Modern Canadian History Lecture 1
Modern Canada since 1850 HIST 2350 WDE (Winter 2026)
Instructor: Dr. Tom Peotto
Week 1, Lecture 2: Canada from the Ice Age to 1850
Right Image: Reconstruction of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) from the Royal BC Museum.
Context: Ancestral Indigenous peoples coexisted with giant mammals until the megafauna extinctions at the end of the Ice Age.
Image Credit: Wikimedia.
Victorian Mythology and Canadian History
Introduction:
Expansion Impact:
Canadian and American expansion across North America in the 19th century led to demographic catastrophe for many Indigenous societies.
Causes include war, famines, epidemics, and colonialism.
16th Century European Views:
Since the 16th century, some Europeans believed Indigenous societies were too fragile to survive colonization.
In the 19th century, this belief revived as the “Vanishing Indian” stereotype: the notion that Indigenous peoples were doomed to extinction.
Stereotypes of Indigenous Societies:
A related stereotype depicted Native peoples as small groups of nomads, constantly on the brink of starvation and unable to tame nature, unlike civilized Europeans.
Quote from Stephen Leacock in Canada: The Foundations of its Future (1941):
“Their use of the resources of the continent was scarcely more than that by crows and wolves; their development of it nothing.”
Myth of Indigenous Peoples’ Arrival:
Another myth claimed that ancient Indigenous peoples arrived late and stole the continent from earlier white races, Biblical giants, or Atlanteans.
Right Image: A 1929 bronze cast of James Earle Fraser’s The End of the Trail (1894) showcasing the “Vanishing Indian” myth.
Image Credit: Wikimedia.
A Time of Ice and Giants
Archaeological Findings:
In the early 1950s, archaeology uncovered that the Clovis culture (circa 13,200 to 12,600 years ago) were the earliest humans in the Americas.
They were large-game hunters who migrated from northeast Asia over Beringia (now the Bering Sea) when sea levels were lower due to glacial water storage during the Ice Age.
By the late 1950s, evidence indicated human presence in the Americas predating 13,200 years ago. By the 2000s, the “Clovis First” theory was overturned.
Findings included:
Butchering of horses in the Bluefish Caves (Yukon) dated to around 24,000 years ago.
Human presence indicated by footprints in White Sands, New Mexico, dated to 23,000-22,000 years ago.
Genetic Studies:
Ancestral Indigenous peoples emerged as a distinct population in northeastern Siberia between 36,000 and 25,000 years ago.
Several ancient remains studied include Anzick Child (Montana), Naia (Mexico), and “Kennewick Man” / Ancient One (Washington).
Living Indigenous peoples are descendants of these early populations.
Right Image: Reconstruction of the White Sands footprints by Karen Carr.
Image Credit: National Parks Service, USA.
North America After the Ice: 9kya to 1491
Post-Ice Age Adaptations:
As glaciers retreated and megafauna disappeared, Indigenous peoples adapted to a new environment, utilizing an abundance of natural resources.
Rich foraging allowed for construction of permanent villages and monumental architecture.
Ecological Enhancements:
Indigenous peoples increased food-producing capacity through controlled burns, planting fruit and nut trees, and creating artificial reefs and clam beds.
Early Mound-Building:
Circa 3500 BC, the first earth mounds and plazas were built in Louisiana, marking the beginning of the long mound-building tradition.
Agricultural Advancements:
North American farmers domesticated sunflowers and other seed crops, while maize, beans, and squash were introduced from Mesoamerica, revolutionizing local agriculture.
Trade and Interaction:
Rivers and lakes functioned as highways, fostering trade, warfare, and diplomatic interactions among precontact societies.
Top Image: Burial mounds built along the Rainy River by Algonkian and Siouan peoples from 300 BC to AD 1650.
Bottom Image: Bison-hide moccasins from Promontory Cave, Utah (13th century) made by Dene migrants.
Image Credit: Dr. Jessica Metcalfe, Lakehead University Department of Anthropology.
Languages and Cultures of Precolonial Canada
Linguistic Diversity:
Indigenous peoples in what is now Canada spoke languages from eight different language families:
Families:
Algonkian
Athabaskan (Dene)
Haida
Inuktitut (Inuit)
Iroquoian
Ktunaxa (Kutenai)
Salishan
Siouan
Tsimshian
Wakashan
Geographical Distribution:
The North Pacific region had a particularly rich environment, housing five of the aforementioned language families.
Algonkian, Dene, and Inuit languages were spread across vast areas with low population density, necessitating community alliances for survival, especially in winter.
