau River, Quebec, October 1950, Gar Lunney, Library and Archives Canada, e010948948. CC BY 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.

• Russell Potter collected accounts about the major Inuit witnesses to the demise of the Franklin Expedition. This had me wondering: Why didn’t he include Inuit oral history on the Franklin Expedition, rather than just accounts of Inuit witnesses written by white explorers….
• Atlas Obscura had an article this week about the Slash, the 20-foot long empty space marking the border between Canada and the US. Check out this awesome video on the border as well, and just how messed up it is.
• Geri Walton tweeted this awesome image from Thomas Moody’s diary and account books from the Seven Years’ War (known to Americans as the French and Indian War).
• Statistics Canada is starting a crowdsourcing mapping project, where members of the public will be able to document their neighbourhoods to provide more accurate information for First Responders. The pilot project will focus on the Ottawa/Gatineau area. Check out information about this project here. Just think of the awesome information that future historians will be able to use!
• Anne Janjunen posted this amazing archival find of a 1847 letter asking Anishinaabeg to contribute relief to the potato famine. Oh irony.
• Over on the Acadiensis blog this week is an article by Martha MacDonald on the difference between Labrador and Newfoundland, and how the Labrador part of the equation is often ignored.
• This week on Unwritten Histories, I posted a complete guide to peer-reviewed journals in Canadian history! Not only do I talk about the peer review process and why its so important, but I also have a comprehensive list and information about these publications!
• NiCHE concluded it’s Dam-Nation series this week with a final two posts!
  • The first, by Caroline Desbien, looks at hydro-electric projects in James Bay, home to the Eeyouch (the Eastern James Bay Cree). I vaguely remember hearing about this when I was a kid, but I definitely remember all of the boasting about how Quebec had environmentally-friendly electric energy.
  • The second and last post is by David Massell, and focuses on the hydro-electric project under construction at Muskrat Falls, in Labrador, and how it ties into the larger political history of hydro-electric projects in this part of the country.
• Daniel Joseph Samson posted this amazing image of sea monsters off of Newfoundland from a 1689 map!
• It’s not strictly Canadian history, but the chance discovery of the dissection of Jane Jamieson in Nanaimo, BC in 1985 has allowed for the study of female bodies, display, and medicine in 18^th century Newcastle.
• Stephanie Ann Warner takes us on a heritage walk along the Gorge Waterway in Victoria, BC. Dammit, I already wanted to go back to the island.
• Carmen, from the Canadian History Bits blog, has a new article about the Canadian history of the film, The Great Escape. It’s a great blog post, so much so that we’ll even forgive the title, eh? 😉
• Joseph Gagné, of the Curieuse Nouvelle-France blog has a funny excerpt on marriage from a 1759 book, Voyage au Canada dans le nord de l’Amérique septentrionale fait depuis l’an 1751 à 1761. Single young men were hot commodities!
• He also posted a wonderful image from 1749 of a husband and wife embracing.
• Check out this live-tweeting of Adam Barker’s “Invisible Prisons: Indigenous carcerality and colonial mobility in the Great Lakes region,” about the connections between historical and current high rates of Indigenous peoples in prisons.
• Allison Mills has a great short Twitter essay on the importance of terminology when doing the history of Indigenous peoples.
• Library and Archives Canada takes a look at the Lord Dufferin Letters this week. Dufferin was the third Governor General of Canada, and these letters provide an intimate portrait of the man.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia has a new entry this week on Elsie MacGill, written by the amazing Crystal Sissons!
  • In related news, the city of Montreal has been looking for some of MacGill’s descendants, and has apparently found one!
• 2 Gaelic newspapers and 1 Acadian newspaper from Nova Scotia have been digitized. The Gaelic newspapers include Am Bràighe, available from 1991 to 2003, as well as An Cuairtear Òg Gaelach / The Gaelic Tourist, or A Gaelic Collection of Miscellaneous Articles of Instructions and Entertainment, for 1851 and 1852. The Acadian newspaper is , Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Écosse, and the issues from 1937 to 2002 have all been digitized.
• Krista McCracken has a wonderful new blog post about using self-location as a starting point in classrooms, particularly when it comes to teaching about residential schools. I think this is a fabulous idea. While I haven’t used this technique in discussions about residential schools, I have used it when talking about Indigenous history more generally, and the importance of knowing the history of the land we live on.
• Mlle Canadienne looks at Canada Post’s latest stamp design of the White Lady of New France, based on the legend of Mathilde Robin, who threw herself off Montmorency Falls after her husband died during the Seven Year’s War. How cheerful.
• Remember how I talked about the Journal of Critical Race Theory in my latest Best New Articles? This week, Erin Seatter interviews the editors about the issue, and how we deal with the problematic legacy of John A. Macdonald.
