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Category Archives: History
The Choctaw and Irish Nations
Fifty percent of the Choctaw people had only just survived the forced relocation from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana into Oklahoma (the aptly named Trail of Tears), when a member of the tribe heard about An Gorta Mór, the great famine … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, History, Politics
Tagged An Gorta Mór, Choctaw, Covid19, gaza, great famine, hopi, Ireland, navaho, Trail of Tears
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Canada’s Difficulty with Reconciliation
The rediscovery of unmarked gravesites at the Kamloops residential school in the summer of 2021 brought a grisly history into the public eye. Although people had found bones on the site before, the use of ground penetrating radar went a … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, Culture, History, Winnipeg
Tagged Indigenous people, Justin Trudeau, manitoba conservative party, racism, Steven Harper, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
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Typhoid Mary
The case of Typhoid Mary—a name she hated—is a peculiar one in the annals of public health. We had surely had carriers like her before, those who never suffered from an illness they inadvertently passed on, but she was the … Continue reading
The Myth of Narcissus
Many know the rough outlines of the original myth of Narcissus, the man who was so enamoured with his own image that he drowned while reaching for his reflection in a pool. The original outlines of the myth are more … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Peoples, Culture, Health, History, Literature
Tagged Myth of Narcissus, selfie
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Don’t Tell the Archaeologist
My friend was flanked by two Inuit elders as she repeatedly picked up and asked about bones found on the ground. “A walrus rib,” the elder would reply, and then my friend would be off after another object. She knew … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient Peoples, Culture, History
Tagged Archaeology, Dead Dog Café, Indigenous people, Innaanganeq, Kennewick Man, Kwäday Dän Tsʼìnchi, museums, snow knife, Thomas King
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Racist Rob and Corrupt Politicians
I’d only been teaching a few years when I had a student who was so racist that I was forced to confront several of his statements in class. As anyone knows who has dealt with such behaviour, this demands a … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, Ancient Peoples, Culture, Education, History, News of the World, Politics, Teaching, Winnipeg
Tagged Air-bus scandal, Brian Mulroney, Canadian Government, Colonialism, financial accountability, Indian Act, pedagogy, racism, Treaties
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Hatred of Muslims and the Latest Red Scare
I had the pleasure of growing up in North America when the reigning hatred was of communists, although most people didn’t know what a communist was and—because of weak historical understanding—only vaguely associated them with the Soviet Union. Because I … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, Culture, Education, History, Media, News, Politics, Religion, Social Media
Tagged 1984, communism, George Bush, islam, islamophobia, muslim, Osama bin Laden, propaganda, Reagan, war
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A Response to the Signs
When a sign about the exploitation of children went up in my neighbourhood, I thought little about it, partly because it didn’t look professional enough to have come from the desk of an official service. Instead, it had more in … Continue reading
The Saltpeter Mines of Northern Atacama, Chile
Saltpeter, or nitrate, was a major export of Chile until artificial production began in Germany in the thirties. Then, like much of the world staggering as a result of the global depression, Chile suffered from the loss of nearly fifty … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, Culture, Development, History, Politics, Post-Apocalyptic, Travel
Tagged American Foreign Policy, atacama, Chacabuco, Chile, nitrate, Pinochet, salitreras, Saltpeter, Salvador Allende
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The Passing of the Years
My nephew was just visiting me and one of his passions of investigating old ruins of houses. We spent the last ten days doing just that, and he has flown out today armed with a few hundred year old coins … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged Abandoned Houses, Archaeology, old farms
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