We have had a type of democracy in Canada since the mids! Did you know that the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy is the oldest democracy in North America? Canada was much smaller in Where do you live? Was it part of Canada in ? After years of political debate , there were three historic meetings in Quebec City, Charlottetown and London, England to decide the future creation of Canada.
The discovery of large deposits of gold in British Columbia encouraged prospectors to branch out through the colony, hoping for the next big strike. Searching far-flung creeks and rivers, they had variable success, and for the rest of the century boom towns sprang up around promising deposits of gold and other minerals. Most of these towns lasted only as long as the mines survived, but they prompted the development of infrastructure and the continuing colonial exploration of British Columbia.
Some of these prospectors made their way into the Yukon as early as Steadily increasing numbers of American miners in the area prompted the Dominion government to establish a formal presence in the area, and a contingent of North-West Mounted Police was sent in These officers were responsible for anything from registering gold claims to mail delivery.
The major gold rush in stretched their resources thin, encouraging the Dominion government to create a separate Canadian territory in with its own territorial government, and marking the entry of the Yukon Territory into Confederation.
The gold rush had a devastating impact on Aboriginal peoples. Traditional hunting and fishing grounds were overwhelmed by incoming miners and seized for the development of gold rush settlements.
Miners also brought European diseases such as smallpox. In just one year in British Columbia, about 62 percent of the overall Aboriginal population was killed by the disease, with an even higher number on the coast 90 percent. When the Han people in the Klondike were relocated to a reserve shortly after the gold rush began, the Dominion government gave them no assistance. In fact, when the Commanding Officer for the North-West Mounted Police arrived at Dawson City, he did so with a firm directive from the Dominion government to not treat the Han "in any way which would lead them to believe that the Government would do anything for them as Indians.
Power in these regions did not go uncontested. These treaties had no official legal standing, but were made as a placeholder until land could be peacefully obtained.
In Dawson City in , pennies, nickels, and dimes were considered worthless: the smallest coin a shopkeeper would accept was a quarter. The discovery of gold in western Canada in the second half of the nineteenth century prompted a wave of immigration that transformed the region and drastically changed the lives of Aboriginal peoples.
Many of these newcomers were American, and most had little intention of staying in the goldfields beyond the time it would take for them to discover their fortune. We do not know exactly how many chose to stay, but those who did found themselves adjusting to a new life that extended beyond the goldfields. They became merchants, farmers, entrepreneurs, and early inhabitants of the communities that emerged from the rush. In some ways the Americans who came for the gold rush entered into a land far removed from anything they had previously experienced.
Not only was the journey difficult, but they found themselves in a region dominated by a British style of administration, with British customs. Though it was not all strange to the newcomers, the gold fields were remote, and making a living was a challenge. Relocating to such an isolated, inhospitable setting created formidable obstacles, but the prospect of gold and a new life gave reason to try.
The 49th parallel is established as the boundary between American and British territory, putting the future Fraser Canyon goldfields within British possessions. The discovery of gold in January led to the arrival of around , miners over the next couple of years. A remote outpost under the governance of the Hudson Bay Company, Fort Victoria only had about white residents when the gold rush began in April - News breaks of gold in the Fraser Valley.
Fraser region experiences a massive increase in population as an estimated 25, to 30, people rush north from the western United States. The mainland colony of British Columbia is established to function independently of the Hudson Bay Company, and was directly responsible to the British government. The wagon road provided a relatively quick and accessible means to access the interior of British Columbia from the coast.
These gold prospectors were career miners, and created small settlements near the river. A miner discovers a relatively large gold deposit on the Fortymile River, and establishes the town of Forty Mile.
September - Gold is discovered in Nome, Alaska. Between 4, and 7, people leave Dawson City the following spring. Although the initial rush was over, many families remained in the region, and people continued to immigrate. Bottos family with group on board the S.
Conte Biancamano, August Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier I moved to Canada when I was 16 It was hard at first, but people here are nice. I am now Canadian citizen.
When we passed customs and boarded the train they gave us two loafs of bread. Not knowing what it was I used it to play accordion as it was soft and flexible.. The prairies were dreary in March and seemed to go on forever and ever given we had come from a country that one could cross by car or train in a matter of hours. The big surprise came in the middle of one night when our father shook us all awake and told us to look at the mountains. I rolled over in the berth and looked out and saw rock walls, then I rolled on my back and far above us, shining in the moonlight, were snow-covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains.
