What in Canada's 150 plus years inspires you about its future?
Duncan McCue and the Checkup team aired this week's episode live from the Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., which will unveil its new Canadian History Hall on July 1st.
They were in a room designed by Blackfoot/Métis architect Douglas Cardinal, which is itself a metaphor for the country: full of flowing lines it represents a confluence of rivers and big sky; it's a room conceived as a meeting place and a sacred Indigenous space.
More from this episode:
- #Resistance150: How some Indigenous people are countering Canada 150 celebrations with action
- Why this Métis man sees the birchbark canoe as a symbol for Canada's future
- 'I am proud to be Chinese Canadian': Student explores Canada's exclusionary immigration history
- Canada's biggest museum teams with Indigenous graphic artist to animate creation story
- 'A glue that holds this place together': Why the Canadian Pacific Railway inspires two women about Canada
As the country is set to mark 150 years since Confederation, what better place to talk about our shared history than a Hall full of hundreds of incredible Canadian artifacts? Visitors can see the actual cloak worn by General James Wolfe, the handcuffs that shackled Louis Riel, the jersey worn by Maurice "Rocket" Richard, among thousands more artifacts.
Of course the history of this land goes back further than 150 years. The first thing visitors of this museum see is the creation story from the Anishinaabe of Kitigan Zibi First Nation, upon whose traditional territory this Museum sits. It's the story of how Gchi-Manido, the Great Spirit, formed humans. How Nigig, the otter, swam deep in the water to find the dirt that formed Turtle Island. Here we are now, over 36 million people sharing the land—sharing the legacy of Canada's past—both successes and shames. And that history, is alive and unfolding.
Our question today: What in Canada's 150 plus years inspires you about its future?
GUESTS
David Morrison
Director of Research for the Canadian History Hall at the Canadian History Museum
Charlotte Gray
Author of nine best-selling books on history. Her latest: The Promise of Canada: 150 Years People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country
Daniel Case
History teacher at Lisgar Collegiate in Ottawa
Anika Bousquet
A grade 11 student at Lisgar Collegiate in Ottawa
Martha Kyak
Instructor, Nunavut Sivuniksavut Twitter: @eskimaata
Daniel Turp
Professor of constitutional and international law at the University of Montreal, and a former Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament and Parti Québécois member of the Quebec National Assembly.
Warren Paull
Chief of the Shíshálh First Nation in BC
Philip Stamp
Professor in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy at the University of British Columbia
What we're reading
CBC.ca
- A sneak peek inside the Canadian History Hall
- Hockey history on display at Canadian Museum of History
- Canada is celebrating 150 years of… what, exactly?
- Why I won't be attending Canada's 150th birthday party
- Vietnamese-Canadian family's refugee story inspires new Heritage Minute
- #Resistance150: Christi Belcourt on Indigenous history, resilience and resurgence
- Meet Autumn Peltier — the 12-year-old girl who speaks for water
- My father's Chinese head tax certificate tells our family history
- With Lego, I explore identity — and build my own vision of the Canadian future
- Forget 2017 — these Indigenous VR artists are imagining Canada's future 150 years from now
The Globe and Mail
- On show this summer: an inclusive new approach to Indigenous art
- Canada's birthday boat: An old icebreaker embarks on a voyage of rediscovery
- From Confederation to Molson Canadian's 'Joe Canada' – alcohol's role in Canada's history
- The pacemaker is a marvel of medicine near to Canada's heart
- Canada in a can: Maple syrup endures as a national symbol
- How the Hudson's Bay point blanket became a Canadian emblem
National Post
- Even with a photo on the five-dollar bill, you probably don't know one of Canada's most active photographers
- 'A rejection of Canada': Colonialism 150 sticker at Lethbridge art gallery draws ire
- Father Raymond J. de Souza: Our history with aboriginals has too much darkness. But don't ignore the light
Ottawa Citizen
- Canada's history, like you've never seen it before
- The shíshálh's 4,000-year-old dead come to life in new Canadian Museum of History exhibit
- Canadian History Hall spanning 15,000 years opens for nation's 150th birthday
Other related links