• There is a brand new Findings from the Champlain Society! Émilie Pigeon talks about her discovery of the diaries by a Métis bison hunter and historian named William Davis Jr. (ChWeUm). Written originally in Michif, the diaries were subsequently translated into French and English, because the Michif was deemed “unreadable.” These diaries provide an important opportunity to talk about the ethical implications of translation and provenance, and the way that language impacts research. The article appears in both English and French.
• Histoire Engagée is back with the second installment in their two part series on the Quiet Revolution. This latest post features an interview with Alexandre Turgeon and the mythhistory of the Quiet Revolution. Readers of this blog will remember that I featured Turgeon’s article on this subject in a recent Best New Articles post!
• The Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg has just released two stories from the Harvest Moon Society Oral History project. The Harvest Moon Society worked with residents of Clearwater, Manitoba, to develop sustainable agricultural systems, back in 2001.
• BC Studies’ blog has a new post this week, the awesomely named “One Ring to Bind Them All,” and is about the history that lies within the rings of trees.
• The Discover Blog from LAC has a guide out this week for published sources for aviation accident reports in their collection.
• Jonathan McQuarrie, writing for Active History, takes a look at the morality of mergers, comparing the history of legislation on the subject, examining both Canada and the US.
• Christopher Moore has a roundup of the latest issue of Canada’s History.
• The New York Public Library talks about how confiscation of loyalist properties worked during the American Revolution.
• Kristina Llewellyn has received a $200,000 grant for a oral history reconciliation project about the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children. I can’t wait to see the results!
• Ian Mosby posted photographs of a couple of important documents that give us a glimpse into the racially-segregated health care system in the 1950s. The first one is here, and the second one is here. A day later, he posted another letter from the same hospital, 10 years later.
• The Great War Centre has a guest post this week by Diane Moreau Hemmings, the niece of the platoon leader of the 2^nd Canadian Division, 22^nd Battalion [French Canadian], 5^th Brigade, “B” Company, Lt. Henri Hervé Moreau. Hemmings talks about her uncle’s life and experiences during the war.
• Heritage Winnipeg has a new blog post about the Vendome Hotel, which is being considered for a historic significance designation, as well as several other historic buildings on the same block.
• Frank Reid, writing for the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies blog, recounts his personal experiences during a night patrol while working as a peacekeeper in Cyprus in 1974.
• Doug Hay has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society. So have Beatrice Craig and Brenda Macdougall.
• NiCHE is asking for copies of syllabuses for courses on environmental history to post on their Teaching Materials page! They are also interested in hearing from you if you would like to contribute a blog post about your experiences teaching environmental history.
• NiCHE has also has its CFP for the 2017 Canadian History and Environment Summer School (CHESS)! This year, the focus will be on Indigenous history, gender, and landscapes. Based on the pictures and posts from last year, it sounds like an amazing experience!
• Alban Bargain-Villéger discusses the Caroline book series his grandmother read to him as a child on Active History. He reflects on the messages contained within the books, particularly with respect to imperial/colonial politics, and the different things he noticed reading the books as an adult rather than as a child. I experienced a similar kind of disphoria when rereading the Little House series. It’s amazing what we do and don’t remember.
• Chelsea Vowel (âpihtawikosisân) has a great new blog post on territorial acknowledgements. She argues that the primary purpose of such acknowledgements is to discomfit both speaker and audience. In doing so, they disrupt the colonial narrative and Indigenous erasure. She also encourages settlers to think about what it means to be a guest in the territory they are living in, and what happens once we’ve acknowledged that this land belongs to Indigenous peoples. I think this is a must-read.
• Check out this Twitter essay by Hayden King on Métis territory and Toronto.
• The Virtual Museum of Canada has a new exhibit on the seasonal migration of Newfoundlanders in the fishing industry. Many individuals are forced to move west looking for work to supplement their income.
• The Rural Diary Archive is celebrating their first anniversary with the release of a collection of diaries from 1867!
• The first chapter of Moving Natures: Mobility and Environment in Canadian History is now available online for free! Just click on the free pdf tab to access it.
• Check out these really neat images of Ottawa from the 1870s to the 1890s!
• Canadian History in the News
  • Yet another article on Terry Fox. This one features an interview with the nurse who announced his death, Alison Sinsor. Don’t forget to check out Jenny Ellison’s great article on Terry Fox, discussed in the latest Best New Articles blog post.
  • The National Post talks to the team members of a new project to document shipwrecks in the St. Lawrence River. The project is being coordinated by UdeM and the Archeo-Mamu Cote-Nord archaeology association, with the help of local recreational divers.
  • Martha Troian, writing for the CBC, released an amazing article about the impact of decades of mercury-poisoning on the bodies of Indigneous peoples in Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation. Mercury was first released into the local water system in the 1960s. While the dumping was stopped, few individuals have received any kind of compensation, or even acknowledgement.
  • CBC Aboriginal will now be called CBC Indigneous.
  • The Royal Canadian Air Force celebrated its participation in the Battle of Britain in Edmonton this week.
