The First Nations and Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador were never part of any treaty negotiations. When Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, the Mi'kmaq and lnnu in this new province were not registered under the Indian Act and reserves were not created for them. In 1984, the Miawpukek [meow-boo-geek)(conne River) First Nation was recognized by the Canadian government as an official band under the Indian Act. In 2005, negotiations toward registration for the Mi'kmaw groups affiliated with the Federation of Newfoundland Indians are ongoing. The lnnu were registered under the Indian Act in 2000; a reserve was created at Natuashish [nad-wah-sheeshj in 2003, and one is being created for Sheshatshiu [shay sha-jew]. On 22 January 2005, Canada, Labrador Inuit, and Newfoundland and Labrador signed the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement. Labrador Inuit will own land and be self-governing. Many people who are descendants of Inuit women and European settlers in Labrador are represented by the Labrador Metis Nation, and they are also making land claims. What was life like for people who immigrated to Canada in the years 1870 to 1914? 1 j! 1. How did the experiences of First Nations and Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador compare with the experiences of First Nations in the Maritime provinces? Use a comparison chart to show your ideas. 2. Think back to the apology you read at the beginning of this chapter. It is part of a Statement of Reconciliation made by the Canadian government. A reconciliation is when people try to put the events of the past behind them and move toward a better relationship. Write your personal thoughts on the apology. These questions might help guide your thinking: Why was the apology given? How might it help reconciliation? What else might Canadians have to do to ensure that Aboriginal peoples are empowered? From 18 70 to 1914, approximately 4.5 million men, women, and children from many different countries and cultures immigrated to Canada. The majority of these immigrants came after I 896. They left behind all that they knew and faced great hardship in the hope of improving their lives. Some immigrants came on their own. Many came with their families. Sometimes several families from one country immigrated together as a group. For example, there might have been a group of immigrants from the same region or of the same religion who hoped to set up a community together. The variety of languages, religions, and values that they brought with them-combined with those of peoples already herecontributed to creating Canada as it is today. In this chapter, you can read about government immigration policies during these years and learn about some of the peoples who came to Canada. Who Were We? Heritage 1871 British- 2 110 502 French 1082940 Other European 239 873 Aboriginal 23 037t Asiatic (Chinese and Japanese) 4 1911 3 999 081 2 061 719 944 783 105 611 43 213 By looking at these census statistics, what conclusions can you draw about how Canadian society changed between 1871 and 1911? What questions do these statistics raise in your mind? I! I ' African 21 496 Other or not stated 7 909 16994 32 242 looki~ Back ~ This chapter described the struggles of Aboriginal peoples to keep their identities. In your Empowerment Journal, make some notes on what you can do to feel strong within your own culture and how you can help others to feel strong within theirs. "Included people from Ireland. "Census figures for Aboriginal peoples may not be accurate. During this time, people who lived far from towns and cities would not have been counted. Source: Statistics Canada. Unit 4: Many Voices
,. When you read the Closer Look feature in this section, look for ideas you could use if you were reporting on an immigrant group. A Closer look Iceland is a large island in the North Atlantic. Canada had an "open door" immigration policy in the 1870s and 1880s. There were very few rules about who could immigrate to Canada, and just about anyone was welcome. Few people were interested in coming to Canada, however. At the time, most immigration to North America was from Europe, and not many Europeans chose to come to Canada. The United States seemed more attractive to people looking for new homes. Its prairies had more communities, and its eastern cities offered more jobs in a variety of industries. The weather was also milder in the United States-Canada had a reputation for being "the frozen north"! To encourage immigration, the federal and provincial governments provided help for people who wanted to immigrate, and some groups did take advantage of this help. In the Closer Look feature that starts on this page, you can read about the Icelanders who came to Nova Scotia in the 1870s. The kinds of choices and challenges they faced were similar for many immigrants throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. f "' '. In the late I 860s, the situation for farmers in Iceland was desperate. The last few winters had been very harsh, and an epidemic had killed off large numbers of sheep. Sheep were the base of the economy. Volcanic activity was also spreading a thick layer of ash over the farmland. There were some wealthy landowners, but the many families who rented their land faced starvation. Some young men decided to investigate the idea of immigration to North America. Sigtryggur Jonasson was the first Icelander to come to Canada. In 1873, he encouraged a group of I I 5 Icelanders to immigrate to Ontario. Then, in the autumn of I 874, a second group of 365 Icelanders. -....... ' ' i.. \. ',..-. "'...,... ~-- - - ".!