First Nations

A Brief History of the Vatican and Western Canadian Missions

by Roberto Perin

"Residential schools and the papal bulls justifying the fallacious doctrine of discovery call out for concrete acts of atonement and reparation on the part of the church."

Pope Francis Seeks Forgiveness from Indigenous Canadians over Residential School Abuses

"I am deeply sorry, sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous peoples," Francis said.

The Trouble with Truth, Reconciliation, Peace and Friendship Treaties: Indigenous Land and Resource Rights Among the Mi’kmaq  

by Rachel Herrington

Honoring the history of the treaties is not just about the past but also about the present and future of indigenous Canadians. 

Canada is Going through its Own History Wars

by Ian Rocksborough-Smith

"To what degree will well-established professional historians and scholars respond and engage with younger generations of activists, intellectuals and cultural workers adamant about centring the experiences of marginalized people?"

The Canadian Historical Association's Genocide Statement "Brazenly Unscholarly" (Opinion)

Columnist Barbara Kay supports Canadian historians who have dissented from the Canadian Historical Association's statement that Canadian treatment of First Nations peoples was genocidal. 

Totem pole celebrates Haida’s pact with Canada

A new totem pole the height of a three-storey building now looms over the southern Haida Gwaii, carved with symbols to note the remote land is protected from ocean floor to mountaintop.Hundreds gathered in the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve to watch the nearly 3,000-kilogram pole raised using six ropes and sheer manpower, the first such raising in over a century. Spectators were dwarfed by the colourful and intricate pole, which took more than a year to carve and paint and represents Gwaii Haanas’ modern and ancient history....

First Nations children used in experiments in 1940s

Aboriginal children were deliberately starved in the 1940s and ’50s by government researchers in the name of science.Milk rations were halved for years at residential schools across the country.Essential vitamins were kept from people who needed them.Dental services were withheld because gum health was a measuring tool for scientists and dental care would distort research.For over a decade, aboriginal children and adults were unknowingly subjected to nutritional experiments by Canadian government bureaucrats....

Mohawk history towers over New York

MONTREAL—Generations of toil at dizzying heights have culminated in this towering achievement.Ironworkers from a Mohawk community were part of the team that installed the final section of spire at the top of the new One World Trade Center in New York last month.John McGowan was one of those involved as he and colleagues wrote a special page in a history filled with high-level triumph, and also with tragedy.“It was a clear nice day. It couldn’t have been a nicer day,” said the 48-year-old resident of Kahnawake, Que., near Montreal....

400-year-old skeleton of aboriginal woman found

A Sarnia couple who set out to build a fence dug up more than they bargained for recently when they unearthed a 400-year-old skeleton and got stuck with a $5,000 bill from the province.The archeological misadventure began two weeks ago when Ken Campbell came across some bones while digging post holes in their backyard.He put them aside, thinking they must have belonged to an animal. The following week, his wife, Nicole Sauve, asked about the bones, which sat unceremoniously atop a bucket of earth“I said, ‘They’re not animal bones, Ken. Let’s dig some more and see what we can find,’ ”she said....