Born on the Poundmaker Reserve in Saskatchewan on July 18, 1899, John Tootoosis was the son of Mary Theresa and John Tootoosis. His grandfather was Yellow Mud Blanket, whose brother was the legendary Cree leader Poundmaker. Tootoosis would say...
Canada has had a long history of Indigenous actors who have found fame in film and television, including Graham Greene and Chief Dan George. Today, I am looking at one of the first, who played an iconic character and helped to bring in a new...
Not many Indigenous leaders can say they have met with the King of England, but the man they called Joe Capilano can claim that and he did it for his people. Joe Capilano was born around 1854 near Squamish, British Columbia. At birth, his name was...
One of the most influential Indigenous leaders of the early 19th century in Canada was a man by the name of Joseph Brant and today I am looking at his amazing life. Born around what is today Akran, Ohio in March of either 1742 or 1743, Brant was...
When we look at the North West Resistance of 1885, most of the focus is on Louis Riel. He is the one who was tried for treason and hanged in Regina. He is the one seen as the leader of the Metis and the man who fought for their rights and to...
She may not be as well known as she should be in Canada, but Mary Two-Axe Early had a huge impact on Canada and the rights of Indigenous women. Arriving late in life to activism, she would campaign tirelessly for her cause and succeed in her quest...
Canada has had several literary celebrities that have made a name for themselves internationally. There has been Robert Munsch, Farley Mowat, Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013. Arguably the first...
The Canadian West was an open landscape with few settlements, but the Canadian government wanted to change that. The Indigenous had occupied the landscape for millennia, shaping it and being shaped by it. Things began to change when fur traders...
It was one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Canadian West, but from that would come an iconic symbol of Canada. At the same time, the outlaw nature of the Wild West of America would be stopped. Sadly, it all began with the slaughter of...
Through the 20th century, Indigenous men and women began to break down barriers that had been put up over decades by governments and organizations. From becoming senators, soldiers, Members of Parliament and more, I have featured several on my...