\ arrived to homestead in Kinmount. Ontario. Many of the Icelanders who eventually went to Nova Scotia were part of this Kinmount group. This is a photograph of Icelandic passengers on the Allan Line's St. Patrick, en route to Canada in 1874. The voyage took 12 days. One Icelander who settled in Nova Scotia, J6n Rognvaldsson, kept a diary of the voyage. He recorded that there were strong winds, fog, snow, and icebergs along the way. Many people got sick, and the food on board was poor. Settling in Nova Scotia. In the meantime, the government of Nova Scotia had been working on ways to attract settlers. It offered to help the Icelanders settle in an area called Mooseland Heights, between the communities of Caribou Gold Mines and Mooseland. Each family would be given I 00 acres (about 40 hectares) and a log cabin. The government would pay the new immigrants to build a road between the ommunities. This work would give the families some income and help the three communities to prosper. It seemed like a good plan and a generous offer. These people would never have had a chance to own land back in Iceland. When they arrived in Canada in I 874, some Icelandic families chose to settle in Nova Scotia instead of Kinmount. They called their new home Markland. The first winter at Kinmount went very badly for the settlers, so nineteen more families moved from Kinmount to Nova Scotia the following spring. In I 876, another nineteen families came from Iceland to Markland. Eight or nine other Icelandic families settled in Lockeport, Nova Scotia, to try their hand at fishing. NEW BRUNSWICK Building Communities 0 100 km Scale ATLANTIC OCEAN The Icelanders who settled in Nova Scotia found life in their new home a challenge. The roadbuilding work was hard labour that was made even harder by thick forests, swamps, and swarms of flies. There are very few trees in Iceland, so at first the men knew nothing about logging. But the settlers worked on, hoping that things would improve in the future when their farms got going. People slowly built their communities. They set up schools for their children and brought in teachers. The Icelanders were Lutheran, a Protestant Church. At first, church services were held in a school, then a minister came from the community of Lunenburg, and a church was built. One or two small stores opened up. Over the years, a few more families arrived from Iceland to join these communities. Couples got married, and each year more children were born to the communities. ' I '1. 1' 1: '1 1 )I,,
Life wasn't all work. People got together for fun whenever they could. Storytelling is an important tradition in Icelandic culture. On long winter nights, people entertained one another by telling stories or reading from favourite books they had brought with them from Iceland. The diaries of the settlers tell about how much they enjoyed the countryside in summer. Sundays were for resting and having a special meal with family. Moving On By the early 1880s, it was clear to everyone that Mooseland Heights was not suitable for farming. The soil was too poor for crops or pasture. Also, the gold had run out at Caribou Gold Mines, so there was little opportunity there. The settlers in Lockeport hadn't done any better. They had arrived at a time when fishing was poor, and they had never managed to get established. Between 1881 and 1882, all the Markland settlers left the area to look for better opportunities in the West. Most Icelanders also left Lockeport. Some settlers moved to North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States. Other settlers joined the growing Icelandic communities in Winnipeg and Gimli, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Today, Gimli is still an important centre for Icelandic culture. This painting from 1911 shows a woman wearing a peysufot-the everyday outfit of Icelandic women in the late 1800s. The name means "sweater suit" in English and comes from the knit wool jacket that is worn as a top. This type of outfit was a simple form of the national costume of Iceland. 1. Read the How To feature below. Then make an outline of the information in the Closer Look feature on pages 184-186. 2. When historians look at reasons for immigration, they look for push factors. These are the reasons why people want to leave their homes-what "pushes" them to go somewhere else. Historians also look for pull factors. These are the reasons why people are attracted to another place-what"pulls"them there. Identify the push and pull factors that brought immigrants from Iceland to Nova Scotia. How To An outline is like a map that shows the parts of your report. You might have seen a site map at a Web site-it lists all the topics and subtopics at the site. An outline for a report is the same kind of thing. One way to do an outline is if1 the form of focus questions, like the example shown here. This kind of outline isn't only for written reports. You can use it to organize information for an oral report, a display, or just about any other kind of presentation. This photograph from c. 1900 was taken in Manitoba, but it shows the kinds of homes the Markland settlers would have built. Title: Early Mennonite Communities in Manitoba TOPIC 1: LEAVING EUROPE --- Subtopic: Who were the Mennonites and why did they leave Europe? Subtopic: How did they travel to Canada? SubtoQiQ How did they choose a spot for their community2. To complete your report, you'll also need an introduction and a conclusion. Source:Text based on information from the Web site of the Icelandic Memorial Society of Nova Scotia, 15 November 2004. TOPIC 2: THE FARLY YEARS --o------ Subtopi~: What were the first things the Mennonites had to do? -- SubtoQlQ What was daily life like 1n the new community? -----'"-------- Subtopic: What hardships did they face? ------- l Chapter 10: Creating Canada 187
