LYCOS RETRIEVER 
History of Canada: New Brunswick
built 139 days ago
In terms of history, Atlantic Canada would come to include the coastal or maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and little Prince Edward Island, along with the big sea-isle of Newfoundland that lay across the ocean approaches to the mainland. In environmental terms instead, this was a region of ancient, worn-down mountains, lined with valleys which the sea had penetrated deeply, past jutting headlands into sheltered coves and harbours. Inland, the valleys were hemmed by high rock ridges, rough, hard terrain that in New Brunswick rose northward to the crests of the Appalachian ranges, a formidable barrier between the Atlantic region and the rest of Canada beyond. But seaward, the open waters gave ready access all around the shores, or carried Maritime and Newfoundland ships to Old or New England, to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean as well. The chief cities of the region were seaports first and foremost: St. Johns, closest to Europe on the eastern edge of Newfoundland, Halifax, the main naval base fronting Nova Scotia, or busy, ship-building Saint John on New Brunswick's southern shore. Moreover, prolific fishing grounds along the coastline, extending far out into the Atlantic off Newfoundland, supplied a basic livelihood for the hardy peoples who developed in this sea-domain.
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The pre-history of Canada began with the aboriginal people who are believed to have arrived from Asia thousands of years ago. Recent archaeological findings show that the Natives first arrived in North America 40,000 years BCE by crossing a land bridge between Asia and Alaska. These diverse range of aboriginals were essentially hunters, fishers or farmers who led a nomadic life. The native first came into contact with the Europeans some 1000 years ago when Icelandic Norsemen settled in Newfoundland for a brief period.
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Many people tend to think of Canadian history as having a relatively recent origin. Until recently, most Canadian history texts began with the brief settlement of the Vikings (Scandinavians of the Middle Ages) in Newfoundland in the eleventh century, or even later with French explorer Jacques Cartier’s voyages along the St. Lawrence River beginning in 1534. The First Nations people whom these explorers encountered receive little more recognition in these accounts than the oceans and rivers traversed by the European “discoverers” of the “New World.” Both became simply the backdrop for the daring exploits of brave European men to whom the eventual European majority owed a debt of gratitude for having paved the way to European conquest of the Americas. In fact, the First Nations peoples, whose population in today’s Canada before first contact with the Europeans has been variously estimated between 200,000 and 1 million, were heirs to civilizations that had evolved over a period of time ranging from at least 12,000 years to more modern estimates of more than twice that long. Historians once dismissed that history as “prehistory,” because there were no written documents available to reconstruct the Natives’ story since the First Nations lacked written languages. The task of reconstructing the Native past was left to anthropologists who, while they interviewed Natives about their traditions and values, tended until recently to interpret the Native past within a framework that viewed European civilization as the norm and relegated much of what defined the Native world view to a basket entitled “primitivism.” Although anthropologists were more sympathetic to the Native past than were historians, they still shared the historians’ sense that the First Nations were “primitive” peoples who had to make way for more “civilized” peoples. Their traditions, even when closely described, were presented as quaint and colourful, well-deserving of displays in museums, but of little relevance to contemporary life for Natives or anyone else.
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Eric Sager received his PhD in British history from the University of British Columbia in 1975, after completing a doctoral thesis on the peace movement in nineteenth-century England. He taught at the University of British Columbia (1974-75) and the University of Winnipeg (1975-76). Between 1976 and 1979, and in 1981-82, he was Assistant Professor (Research) with the Atlantic Canada Shipping Project at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He taught at Erindale College (University of Toronto) from 1979 to 1981 and 1982-83, before joining the History Department at Victoria in 1983
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Tracing the History of New France Displays documents which paint a picture of the New France era. Also includes access to the Colonial Archives database, providing descriptions of thousands of documents representing this fascinating period in Canadian history.
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All too often Americans dismiss Canadians as a nondescript people living above the 49th parallel with a boring history. On the contrary, as Riendeau (Univ. of Toronto) demonstrates in his credible analysis of the Canadian past, Canada has a history as vibrant as any in the world. The book covers a wide range of topics--geographical features, the Norse discovery, the fall of New France, nationhood, and finally, the modern era. Riendeau has written a good text enriched by photos, maps, and a bibliography for further reading. This is a worthy addition for public and academic libraries.
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