It is #IndigenousHistoryMonth and this is the story of Alanis Obomsawin, one of Canada's top filmmakers!
Alanis Obomsawin was born on Aug. 31, 1932 in New Hampshire. When she was 6 months old, her family moved to the Odanak Reserve near Sorel, Quebec.
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The family moved to Trois-Rivieres when she was nine. As the only Indigenous family there, she held onto the stories and songs she learned from elders on the reserve near Sorel.
By the time she was in her 20s, she spoke Wôbanakiak, English & French.
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Starting as a folk singer-songwriter, she began to work with the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s.
In 1971, she made her first NFB documentary, Christmas at Moose Factory.
Over the next 50 years, she would make over 50 celebrated films with the NFB.
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Her most celebrated film is Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, released in 1993, documenting the Oka Crisis of 1990.
Her work primarily focuses on the Indigenous experience in Canada. Her most recent film is Bill Reid Remembers, released in 2022.
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Obomsawin has won numerous awards including the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, the Order of Canada, the Glenn Gould Prize and the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. She has also received numerous honorary degrees.
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If you grew up in the 1990s in Canada, there is a chance you played Crosscountry Canada in school.
This was a game that required you to travel Canada via semi-truck, learning about the nation you live in.
So, let's learn more about this nostalgic game!
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The game was published by Didatech Software (Ingenuity Works), based out of Vancouver. It allowed users to drive an 18-wheeler truck to pick up commodities and deliver them to cities.
Users chose the route, eat, sleep, fill up with gas and try to make the most money.
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Crosscountry Canada was actually the second in the series. The first was Crosscountry USA released in 1985. The next year, Crosscountry Canada was released for the Apple II. It was later ported to DOS in 1991.
If not for Canada, American football would look very different.
It all began on May 14-15, 1874 when the McGill Redman took on the Harvard Crimson in Boston in a two game series.
The series would change American football history forever.
Let's learn more 👇🏈
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In 1873, Harvard, which played the Boston game, challenged McGill University to a two-game series.
The Boston game had different rules including not allowing a pass unless a player was pursued, there was less tackling and limited running. A round ball was also used.
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When McGill and Harvard played their first game on May 14, 1874, it was under Boston Rules and Harvard won 3-0.
On May 15, 1874, the second game was played using the rugby rules that McGill practiced.
It ended in a 0-0 tie in front of 500 attendees at the game.
Just off the coast of Newfoundland, there are two small islands: Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
They are not part of Canada, but are a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France.
So, why are those two islands not part of Canada? Let's learn more!
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For centuries before European arrival, the Beothuk and Mi'kmaq people visited the islands.
In 1536, Jacques Cartier arrived and claimed the islands for Francis I, King of France.
It was not until 1670 that the islands became permanently inhabited by Europeans.
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In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, France ceded the islands to Britain.
Half a century later in 1763, the Treaty of Paris saw France cede New France to Britain. Under the treaty, those two islands off Newfoundland's coast were returned to France.
Western Canada is in a heatwave right now. Where I am, it is 33 C until Thursday.
Air conditioners are going to be running a lot during the coming days, but how did settlers a century or more ago stay cool?
Let's explore how to beat the heat settler-style!
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Out in the prairie, settlers who just arrived typically built sod houses.
These unique houses, called soddies, were relatively cool in the summer. While not so great when it rained, they offered a respite from the heat of the prairie.
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Clothes were also made of natural fibres like cotton, which was much cooler in the hot weather.
Some houses were built so that the front door and back door created a cool air conduit through the house when opened.
Every so often, the idea of Guaranteed Basic Income comes up as a political topic in Canada.
In the 1970s, Manitoba conducted the Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment to see the social impact of a guaranteed income.
This is the story of Mincome 👇💵
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The Mincome project was funded jointly by Manitoba's NDP government under Edward Schreyer and the federal Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau.
It officially launched via a news release on Feb. 22, 1974.
The test areas were primarily Winnipeg and Dauphin.
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In Winnipeg and Dauphin, lower-income households were randomly allocated into seven treatment groups and a control group.
In the treatment groups, families received an income guarantee or minimum cash benefit according to family size.
Many Canadians know of The Group Of Seven, but have you heard of the Indigenous Group of Seven?
Formally known as the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation, it formed in 1973 with seven Indigenous artists to promote Indigenous art.
These are the artists 👇🖼️
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Daphne Odjig (1919 - 2016)
She was seen as the founder and driving force of the group. Her work was in the Woodlands and pictograph style. She had 30 solo exhibitions & 50 group exhibitions in her career. Her work has been displayed in the National Gallery of Canada.
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Alex Janvier (1935 - Present)
A pioneer of contemporary Indigenous art, he helped bring together artists for the "Indians of Canada" Pavilion at Expo 67. He is described as the first Canadian native modernist. His artwork often uses his own visual language.