Advertising in the United States I. I. 1: Take the time to look at the details of the images in this section. By the 1890s, the government of Canada had become very disappointed at how few people were immigrating to Canada. It was especially concerned that people were not settling the Prairies. Immigration to this region was slow even though the government offered cheap land, the railway provided easy transportation, and relations with First Nations were generally peaceful. In 1896, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier assigned the job of increasing immigration to Clifford Sifton. Sifton decided that the solution was to do a better job of letting people know how much Canada had to offer hard-working farmers. Sifton came up with one of the greatest advertising campaigns of all time. The rest of this section tells you how the campaign worked and who was invited to settle in Canada. The American West was filling up with European immigrants and Americans who were moving there from the East. The best land had been taken, and what was left was now expensive. An American farmer could sell the family farm and have plenty of money to buy a larger farm in Canada. There were also people from minority religious groups, such as Hutterites and Mormons, who were facing discrimination in the US and were looking for new places to live. Clifford Sifton thought this would be a good time to encourage Americans to come north. He invited news reporters to Canada to see how good things were. Of course, he showed them only the best places. They went back to the United States and wrote articles about how wonderful it was in Canada. Sifton also took out advertisements in 6000 American newspapers. Sifton's approach worked. In the late 1800s, Americans were the largest group of immigrants in the Districts of Alberta and Saskatchewan. They often did very well because they had experience with farming in similar climates and had a lot of money to set up their farms or ranches. The Home Children are included in the statistics on British immigrants. You may recall reading about them in Chapter 1. Advertising in Great Britain In Great Britain, the population was growing fast, and there wasn't enough work in the cities for everyone. Most farmers rented land from landowners. These farms were small, and people could barely meet their needs. These experienced farmers were the immigrants Sifton wanted. Canadian immigration agents set up offices in Britain and toured the country, handing out pamphlets and putting on displays of Canadian farm products. As he had done with American reporters, Sifton brought British news reporters to Canada. Once again, Sifton's plans worked. In 1900, before the advertising campaign, fewer than 1200 Britons immigrated to Canada. This number rose to 65 000 immigrants for 1905! Sifton's advertising campaign ~ included posters. Advertisements always have "hooks"to try to interest people in the product. This poster was aimed at people living in Great Britain. What are some of its hooks? This photograph from 1911 shows the Canadian Emigration Offices in London. What perspective of life in Canada do you think the agents presented to people? Why might it have been hard for immigrants to find out about other perspectives? 188 Unit 4: Many Voices Chapter 10: Creating Canada 189
To emigrate is to leave your own country to live in another. Encouraging Eastern and Northern Europeans to Immigrate Clifford Sifton also looked for immigrants from other parts of Europe. He was especially interested in Ukraine, Poland, and Germany because people from these countries were known to be hardworking and experienced farmers. The land and climate of Ukraine were very similar to the land and climate of the Canadian Prairies, so Ukrainians in particular would know how to survive the cold winters. Because many people in central and eastern Europe lived in extreme poverty, the offer of almost-free land in Canada would be a big attraction. Emigrating would also give people a chance to escape from the harsh laws and unfair governments in their homelands. It was against the laws of these countries to encourage people to emigrate. Sifton got around this problem by getting the steamship companies to help him. He paid them a bonus for every suitable immigrant they brought to Canada. Agents from the steamship companies went to villages and offered to sell people very cheap tickets, as well as make the arrangements to get them to the steamships. The agents often made it sound like the trip to Canada would be a luxury cruise. By 1913, people from Ukraine were the secondlargest group of immigrants to Canada (next to the British). Many immigrants sold everything they had just to pay their fares. Make your own poster advertising Canada to one of the groups in this section (the British, Americans, or eastern or northern Europeans). Think of the push and pull factors that would appeal to people, and use these ideas to persuade people to immigrate. This photograph shows a Ukrainian family arriving in Quebec in 1911. Many immigrants came through the ports of Montreal and Quebec City. From there, they took trains west. How do you think a historian could tell these were Ukrainian settlers? 1 i I This is an example of a card advertising Canada that steamship ~ agents would secretly give to people in the European communities they visited. The middle one is in Ukrainian. The top is in Croatian, and the bottom is in Czech-two other languages spoken in eastern Europe. You can probably imagine that life in Canada wasn't as perfect as Clifford Sifton's advertising made it out to be. Many people arrived with little more than a few dollars and the clothes they were wearing. Others found it very hard to cope with the "rough and ready" culture and the loneliness of rural!if e. Despite these difficulties, thousands stayed and made good lives for themselves. The information that starts on the next page describes how immigrants kept their cultures alive while working together to create a new nation. In other words, it is the story of how they created a multicultural country. Each of the headings in this section refers to one important part of culture. 190 Unit 4: Many Voices Chapter 10: Creating Canada 191
