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Two Indian Youth, in the year 1535, told Jacques Cartier about a route to "kanata."
They actually
showed him the way to the Village Stadacona, (today Quebec City)
and the word "kanata" is simply the Huron-Iroquois word for "Village" or "Settlement."
Cartier kept using this name for Stadacona and also for the entire area
surrounding Stadacona. Later, that name was applied for a much
greater area as maps from 1547 show, it included everything north
of the Lawrence River and the "kanata" was spelled "Canada."
Sir John A. Macdonald
(1815 - 1891)
John A. Macdonald was Canada's
first Prime Minister,
and was knighted for his efforts in
bringing about Confederation.
His role in creating Canada,
and the realization of his dream
to build a transcontinental railway,
have fixed his place as a nation-builder in Canadian history.
The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879,
under the name Dominion Day.
Sir John A. Macdonald was appointed as
Canada's first Prime Minister and won the election in August
On October 27, 1982, July 1st which was known as "Dominion Day" became "Canada Day".
The Maple Tree played a very important role in Canada's history.
It associated itself with Maple Syrup and had great wood value in building houses, wood floors etc., due to its hardness, and it also added a beauty to the Canadian Landscape.
The maple tree has been officially proclaimed national arboreal emblem of Canada on April 25th, 1996 and the Canada Gazette published it in May 15th, 1996.
Prime Ministers Of Canada:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/canada/canpms.htm
Provincial Flags Of Canada:
§ http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/canada/cansymbols.htm
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· What's In A Name?
Originally, the name loosely referred to the vast area
north and west of Lake Superior.
Through the years, it was divided into various districts,
the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
Saskatchewan and Manitoba
and the territory of Yukon. Most recently,
the Northwest Territories
were further divided, a large portion
of which became Nunavut in 1999
The first historical notation of 'Yukon'
was made by John Bell,
an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1846,
and applied to the Yukon River.
'Yukon' derives from the Indian word
'Yu-kun-ah', meaning 'great river'.
The Yukon Territory was established on June 13, 1898
Created as a new territory in 1993 and officially
the newest part of Canada on April 1, 1999,
Nunavut now comprises the
entire former District of Keewatin,
the northeastern portion of the District of Franklin,
and portions of the Victoria and Melville islands.
'Nunavut' means 'our land' in the Inuktitut (Inuit) language.
Originally, the province was to be called 'New Caledonia',
but, since the name was already
in use in the South Pacific,
the name was discarded in favour of British Columbia.
'Columbia' derives from the Columbia River,
named by American Captain Robert Gray
for his ship the 'Columbia', and the name had been
generally applied to the southern portion of the colony.
'British Columbia' appears to have
originated with Queen Victoria.
An official proclamation in 1858 designated the name
In 1882, the District of Alberta was created and was later enlarged
on September 1, 1905, to become the province of Alberta.
'Alberta' was in honour of
Her Royal Highness Princess Louise Caroline Alberta
(daughter of Queen Victoria),
the wife of Canadian Governor General the Marquess of Lorne (1878-1883).
'Saskatchewan' derives originally from the Cree
name applied to the Saskatchewan River:
'Kisiskatchwani Sipi', meaning 'swift-flowing river'.
The name was first officially applied
to the District of Saskatchewan
when it was designated part
of the North West Territories in 1882.
Saskatchewan became a province in 1905.
Originally, the name was applied to Lake Manitoba
and extended to the new province.
'Manitoba' most probably derives from the
Cree word 'maniotwapow',
which means 'the strait of the spirit or manitobau',
in reference to the
sound the water made on a beach on
Manitoba Island in Lake Manitoba,
giving rise to the Cree superstition
of a manito (spirit) beating a drum.
Manitoba was created in
1870 in order to settle the 'Red River Rebellion'.
Originally applied to the lake (Lake Ontario) in 1641,
and later to the shoreline
and finally to the province itself, the name has
definite American Indian roots.
'Ontario' derives either from 'Onitariio',
meaning 'beautiful lake', or 'Kanadario',
meaning 'sparkling' or 'beautiful' water.
Ontario was an original province
in the new Dominion of Canada, July 1, 1867.
Although earlier spellings such as 'Quebecq', 'Kébec' and
'Quebec' vary slightly, the names all
had the same derivation.
Originally applied to the area surrounding
early Ville de Québec (Quebec City),
the name was eventually applied also to the province.
'Qué'bec' derives from the Algonquin word for
'narrow passage', which the Indians had applied
to the portion of the
St. Lawrence River where the river narrowed
(at present-day Quebec City).
