(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the second of a running series of columns in which Sonja Herter (Korol) is detailing the history of Canada in light of the country’s 150th anniversary in 2017.)
Close to 40 years followed John Cabot’s journey before there were significant explorations of the New World. In 1534, Jacques Cartier was commissioned by the King of France to find the shortest route to the Orient and its riches. He landed in Newfoundland and continued to explore up to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
There were settlements of natives in some parts of what is now Eastern Canada. Cartier met an Iroquois tribe and their chief Donnacona where gifts of knives and hatchets were exchanged for furs. He claimed this land for France.
This upset the Iroquois as they claimed the land. Their settlements were Stadacona, which is now Quebec City, and Hochelaga, known now as Montreal. The area became known as ‘Kanata’ meaning ‘village’ in Iroquois.
To prove he had found a new world Cartier kidnapped two of the chief’s sons to take back to France. Further explorations by Cartier followed in the next few years with scurvy taking many lives of Indigenous people, crew members and settlers during that time. Again on a trip back to France, six Iroquois were taken back, including the chief who died soon after. The Iroquois became enraged and Cartier abandoned the French settlements. He thought he took back riches in the form of gold and diamonds, which proved to be quartz and fool’s gold. The final voyage in 1541 was Cartier’s last and the given name Canada remains to the present.
Memories of teaching days are brought back in doing research on Canadian history. While teaching Social Studies for grades 5 and 6 in the 1960s and 70s, the early explorations were taught at that time. I am sure it will jostle many early school day memories for readers as we embrace history on this 150th birthday of Confederation.