I I Meeting Basic Needs The first thing immigrants hadto do was find a place to live and a way to get food. People who settled in cities in the East usually tried to find a room to rent. The living conditions were often very poor-no running water, cooking facilities, or heat. Then the newcomers looked for any kind of work. Most male newcomers worked as labourers in jobs such as construction or road building. Women found jobs as servants in wealthier houses. In the Prairies, families had to build houses. A family's first home was often a sod house. It was made by cutting blocks of earth from riverbanks, where the dirt was held solidly together by roots. The blocks were used like bricks to make walls. As soon as possible, the family built another house, using logs or planks. Before the settlers headed out to their homesteads, they had to buy basics such as flour and dried peas. This food had to last until the first harvest. Even when settlers' farms were doing well, many of their meals were based on whatever wild game they could get, such as rabbit. Expressing Thoughts and Feelings Being in a new place with a totally different culture can make you feel unsure about your identity. Although most immigrants were willing to adapt to life in Canada in some ways, they were still proud of their cultures and wanted to keep some of their traditions. In the Prairies, many immigrants in Canada set up communities with other people from their homelands. People from the same villages often settled near each other to create a farming community. The government of Canada helped out by setting aside areas for particular groups. These were called block settlements. In cities, people from the same backgrounds formed neighbourhoods. Living close to others who shared their culture helped immigrants adjust to their new lives. They could talk to neighbours in their first language and get together for religious and other celebrations. If a family had a problem, there were other families with the same values to help sort things out. This photograph from c. 1900-1903 shows settlers in Alberta playing a polo match. At the time, polo was a popular game in all parts of the British Empire. How can playing familiar sports help keep a culture strong? ' Whether they settled in urban or rural areas, immigrants'first homes in Canada were very basic. These photographs show a sod house in central Saskatchewan c. 1900 and immigrant housing in Winnipeg in 1912. What do you think people said to help themselves through these early years? This barn raising took place in Manitoba in 1912. Having everyone help out was an efficient way to get the job done, but it was also a chance to have fun. How can working together on a project help people build strong communities? 192 Unit 4: Many Voices Chapter 10: Creating Canada 193
Something in Common To do business and get along in the world, immigrants also had to learn to communicate with others. The most important step in making this possible was to learn a common language. Although French was spoken in many communities in the Prairies, immigrants in all provinces except Quebec were encouraged to learn English. So there might have been ten children in a classroom who each spoke a different language at home. At school, they all learned English and, at the same time, they learned new ideas. Over time, people began to share their traditions, and gradually more communities included a mix of people from many different places. Getting Along Immigrants to Canada had to obey the laws of the country. In time, many immigrants became eligible to vote. They took part in politics and worked to shape the laws of the country. Since most immigrants had come to Canada for the economic opportunities, they were very willing to fit into the country's economic systems. They believed that, if they worked hard, they would get ahead. At home, however, people were free to follow the traditions of their cultures. Family structures were usually based on the customs and traditions that people had brought from their homelands. Millie Melnyk was a young girl when she left Ukraine with her parents and came to Alberta in the late 1800s. Years later, she still remembered her first day of school. I didn't know a word of English when I went to school at five. I remember the first day, I started to cry, and Mr. Cameron [the teacher] put me in a chair in front of his desk, the chair he used to sit on. He gave me a book to read, and I remember looking at the pictures but the tears were coming down. The Italians, or Hungarians or whatever, they didn't know English either, but they taught us first to sing. We sang in the morning and before noon. I learned all the Scotch songs and all the Irish songs. And of course you had to sing "God Save the King," all for learning English. Source: Eliane Leslau Silverman, The Last Best West: Women on the Alberta Frontier 1880-1930, 2004. 1. In your own words, explain why it was important for immigrants in the past to keep some of their cultural traditions, and why it is still important for immigrants today. This photograph from c. 1909 shows students outside their school in Huxley, Alberta. What part does school play in a society's culture? 2. Choose one of these ways to help you think about what life was like for immigrants. Imagine you have just returned from your first day at school, and your first day of trying to speak English. Write a letter to a friend back home that explains what it was like for you. Pick one of the historical photographs in this chapter, and imagine you are a character in the photograph. Write a caption that explains what you were doing in the picture and how you felt at the time. 194 Unit 4: Many Voices Chapter 10: Creating Canada 195
