Canada History Week 2022

LITERATURE

The Inuit have been living in the Circumpolar Arctic for millennia. Their presence throughout the territory, from Siberia to Alaska, in Inuit Nunangat ( ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦ , lands, waters and ice of the Inuit people) in Canada, as well as in Greenland, gave rise to different forms of cultural and literary expression. The trilingual site Inuit Literatures explores authors, their works, and the history of this expression through an interactive timeline of Inuit literary facts. WAYSON CHOY was an influential Chinese-Canadian novelist, memoirist, and short story writer. In 1996, his novel The Jade Peony won the City of Vancouver Book Award and the Trillium Book Award. The novel tells the story of an immigrant family living in Vancouver during the Second World War. The intimate portrait captures the lived reality of Chinatown from the perspective of first-generation Canadians. Choy also advocated for 2SLGBTQ+ rights.

Tekahionwake (Library and Archives Canada/National Film Board fonds/e011177518).

PAULINE JOHNSON (Tekahionwake) was a gifted writer and orator of Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) and European descent. Best known for her portrayals of Indigenous women and children, and her use of environmental themes, her poetry was published in newspapers and magazines in the early years of her career. From about 1884 to 1909 she pursued a career as an actress and performer, and was known for performing her work first in traditional traditional Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) dress, then in European-style clothing. She made important contributions to Indigenous and Canadian written culture, navigating racial and gender categories as she moved between Indigenous and European identities. MARY ANN SHADD was an educator, publisher, and abolitionist, and the first Black female newspaper publisher in Canada. On 24 March 1853, Shadd published the first edition of her weekly newspaper, The Provincial Freeman . The newspaper publicized the successes of Black people living in Canada, to promote immigration from the United States. Learn more about Mary Ann Shadd on the Strong and Free podcast.

Example of a webpage from the Inuit Cultural Timeline interactive tool, which illustrates here the birth of the playwright, writer, poet, and essayist Minnie Aodla Freeman.

Graphic novels can tackle human rights issues by using creative and compelling visual storytelling. Authors and illustrators work together to share truths about Canada’s history. In the web story Graphic truths, new ways of learning about Canada’s complicated history with human rights are examined.

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