Denmark's "Heaven Mountain" is a whole meters high - these mountain peaks were beyond imagining. It takes a lot of humility. I invite you to find refuge in love, and share who you are.
I never found those gold nuggets, however, Canada gave me more than gold. This is an immeasurable country, full of opportunities. God Bless this land. My advice would be…Stay warm in the winter. Stop in at a Tim Horton. Try moose meat at least once.
And keep smiling. We feel lucky that they are all growing up in the most wonderful country in the world. I will always remember where I came from but it is who I am now that matters. Pier 21 airing gallery. Origins unknown. In we bought our first house in West Vancouver.
On the train they served us fresh wonder bread, today its beautiful in I took a slice squeezed it and said look mom it's not cooked. I was also highly amazed at the way Corn Flakes was packed and served in individual cut-open boxes. Finally I was diagnosed as having measles and released from quarantine and "landed" on Apr 5, A long train trip brought us to Ajax to what seemed to be a POW camp with barbed wire around it.
From there we were directed to our destinations, my mother and I to Orillia in Ontario. Thus, my arrival to Canada, never to be regretted. Having been brought up with hard crusty bread we found the loaf we bought extremely soft with a strange smell that has remained with us ever since.
We never ate that bread nor have we ever consumed that bread since our settling in Canada I arrived in Canada on July 1st, on Canada Day and it was very, very meaningful.
In South America, we believe in signs and for me was a good sign that, that everything was going to be okay. It was the Canadian Red Cross that came to our aid when our house in London was bomb damaged during the war. I was 11 years of age and vividly remember the boxes of clothing and food they delivered to our door. I promised myself that I would go to Canada one day. My parents immigrated from Poland and Ukraine. I was so lucky to be born in Canada.
My mother came from Czechslovakia. They were running from Hitler because they were gypsies. I love Canada. The Netherlands is our country of birth and always will be our homeland but now we are Canadian. We will be forever grateful to the staff and all who were, and are now, associated with Pier While we sailed away from Ireland I stood at the stern of the ship and watched Ireland disappear over the horizon, a sad moment.
During the crossing of the North Atlantic, I was standing at the rail of the ship with an old English fellow, who was a farmer from Saskatchewan returning home to Canada he had emigrated many years before we were looking out over the water and that's all you could see in any direction.
I said to him "boy that's a lot of water" and he said "yeah and that's only the top. To Canada, we are also grateful, for allowing us the opportunity to become part of this great nation; for accepting us for what we were and for allowing us to become what we are, proud Canadians.
I felt like a small grain of sand washed up on the shores, with many thousands of others. Many had stories, similar to mine, coming for refuge and with high hopes, to Canada.
Fortunately my story has a happy ending. We were grateful for the roof over our heads and no one complained…. We loved the taste of Canadian white bread, sliced at that! It tasted like cake to us and it was the first of many pleasant surprises In , over sixty years ago, Canadian representatives of the Immigration and Employment Department came to Malta to select young tradesmen to immigrate to Canada. I, Lewis Borg, was one of the select to immigrate.
Our first house in Canada was a farmhouse 2 km outside of Bowmanville. Canada was part of our greatest journey on this earth, being welcomed in this land gave us the freedom to shape us into individuals that have contributed much, and so therefore, the sacrifice of leaving our native land, facing many trials and overcoming many hurdles, says it all for us and our posterity. Greek Hellenic youth, Image courtesy of the Delefes family.
It is okay to cry. Missing home is normal. Matt Evans Halifax, NS. It was during the Hungarian Revolution, and the fled with the clothes on their backs. They built a family here with many happy times. What I remember most about the trip is the dolphins following the ship, there was so many of them. One day I was on deck looking over the side when one the ship crew who was on the bow called over to me.
The area was roped off, but he said it was ok to come and see. You could see all the dolphins missing the bow by inches, maybe leading our ship not following us to the new land, I wondered what was waiting for us on the other side. When the server came around with this bread, we didn't know what to think. We surely thought we would not be able to swallow it since we couldn't crunch it in our teeth.
We thought it may get stuck in our throat! I know it was hard for most of us coming from a strictly rationed country to adjust to all that lovely Canadian food. Doris Peter, Margaret Burt, and others in Toronto, Thank you Canada, thank you dear Canadian friends, who helped us to feel here completely at home. I once said "Mom, you were so brave to come to Canada as a war bride. Your anthem dearest Canada we sing with pride and thanks From the heart of all the immigrants who landed on your banks.
