This was from a school atlas of the period, and while it does not even come close to describing our actual history, unless "recent centuries" means more than one hundred of them, it was typical of the silliness taught to impressionable young minds of my day.
Lies by omission are still lies, and do a grave injustice to all Canadians. Witholding information, distorting the facts or completely ignoring the first 10,000 years of Canadian history, robs us of our true heritage, and the diversity that has made us a nation of unique individuals.
V.S. Pritchett's In Search of Canada, written in 1968, begins "On a journey from sea to sea, a British writer discovers a vibrant nation whose struggles with history and nature have created an identifiable, distinctive Canadian personality" Included in his comments: "...an American accent softened by the quiet British intonation...the girls with the "natural" European look. In general, a mingling of British and American traits. One could say, outwardly American, inwardly British." (Huh?)
I remember reading another observation by an English tourist several years ago, who described Canadians as "watered down Brits". This has stuck with me and I always wondered what he meant. Are cats "watered down" dogs? Are apples watered down oranges?
We do not aspire to be Brits; diluted, condensed or otherwise, anymore than a cat wants to be a dog or an apple an orange. We are Canadians with a long and vast history, and though we try to ignore it, are more like the First Nations in our attitudes than we are Western Europeans.
Our sense of humour, our survival skills, our hospitality, our "national" dishes; parenting skills, and family values, were all learned here; not brought here. Democracy and "Freedom", real or otherwise, enjoyed by all North Americans; was fashioned after the system of government in place when the Europeans first arrived to make this their home. They did not learn that in Europe, because all governments at the time were monarchies, ruled by "Divine Right", not the will of the people.
The French Revolution that brought Democracy to France, was inspired by the American Revolution; and the American Revolution was inspired by the American people; that is the ORIGINAL American people, who had enjoyed a democratic style of government for many centuries.
So if we choose to ignore the contributions of the First Nations to our real culture, than we run the risk of becoming "watered down" Canadians, and losing the attributes that make us who we are.
So in this portion of the website, I am going to start everyone at the same level, and then begin Canadian history, not from the time when we became part of the "North Atlantic Community centred in Western Europe", but from when our history actually began.
Now for the scientific mumbo jumbo.
