ReCollections

For seven decades, the Bar U operated as a corporate ranch, with thousands of cattle fattening up on protein-rich fescue grass in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills. But that grass has a history of its own, co-evolving on this landscape with a different grazer - the bison - over thousands of years. Through the history of three animals who’ve left their hoofmarks upon the prairie grasslands - bison...

In August 2017, a lightning strike near Waterton Lakes National Park sparked a devastating wildfire that burned nearly 40% of the park. But in the wake of destruction came a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We’ll hear from archaeologists and Blackfoot elders about the collaborative archaeology project that’s deepening our understanding of the lives of Indigenous peoples who have lived and travelled...

In 1930s Europe, thousands of Jewish men and teenagers escaped the Nazi regime as refugees, only to be labelled as “enemy aliens” and sent to internment camps across eastern Canada. One of those camps was at Fort Lennox, an old military stronghold on Quebec’s Ile aux Noix. We’ll hear from one internee, the late Rabbi Erwin Schild, whose story helps illustrate the experience of hundreds of German a...

The southern coast of Labrador in the 1500s was the scene of Canada’s first oil boom. Each summer, Basque crews from Spain and France traversed the Atlantic to hunt whales and render their blubber into a precious commodity: oil that lit the lamps of Europe. It was dangerous, messy… and profitable. The story was all but lost until the 1970s, when researchers and archaeologists flocked to the tiny c...

ReCollections, the award-winning history and archaeology podcast from Parks Canada, is back for Season Two. Four new stories from national parks and national historic sites across Canada: Red Bay: Discovering the Basque Whalers of Terra Nova Fort Lennox: The Accidental Immigrants Bar U Ranch: Grass Into Money Waterton Lakes: Archaeology in a Burned Landscape Join us for a journey of national histo...

Join us for a journey of national historic significance.

Travel back to the Viking Age to uncover the remnants of a thousand-year-old Norse encampment. We’ll hear about their incredible journey from Greenland to northern Newfoundland from a diverse group of experts including historians, archaeologists, and interpreters at L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. Learn more:  L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/nl...

Welcome to Ruby's Place in Dawson City, Yukon, “the Paris of the North.” Through the remarkable lives of Madam Ruby Scott and her employees, we’ll hear about Dawson’s Gold Rush heyday and the boom/bust cycle of both the mining and sex work industries. At the heart of the story is Ruby's Place, an elegant false-front building conserved as part of the Klondike National Historic Sites… despite the th...

In this episode, we’ll travel to the Pacific Northwest islands of Haida Gwaii, home to the Haida Nation for more than 13,000 years. Our focus: a collaborative archaeology project at an evacuated village on the remote island of SGang Gwaay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that was devastated by hurricane-force winds in a 2018 storm. Many voices tell the rich history of Gwaii Haanas National Park Rese...

For over a century, an unassuming island in the St. Lawrence River played a major role in the immigration journey from Europe to North America. A scene of hope and tragedy, punctuated by a series of deadly crises, Grosse Île was home to a quarantine station that served as the gateway for millions of newcomers. Witness to pandemics, health emergencies and the development of modern medical science,...

In this episode, we find traces of the lives of enslaved people at the 18th-century French Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. By piecing together the unique story of Guinea-born Marie Marguerite Rose, we’ll learn about those who lived and died in enslavement…as well as the rise and fall (and rise again) of the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. Special thanks to our Co...

A special episode from our friends at the Discover Library and Archives Canada podcast - Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist. If you enjoyed our ReCollections episode Grosse-Île: The Quarantine Island, check out their The Shamrock and the Fleur-de-Lys episode to learn more about Irish immigration to Québec. Bill Mason's films: Pukaskwa National Park and Paddle to the Sea. Plan a visit to Pukaskwa Nation...