  • Check out these amazing images of Black Canadian feminists, both historical and contemporary, by artist Naomi Moyer!
  • The Barrie Historical Archive is launching an online collection!
  • CBC talks with author and scholar Thomas King about the challenges faced by Indigenous students in the classroom. This is a must read for all teachers of Canadian history.
  • With the rediscovery of the HMS Terror, the Inuit are continuing to argue for a say in what happens to the artifacts from the Franklin Expedition. It appears that the Inuit Heritage Trust will be included in discussions related to the transfer of artifacts, but nothing has been confirmed.
  • Montreal greystones are falling down, falling down, falling down (sorry, I couldn’t help it). Things falling down is a bit of a recurring theme in Montreal, it seems.
  • A newly created medicine wheel has been created under the supervision of the Siksika Nation east of Calgary, near the Galt Museum. The medicine wheel will be used to help the museum educate visitors about the importance of the monument.
  • Library and Archives Canada has completed its experiment on crowd-sourced transcription, featuring the Coltman Report, 1818–Inquiry into the Offences Committed at the Battle of Seven Oaks. It seems to have been a positive experience, and fonds are being considered for future projects.
  • Pride Toronto has apologized for its “history of racism and marginalization.”
  • Students in a Thunder Bay high school got the chance to interact with WW1 artefacts from the Canadian War Museum. Cool!
  • Community leaders from Saskatoon recently participated in a Blanket Exercise.
  • The Canadian Museum of Nature is reaching out to Inuit communities to help create a new exhibit on life in the Arctic. This is a great move!
  • So I’ve mentioned previously that Canada is in the process of debating the creation of new national parks and UNESCO world heritage sites. Some related news:
    • The Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve is in the final stages of being approved! Indigenous knowledge, and the participation of the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation will be a central focus of the park.
    • Also, Quttirnipaaq National park, in Nunvaut, is being considered as a possible Canadian UNESCO site.
  • This week saw a debate at the Canadian National Museum of Nature about Canada’s national bird. Why do we need a debate? It’s obviously the loon. The History Minutes said so.
  • Quebec City has given itself new powers with respect to heritage, giving the municipality the ability to expropriate five important historical sites that have not followed the established guidelines for heritage buildings.
  • Find out about the latest archaeological research being done in Prince George!
  • One of the archaeologists working in the Kawartha Lakes region (Ontario) responds to correspondence about the history of Indigenous peoples and wild rice in the area. This is exactly the kind of community-engagement we need more of!
  • The Grey Nuns of Montreal are being honoured with the opening of a new exhibit in Dublin on their contributions during the Potato Famine.
  • The final designs are in for the proposed Stanley Cup monument in Ottawa, and the public is being invited to help select a winner. Do we really need a monument to hockey? Really?
  • In more ill-advised monument news, the Department of Canadian Heritage has relaunched the competition for the Memorial to Victims of Communism.
  • LAC and the Library of Université Laval have signed a memorandum of understanding to support one another in cultivating the skills needed to preserve rare books.
  • The schools in the Toronto District School Board will now make daily territorial acknowledgements. This is a great first step!
  • Huron Country has a new art installation commemorating their WW1 dead.
  • The Montreal Gazette (which was my daily newspaper for many years) has an article out this week comparing an edition of its newspaper with a British broadsheet, both printed on the same day: Dec 30, 1799.
  • Jonathan Goldsbie, writing for Now Toronto, has a new article where he reflects on the city’s treatment of its own heritage.
  • Jamie Bradburn, in his latest Historicist column, talks about the 1979 Soccer Bowl Championship and Toronto’s participation in the North American Soccer League.
  • The Seaforth Armoury is performing rescue archaeology on their collection of artefacts. In anticipation of a 4-year renovation that was just completed, they packed 4 truckloads of material, including boxes that had never before been opened. The ultimate goal is to create a living museum to allow soldiers to connect to their forebears.
  • Hakai Magazine looks at a 19th wooden clam mask from the Heiltsuk First Nation, in Bella Bella, likely carved by Captain Richard Carpenter. I wish it will find its way home one day, since it’s apparently “unclear exactly” how it was obtained.
  • Find out about ongoing efforts to photograph and put online the entire Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Anthology of Arctic Ethnology. This includes artefacts from parts of the Arctic claimed by Canada as well as the US.
  • McGill makes a gesture of reconciliation by moving their monument to the Iroquois village of Hochelaga to a busy location on campus, in order to draw more attention to it. I went to McGill for 3 years, and even though the monument has been there for decades, I don’t remember seeing it at all, so I think this is an awesome baby step from McGill.
  • UofT has acquired the oldest printed English book in Canada, a copy of The Golden Legend.
  • Remember that collection of films found in Dawson City? They are being featured in a new documentary.

That’s all for this week. Don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a brand new blog post. This week is another edition of “What’s in My…,” looking at food. 😉

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