Our family came aboard the ship they call the Volendam In nineteen hundred fifty one, a Canadian to become. I am so happy to live in Canada, in Halifax, Thank you! I came to Canada from Brazil when I was 5 years old.
I remember I had to leave all my xmas gifts and friends behind in Rio. It was very hard. Also, we arrived in winter and found it hard to breath the cold air. I had to teach myself how to inhale short breaths to be able to take in the cold! My first feelings about Canada, Halifax and the new world, were a mixture of confusion, terror and curiosity.
While on board the Britannic waiting to dock I became aware of the requirement that upon arrival we were to be taken to a "hall". To my Hungarian ears that notion sounded unusual. The once powerful Hudson's Bay Company controlled the area. But the British fur trade giant had been in decline for years and it was now preparing to sell Rupert's Land. George Brown, editor of The Globe and a Father of Confederation, described it as "the vast and fertile territory which is our birthright - and which no power on earth can prevent us occupying.
The sale involved roughly a quarter of the continent, a staggering amount of land, but it failed to take into account the existing residents - mainly Indians and Mtis. We are one of the largest Indigenous groups in North America. Our land covers over 4,, square kilometres, spanning from across northern North America to the American Southwest. There are approximately 50 distinct languages within the Na-Dene language family, and various dialects.
There is a game that the Northern Dene have been playing for many years called Dene Handgame, also called Stick Gambling, or simply referred to as handgames. There are different rules and various hand signals of the game across the north; however, the object of the game and how it is played is essentially the same. Basically, Dene Handgame is an elaborate guessing game. The players who compete with high energy, humour, good sportsmanship and performative gestures are often the most fun to play with and to observe.
There must be an even number of players on each team. Tournaments will specify how many people per team will play—the number varies from region to region, and it often ranges from 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 per team. Two teams play against each other at a time. Each player must have a personal token—a small object that can be easily hidden in one hand a stone, a coin, a button, a. When players are not personally competing in the game, they, as well as some onlookers, will hit individual caribou-skin hand drums with handmade wooden drumsticks in a fast-paced, rhythmic beat.
The music of the drums, whoops, cheers, chants and songs fuel the high energy of the game. Drummers who are not personally playing in the game will often drum behind the team that they support.
Each team has a captain. To begin the game, the two opposing team captains will play against each other. Each member of a team will line up side by side, kneeling on the floor or on the ground, facing the opposing team. Because handgames can often go on for long periods of time, players will kneel on something soft like a mat or a bed of spruce bough.
They sit close by on the sidelines between the two opposing teams so that they have the best vantage points to view the players and have access to move the winning handgame sticks. The sticks are placed between the two teams and are used to keep score of the game. The number of sticks correlate with the number of players.
For example, when 4 people are playing per team then 12 sticks are used, when 6 are playing per team then 14 sticks are used, when 8 are playing per team then 21 sticks are used, when 10 are playing per team then 24 or 25 sticks are used, and when 12 are playing per team then 28 or 29 sticks are used. The team whose turn it is to hide their tokens will place their hands under a cloth covering like a blanket or spare coats.
They will move their token from hand to hand until they decide which hand to hide it in. Then, when they have chosen their hiding hand, they will take their fists out from under the cloth covering and face their opponents. Commonly, players keep their arms straight in front of them or they cross them over their chests; however, players also develop their own elaborate and unique positioning of their hands. Before the captain makes the hand signal indicating where they think the tokens are hidden, they make a loud sound—a big clap, or they hit the floor with their hand—to let everyone know that they are ready to call.
There are many different signals that can be used; however, there are four main ones that the Arctic Winter Games follow. Once the captain reveals their hand signal, all the opposing players must then open the hand that the captain has indicated so everyone can see if the token is there. If the token is not there, meaning that the captain was wrong in their guess, the opposition player s must then show the other hand containing the object.
Each time the captain is wrong in their guess, a stick is awarded to the opposing team. For example, if the captain guesses and makes one correct guess and three wrong guesses, the opposition will receive three sticks. The player who was guessed correctly is eliminated from the round, and now there are only three players remaining.
This will continue until the captain has correctly guessed all of the players remaining, or until the opposing team wins all of the sticks. The team to win all of the sticks wins the game.
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