An Illustrated History Of Canada S Native People

T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y

Canada’s Native people have inhabited this land since the Ice Age and were already accomplished traders, artisans, farmers, and marine hunters when Europeans first reached their shores. Contact between Natives and European explorers and settlers initially presented an unprecedented period of growth and opportunity. But the two vastly different cultures soon clashed. Arthur Ray charts the history of Canada’s Native people from first contact to current land claims. The result is a fascinating chronicle that spans 12,000 years and culminates in the headlines of today. In the preface to this new edition, Ray elaborates on the increasing effectiveness of Indigenous peoples and their leaders in bringing demands for justice to centre stage. He discusses recent court decisions, the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and the hope for change following promises made by the new Trudeau government.

The Native people of Canada have been here since the Ice Age and were already accomplished traders, artisans, farmers, and marine hunters when Europeans first reached their shores. Contact initially presented an unprecedented period of growth and opportunity. But soon, the two vastly different worlds clashed. From first contact to current Native land claims, Arthur Ray charts the history of Canada`s Native peoples. The result is a fascinating chronicle that spans 12,000 years and culminates in the headlines of today.

More than ever, The Illustrated History of Canada is a must-have reference guide for all Canadians interested in the history - and the future - of our country."--pub. desc.

An authoritative one-volume chronicle of Canada from its earliest times. First published in 1987, the 4th edition is fully updated and includes contemporary material on the rise of small government, Native land claims and Canada's post-Cold War role.

According to convential nineteenth-century wisdom, societies of European origin were naturally progressive; native societies were static. One consequence of this attitutde was the almost universal separation of history and anthropology. Today, despite a growing interest in changes in Amerindian societies, this dichotomy continues to distort the investigation of Canadian history and to assign native peoples only a marginal place in it. Natives and Newcomers discredits that myth. In a spirited and critical re-examination of relations between the French and the Iroquoian-speaking inhabitants of the St Lawrence lowlands, from the incursions of Jacques Cartier through the explorations of Samuel de Champlain and the Jesuit missions into the early years of the royal regime, Natives and Newcomers argues that native people have played a significant role in shaping the development of Canada. Trigger also shows that the largely ignored French traders and their employees established relations with native people that were indispensable for founding a viable European colony on the St Lawrence. The brisk narrative of this period is complemented by a detailed survey of the stereotypes about native people that have influenced the development of Canadian history and anthropology and by candid discussions of how historical, ethnographical, and archaeological approaches can and cannot be combined to produce a more rounded and accurate understanding of the past.

Arthur Ray's extensive knowledge in the history of the fur trade and Native economic history brought him into the courts as an expert witness in the mid-1980s. For over twenty-five years he has been a part of landmark litigation concerning treaty rights, Aboriginal title, and Métis rights. In Telling It to the Judge, Ray recalls lengthy courtroom battles over lines of evidence, historical interpretation, and philosophies of history, reflecting on the problems inherent in teaching history in the adversarial courtroom setting. Told with charm and based on extensive experience, Telling It to the Judge is a unique narrative of courtroom strategy in the effort to obtain constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights.

The Illustrasted History of Canada has been fully updated to bring readers into the twenty-first century, with contemporary material on such topics as the rise of small government, the recognition of Native land claims, and Canada's role in the post-Cold War "peace." -- cover p. 4.