Book Review: James Daschuk’s much-heralded Clearing the Plains is an intricate and well-crafted examination of the historical role of food and disease in the life of First Nations of Western Canada. In a strong first chapter, Daschuk dispenses notions that indigenous sickness and starvation were “new” while gesturing to food security and political autonomy as reasons why these communities flourished for centuries before European contact.
Archivist Maureen Nevins and Canada’s History editor-in-chief Mark Reid listen to two recordings that both feature displays of virtuosic talent on two very different stringed instruments: the banjo and the violin.
On April 1, 1999 the map of Canada was re-drawn: the Northwest Territories divided into two territories to allow for the creation of Nunavut, a homeland for Inuit of Canada.
Book Review: Unless you are an accountant or a corporate lawyer, a history of Canadian tax policy will not be at the top of your reading list. But here are two books that show how a topic’s importance should rank ahead of its popularity — and it helps that both books are very entertaining.