above give you about the information in this section?think back to earlier sections of this chapter. ~.,.........: H........ -, -.-,..# f\ - ~ ~ h_ ~-= - --- ~ '-. _, A Closer Look The first Chinese immigrants came to Canada in 1858, during the gold rush in British Columbia. However, the greatest number of Chinese immigrants came during the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. You may recall reading about them in Chapter 8. After the railway was completed in 1885, some Chinese men returned to their families in China. Many chose to stay or could not afford the passage back to China. Even though they had worked hard and saved their wages, there wasn't much left in the end because the companies often deducted so many expenses. Settling in Canada The Chinese men who stayed in Canada found jobs as cooks, storekeepers, farmers, and Did you notice anything in particular about Canada's immigration policies in the late 1800s? Did you notice who was missing? Canada's immigration policy left out most of the world! Clifford Sifton's advertising campaigns were mostly aimed at people who were White, British or American, and English-speaking. Sifton stretched the policy a little to allow immigrants from northern and eastern Europe, but many Canadians did not approve of this plan. Any other people who wanted to come to Canada had a hard time getting information, and they didn't receive money to help them settle. For example, in the American campaign, African-Americans were discouraged from coming to Canada. Another group that suffered from these racist policies was the Chinese. servants. In the Prairies, the Chinese often settled in towns along the rail line. They usually opened laundries or restaurants or sold vegetables from their gardens. There was a great demand for these kinds of businesses in the growing communities-besides, discrimination made it hard for Chinese people to get other kinds of work. In Central Canada, the Maritimes, and Newfoundland, the Chinese usually settled in the larger cities. By the late 1890s, records show Chinese-owned laundries operating in Halifax, St. John's, and Saint John. It was a lonely life for many early Chinese immigrants. Canadian laws made it very difficult for families to come to Canada, so it was mostly men who immigrated. They sent money back to China to help support their families and hoped to see them again one day. Anti-Chinese Policies Once the Chinese workers were no longer needed to build the railway, the Canadian government brought in laws to discourage Chinese immigration. At the time, many people believed that the Chinese were inferior to people of European heritage and would not make good Canadian citizens. Today, it is hard to understand this prejudice, but it was quite common then. One anti-chinese law was the head tax. This was a fee that all Chinese immigrants had to pay before they were allowed to enter Canada. When the tax was introduced in 1885, it was $50 per person (or "head"), but over the years it rose to $500-a huge amount of money for the time. In 1923, a new immigration policy stopped all Chinese from coming to Canada. It was not until the 1940s that these attitudes started to change, and Canadians of Chinese heritage were given the same rights as other Canadians. This 1912 photograph shows the Sam Wing Laundry in Bowden, Alberta. By the late 1800s, there were similar laundries in towns all across Canada. This photograph shows a traditional Chinese lion dance in a Canada Day parade in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 2004.
Taking It Further Here are some questions to help you analyze the experiences of Chinese immigrants in the late 1800s. a) What were the push and pull factors that brought Chinese immigrants to Canada? b) In what ways were they empowered by their experiences in Canada? c) In what ways were they disempowered? Find Out Research and report on one immigrant group, individual, or family who came to Canada any time between 1870 and 1914. This could be a very big project, so it is important to spend some time thinking about the topics and subtopics you want to examine and the best ways to present your information. In this unit, you learned how different groups in Canada's past worked to keep their cultures strong. You found out that Canadians' ideas and attitudes about minority cultures have changed over the centuries, as Canada has become a multicultural nation. You might also be aware that we still have to work on some issues to make sure we are a fair and just society for people of all cultures. Improve Understanding of Other Cultures Sometimes Canadians are not fair to one another because they don't understand the many cultures that make up Canadian society. Make a display to help people understand multiculturalism in Canada. As part of your display, you may want to include demographic and other information about immigration to Canada today. In this chapter, you learned about the experiences of immigrant groups in Canada from 1870 to 1914. What did you learn that might make a difference to your attitude toward immigrants today? You might want to make some notes in your Empowerment Journal. ' ow~ The rules for immigrating to Canada are set down in the Immigration Act. The first version of the Immigration Act was written in 1869. Over the years, the act has often been changed. Examining the changes tells you a lot about how Canadian culture and values have changed. One important change since the 1960s is that the policies on who will be accepted into Canada have become less racist. Today, decisions are based mostly on an individual's abilities and on whether or not his or her job skills are needed in Canada. But many people disagree about other parts of our immigration policy. Some say Canada should take in more people who are living with poverty. Others say we should have less immigration so that there are more jobs for Canadians. These are important issues to discuss because the decisions we make about immigration today will affect Canada's future. 198 Unit 4: Many Voices 199