Spiritual Relationships:
Humans coexisted with other powerful sentient beings, including spirits and gods from the Sky World, and the Underwater or Underground world, as well as the spirits of animals and plants.
Reciprocity: A key principle in relationships among individuals, families, communities, and the divine.
Top Image: Reconstructed Northern Iroquoian longhouses at the Ska-Nah-Doht historic site.
Bottom Image: The Victory Through Honour totem pole, carved by Ellen Neel for the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis nation and gifted to UBC in 1948.
European Rivalries, ca. 1500 to 1816
Viking Influences:
The first European interlude in Canada was a short-lived Viking colony established in the 11th century.
Post-Columbus Explorations:
Following Columbus’s arrival in 1492, Europeans recognized the Americas as a source of wealth (natural resources and potential for slave labor) and a place for spiritual significance (religious conversions).
Early European Activities:
By 1500, Basques, Bretons, and other North Atlantic Europeans were involved in whaling and fishing in Atlantic Canada while trading metal wares and dried foods for furs.
Material Extraction: A recurring theme in Canadian history focused on furs, fish, minerals, and timber.
Indigenous Alliances: Alliances with Indigenous peoples were crucial for European colony success in the Americas.
Colonial Competition:
By 1689, only Britain, France, and Spain remained as European powers in North America. Britain conquered New France during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), leading to uprisings by former allies and colonists during the American Revolution.
War of 1812: The United States’ attempt to annex Canada and oust the British failed.
Top Image: Benjamin West’s The Death of General Wolfe (1770) commemorating the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759) that led to the conquest of Quebec City, highlighting Indigenous contributions.
Image Credit: Wikimedia.
The Rise and Fall of the Fur Trade
Trade Dynamics:
The North American fur trade (17th to 19th centuries) was a mutually beneficial enterprise, where Indigenous partners captured furs for European markets, trading for textiles, metal wares, firearms, and other goods.
Interconnections through marriage into Native communities were common among fur traders to learn languages and customs.
Consequences:
Despite its benefits, the fur trade brought about negative consequences, including disease epidemics and the emergence of new social inequalities and arms races.
Fur trade families became a cross-cultural elite.
Mid-19th Century Shifts:
By the mid-19th century, Canadian and American policymakers began to focus on land for farming, mining, timber, and other resources rather than on Indigenous peoples as allies.
Intermarriage between Europeans and Natives became stigmatized as 19th-century attitudes shifted towards viewing Europeans as a superior “race.”
Many fur traders divorced or distanced themselves from their Indigenous spouses.
Top Image: Photograph from 1863 of Montana fur trader Alexander Culbertson, his Kainai wife Natawista Culbertson, and their son Joe, depicting a long-lasting marriage that ended in her return to her village.
Image Credit: Montana Historical Society.
Science, Technology, and Politics
Long 19th Century Impact:
The period from 1789 to 1914 brought significant shifts in Europe and its colonies, altering material and intellectual life globally.
Political Ideologies:
Liberalism became a significant ideology in Britain and France, leading reformers to advocate for self-government and elections in Canada, as opposed to Crown-appointed regional oligarchies.
Nationalism emerged concurrently, pushing for self-governance based on shared history and language among people.
Scientific Advancements:
Branches of science such as biology, medicine, geology, chemistry, and astronomy began addressing longstanding questions regarding human origins and health.
Archaeology and paleontology raised critical questions challenging religious and Biblical narratives concerning human history.
Right Image: Meat from a tin of corned beef used during the Franklin expedition (1845), showcasing advances in food preservation and scurvy prevention which enabled European explorers to explore further into unknown territories.
Image Credit: Royal Museums Greenwich, London (UK).
In Conclusion
Indigenous Residency:
By 1491, Indigenous peoples had resided in the Americas for at least 24,000 years.
Colonial Dependencies:
Early European colonies often failed without the trade and military alliances with Indigenous peoples.
Technological Advancements:
The 19th century marked a significant increase in Europeans’ capacity to exert power over other continents, driven by scientific and technological advancements.
Indigenous Agency:
Indigenous peoples were not passive observers of colonization; they actively sought to secure their futures through treaty negotiations in both Canada and the USA.
Right Image: Illustration of Ojibwe chiefs (Shingwaukonse, Nebenaigoching, and Menissinowini) negotiating a treaty with the Canadian government in Montreal, depicted in the London Illustrated News, September 1849.
Image Credit: The Canadian Encyclopedia.