In Hindsight: Half a Century of Research Discoveries in Canadian History

Final Episode: A reflection on the ways in which the research and writing in Canadian history have changed in our lifetimes.

An extraordinary scholar’s contribution to our knowledge of Canadian history. Introducing how historical writing has been altered in the digital age.

The Temagami Land Claim Conference, Bear Island, Lake Temagami, July 1982. As one participant (Mary Black Rogers) later recalled, it was “like an Agatha Christie—all the guests arriving from distant points, meeting in an isolated spot.”

Lester Pearson and Indigenous Canada, a world barely visible to the mid-20th century prime minister (1963-1968).

The intriguing context surrounding the address of assimilationist Duncan Campbell Scott, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, at the Victoria College chapel, Toronto, in 1925.

The Mohawk founder of the cross-Canada League of Indians of Canada, 1918.

The contributions over two-thirds of a century of Hugh Dempsey, Dean of Alberta Historians, to the history of his province.

Calgary’s extraordinary Grande Dame of music in the early 20th century.

The tragic story of a remarkable Ontario couple in Alberta, 1910s, told through their surviving rich correspondence of over 550 letters.

Shahwahnegezhik’s sons and their dedicated Ontario teacher, Elizabeth Barrett, who made a difference.

Louis Riel’s secretary in 1884/85. A significant historical figure?

Canada’s first prime minister’s influence on the development of Canada’s Indian Policy, 1844-1876, and the First Nations.

One of the last British Superintendent Generals of Indian Affairs in the Canadas, 1855.

The extraordinary Mississauga woman who had an audience with Queen Victoria, 1860.

Sir Augustus d'Este and Egerton Ryerson, two non-Indigenous friends of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Sir Augustus d'Este and Egerton Ryerson, two non-Indigenous friends of the Mississaugas of the Credit.

More on the Mississauga, and the gruesome tale of David Ramsay, "Indian Killer."

The Mississauga Chief Kahkewaquonaby (Sacred Feathers), known in English as Peter Jones, and his English bride, Eliza Field. Portrait of a marriage.

The Glorious Imposter. The famous writer of the 1920s, author of Long Lance (1928). Indigenous or Non-Indigenous? Or both?

Archie Belaney in England, Grey Owl in Canada. On 14 April 1938, the day after his death, the Toronto Globe and Mail referred to Grey Owl, one of Canada’s first environmentalists, as the “most famous of Canadian Indians.” Who really was he?

How a student of world affairs became a Canadian historian, with his primary interest in the relationship of non-Indigenous Canadians and the Indigenous Peoples.

Arrival in Calgary, 1974.  My teaching post in Canadian history at the University of Calgary allowed me to build on research and writing already begun in Ontario, and, to my joy, expand it across Canada. On George Self, founder of what is now the History Department of the University of Calgary, and one of the most original individuals I have ever encountered in academic life.

Presented by Chief Dave Mowat of Alderville First Nation.