It is #IndigenousHistoryMonth and this is the story of Mistahi-maskwa, also known as Big Bear.

Big Bear was born around 1825 near Jackfish Lake in present-day Saskatchewan. His father was a minor chief of 80 Cree-Saulteaux people & a large influence of Big Bear.

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As a young man, Big Bear was a great warrior & he became chief upon his father's death in 1864.
In 1870, he led the Cree into battle at the Battle of Belly River, in present-day Lethbridge, which is the last battle fought between First Nations in Canada.

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In 1876, all the major Plains Cree chiefs had signed Treaty 6 except Big Bear. He attempted to warn them against signing, believing the government would not fulfill its promises.
He was left with no choice but to sign in 1882 due to the starvation of his people.

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During the North-West Resistance, Big Bear had a relatively minor role, and attempted to stop the violence at Duck Lake on March 26, 1885. Nonetheless, he was held responsible by the government.
On July 2, 1885, he surrendered to the NWMP at Fort Carleton.

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Big Bear was sentenced to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary. He was released after less than two years due to ill health.
He died on Jan. 17, 1888 at Little Pine Reserve.
While Poundmaker was exonerated of treason in 2019, Big Bear, so far, has not been.

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More from @CraigBaird

Aug 23
It is the longest recreational, multi-use trail network in the world.
The trail extends over 28,000 km and took 25 years to complete.
Today, it is maintained by thousands of people.
This is the story of the Trans Canada Trail!

🧵 1/12 A map of Canada and parts of the United States, with a highlighted trail route marked in green, blue, and orange lines stretching across Canada from the east coast to the west coast, passing through cities like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal. The map includes labels for geographical features such as Hudson Bay, Great Bear Lake, and Lake Huron, and cities like Seattle, Chicago, and New York.
The idea for the trail came about in 1992 as part of Canada's 125th anniversary celebrations.
The original goal was to have the entire trail made up of off-road gateways that followed existing trails, new trails and old railway lines.

🧵 2/12 A newspaper article titled "Canada 125 suggests cross-Canada trail" by Charles Russell. The text mentions a citizen staff writer project, detailing a proposal for a trans-Canada trail, its organization, funding of $36 per meter from private donors or corporations, and a negative response from corporate Canada.
To build the trail, it took funding from all levels of government, as well as thousands of organizations and companies.
The network that makes up the Trans Canada Trail consists of more than 400 community trails.

🧵 3/12 A scenic view of a gravel trail winding through lush greenery, flanked by trees and grass. In the foreground, a wooden fence holds two signs: one reading "CALEDON TRAILWAY" with a logo of a bird and sun, and another for the "TRANS CANADA TRAIL" featuring a stylized maple leaf and people.
Read 13 tweets
Aug 14
🎶 You don't know what you got 'til it's gone 🎶
There was a time when walking into certain department stores included the beautiful aromas of wonderful food.
Such was the case with the Zellers Restaurant.
This is its story!

🧵 1/6 Image
Zellers was established on Aug. 4, 1928 (some sources say 1931) in London, Ontario when Walter P. Zeller founded the first store. This first store was 7,000 square-feet and 60 women were hired on the opening day to work in 21 departments.

🧵 2/6 A black-and-white photograph of two men in formal suits sitting at a table, eating a meal with utensils. The table is set with plates, a glass of water, and a coffee cup. The background features a decorative curtain and ornate wall details.
As for The Skillet, the in-store restaurant brand, that debuted in 1960. In Quebec, it was known as Café Fleur de Lys.
The restaurants proved to be so popular that they began to pop up in many of the 300 Zellers locations across the country.

🧵 3/6 A black-and-white photo of a vintage diner kitchen with two women in aprons working behind the counter. The counter is equipped with various kitchen appliances, including a mixer and coffee urns, and is adorned with signs advertising menu items like "Golden Cheese Dream" and "Fish Fillet." The backdrop features the word "SKILLET" in large letters, and the setting includes hanging pots and a Coca-Cola sign.
Read 7 tweets
Aug 6
Anna Swan was much more than someone who grew to be 7'11".
She acted in Shakespeare, excelled in music and loved to play the piano.
She lived the life she wanted, and found her soulmate in the process.
This is the story of a fascinating woman.

🧵 1/9 A sepia-toned vintage studio portrait photograph from the 19th century shows a very tall woman, Anna Swan, standing to the left and wearing a plaid full-length dress with puffed sleeves, a high collar, a beaded necklace, and a decorative tiara on her head. She poses with one hand resting on her hip. To her right stands a much shorter man dressed in a formal suit with a bow tie, his arms crossed as he looks up toward her. The background is plain, and the floor has a patterned carpet.
The third of 13 children, Anna was 16 pounds at birth. By the age of four, she was 4 feet 6 inches. At six, she was 5 feet 2 inches.
She continued to grow and at 12 she was 6 feet 1 inches. At 18, she reached her full height of 7 feet 11 inches.