The word, which was common to
the Algonquin, Cree, and Micmac languages,
signified the same thing in each language.
Québec was one of the original provinces
in the new Dominion of Canada, July 1, 1867.
The most generally-accepted version of the
derivation of Labrador is that applied to
João Fernandes, a Portuguese explorer.
Fernandes was also a 'lavrador' (landholder) in the Azores.
The name originally applied to a
portion of modern-day Greenland,
but the name was later transfered to the
eastern coast of Canada by cartographers.
'Labrador' may well have come
about as the result of a 'typo'.
An inscription near Greenland
on the 1530 Weimar map stated: "...
And as the one who first gave notice of it
was a Labrador (sic) of the Azores (João Fernandes),
they gave it the name."
(The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume 1.)
The inscription could just
as easily have indicated the east coast of Canada.
Originally, New Brunswick was part of
Acadia and Nova Scotia. However,
following the American Revolution (1775-1783),
a large number of United Empire Loyalists
(colonists loyal to the Crown) were expelled from the new
United States and moved
north into the British colonies in Canada.
By 1784, as population grew to such a point that it was necessary to create a new and separate province.
Two of the early potential names
were 'New Ireland', which was
suggested by William Knox, the Under Secretary of State,
and 'Pittsylvania', named after the
then British prime minister William Pitt.
On September 10, 1784,
the official partition of Nova Scotia
took place and New Brunswick was created.
'New Brunswick' was eventually agreed upon in honour
of King George III
who had descended from the House of Brunswick.
When John Cabot sailed to North American in 1497,
he wrote about the 'new founde isle' (sic).
By 1502, official English
documents referred to Newfoundland as
'New found lande' (sic) and by 1510,
French documents called it 'Terre Neuve'
('New Land'). In 1529, a map drawn by
Giovanni da Verrazano used the name 'Terra Nova'.
'Newfoundland' had generally
been accepted since its discovery in
one form or another, and Newfoundland became the tenth
and last province to join Confederation on March 31, 1949.
When the island was acquired by the British in 1759,
it was named 'St. John's Island'.
Earlier, Samuel de Champlain had written
about 'L'île de Saint Jean' in 1604
and the name appeared on his map in 1632. ('Jean' is French for 'John'.)
In 1769, St. John's Island
became separate from Nova Scotia
and the name 'St. John's Island' remained until it
was changed to 'Prince Edward Island' in 1798.
'Prince Edward Island'
was named in honour of Prince Edward,
the Duke of Kent
and father of Queen Victoria. At the time,
Prince Edward was in
command of the British forces in Halifax.
Prince Edward Island
entered Confederation on July 1, 1873.
A symbol of Canadian identity
The official ceremony inaugurating the new Canadian flag
was held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
on February 15, 1965, with
Governor General Georges Vanier,
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson,
the members of the Cabinet and
thousands of Canadians in attendance.
The Canadian Red Ensign,
bearing the Union Jack
and the shield of the royal arms of Canada,
was lowered and then, on the
stroke of noon, our new maple leaf flag was raised.
The crowd sang the
national anthem
O Canada followed
by the royal anthem God Save the Queen.
The following words,
spoken on that momentous day by the
Honourable Maurice Bourget, Speaker of the Senate,
added further symbolic meaning to our flag:
"The flag is the symbol of the nation's unity, for it,
beyond any doubt, represents all the citizens of Canada
without distinction of race, language, belief or opinion."
Lester B. Pearson
(1897 - 1972)
Canadian Patriot Tunes:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/patriot_e.cfm
First Canadian Flags:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/df5_e.cfm
Canadian Anthem:
http://www.imagesoft.net/canada/ca-anth.html
This Land Is Your Land
(CANADIAN CHORUS)
This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From Bonavista
To Vancouver Island,
From the Artic Circle,
To the Great Lake waters,
This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled
And I followed my footsteps
To the fir-clad forests
Of our mighty mountains
And all around me
A voice was calling,
This land was made for you and me.
I followed your low hills
And I followed your cliff rims,
Your marble canyons
And sunny bright waters.
As the fog was lifting,
A voice was saying
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun comes shining
And I am strolling,
And the wheat fields waving
And dust clouds
rolling,
As the fog was lifting
A voice was calling,
This land was made for you and me.
![2 Chronicles 7:14 [37 kb]](http://img.heartlight.org/cards/g/2chronicles7_14.jpg)
Comfort Of Life:
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/comfortoflife/
Holidays In The 3rd Millennium:
holidaysinthe3rdmillennium@yahoogroups.com