🧵2/9 A black-and-white vintage studio portrait from the 19th century shows four people of varying heights standing side by side. From left to right: a shorter man with a mustache and beard, dressed in a formal suit with a bow tie, holding a cane; a very tall man with a mustache, wearing a dark suit and tie, with his arm around the tall woman beside him; a very tall woman in an elaborate full-length dress with ruffled sleeves, a high collar, and floral hair adornment, holding a small fan or handkerchief; and a shorter woman in a long dress with puffed sleeves. The background is plain, and the flo...
Highly intelligent, she excelled in literature and music. She loved acting and singing, as well as playing the piano. At one point, she even played Lady Macbeth.
At 17, she started working for P.T. Barnum to bring in money for her family.

🧵3/9 A sepia-toned vintage studio portrait from the 19th century shows a very tall woman standing in the center, wearing a dark hat with lace trim, dangling earrings, a multi-strand necklace, and a light-colored full-length dress with ruffled bodice and long sleeves. She holds a small object in her hand and smiles slightly. To her left stands a much shorter woman in a dark full-length dress and head covering, looking up at the tall woman with her hand on her hip. To her right stands a much shorter man in a formal dark suit and tie, also looking up with his arms crossed. The background is plain, ...
Read 10 tweets
Aug 3
When you wear denim jeans with a denim jacket, you create a very unique look. Sometimes you can even include a denim shirt.
This look is known as The Canadian Tuxedo....but why?
It all began in the 1950s in Vancouver. This is the story.

🧵 1/7 A young man with a large afro hairstyle and sunglasses, dressed in a denim jacket, jeans, and brown boots, posing with one hand on his hip and the other on a yellow and black motorcycle in a grassy rural field with trees and buildings in the background.
It all began when Bing Crosby was checking into an upscale Vancouver hotel in 1951 after a hunting trip. Walking in, he was wearing a denim jacket and jeans.
The hotel clerk, Art Cameron, stated he thought the person coming in was an unhoused person.

🧵 2/7 Three people sitting on the ground against a wooden log fence in an outdoor setting: a young boy on the left in a blue shirt looking thoughtful, a middle-aged man in the center wearing a straw hat, red bandana, checkered shirt under a denim jacket, and holding a rope, and another boy on the right in a plaid shirt and cowboy hat smiling, with boots hanging on the fence above and a coiled rope nearby.
This is because denim was something worn by miners, rail workers and cowboys at the time. When a bellhop explained that it was Bing Crosby, Cameron apologized and booked Crosby a room.

🧵 3/7 A black-and-white photo of a man in a white cowboy hat, dark suit with wide lapels, red ribbon, and smoking a pipe, walking through a crowd of people including children, women in dresses, and men in military uniforms, who are clapping, reaching out, and cheering along a roped pathway outside a building with an "EXPRESS AGENCY" sign.
Read 8 tweets
Aug 2
Alexander Graham Bell changed history with his creation of the first practical telephone.
He spent a lot of his life in Canada in Brantford and Nova Scotia, and had a large impact on our history.
This is the story of Bell and Canada.

🧵 1/12 Black and white portrait of Alexander Graham Bell, an elderly man with white hair and beard, wearing a suit and tie.
Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he was 23, his brother Melville died of tuberculosis. Bell's parents decided to move out of fear their other children would die. In August 1870, they moved to Canada and settled in Brantford.

🧵 2/12 Black and white portrait of a younger Alexander Graham Bell with dark curly hair, mustache, and beard, wearing a bow tie and suit, looking to the side.
One year later, Bell took a teaching job at a school for the deaf in Boston. This began a pattern of working in the United States and spending summers with his family in Brantford. It was at the family home his telephone idea began to take shape.

🧵 3/12 Black and white photograph of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel standing arm-in-arm in front of their Victorian-style home with ornate porch, attached greenhouse, and surrounding trees.
Read 13 tweets
Jul 31
On July 31, 1987, an F4 (possibly an F5) tornado hit the eastern parts of Edmonton and Strathcona County.
It left 27 dead, injured 300 and caused $332 million in damages.
This is the story of Black Friday.

📸 Steve Simon

🧵 1/12 The provided photo shows the iconic image of the 1987 Edmonton tornado, captured by photographer Steve Simon. It depicts a large, wedge-shaped funnel cloud descending from a dark storm sky, touching down over an industrial area known as Refinery Row in eastern Edmonton, Alberta. The tornado appears as a bright, contrasting formation against the blackened background, with buildings, utility poles, and structures visible in the foreground.
For a week prior to July 31, a low pressure system in southwestern BC was feeding warm and humid air into central Alberta. Hot weather in Alberta was triggering thunderstorms all week.
Then, on July 31, a cold front developed in Western Alberta.

📸 Peter Cutler

🧵 2/12 The photo depicts the 1987 Edmonton tornado as a large, wedge-shaped funnel cloud, brightly illuminated against a dark stormy sky, descending and touching down over an industrial area with buildings, warehouses, and cylindrical storage tanks visible below. The image has a grainy texture typical of 1980s film photography.
This cold front collided with the warm moist air, creating a recipe for severe thunderstorms.
One storm developed that began to move northeast towards Leduc, south of Edmonton.
At 2:59, the first tornado was spotted.

🧵 3/12 The photo shows a narrow, rope-like tornado funnel descending from dark, ominous clouds and touching down across a multi-lane highway, where vehicles with headlights on are visible amid reduced visibility. Trees and bushes appear in the foreground, suggesting the viewpoint is from an elevated or nearby area.
Read 13 tweets

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