Backyard History

Wherever you go in Canada there are places to learn about families and family life throughout our past.

HAPPY HOLIDAY

Alberta was the first province to set aside a day in February and call it Family Day. Saskatchewan, Ontario, British Columbia and New Brunswick now also have a Family Day holiday, although they’re not all on the same day. If you live in one of these provinces, how do you and your family celebrate?

DESCENDANTS OF A FILLE >>

This “tree” at the Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., honours Catherine Moitié, one of the first filles du roi to come to New France. She has more than 600 descendants who are shown as branches and leaves.

If you are not First Nations, Inuit or Métis, how did your family arrive in Canada?? Thousands of immigrants came through Pier 21 after a journey by boat. The site in Halifax is now an immigration museum with a special area where you can research those early family members. Not all stories of family life are happy ones, but we need to know about them if we want to understand each other and our country. The Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg has areas that explore the impact of residential schools, the destruction of the Black Nova Scotia community of Africville, and other things that have affected families. Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site sits on an island near GrosseÎle, Que. Many families hoping to come to Canada from Europe in the 1830s and 1840s ended up getting sick and dying here before they ever reached their new homes.

Visit one of the many wonderful First Nations museums all over Canada to learn how families lived in the past and continue their traditions now. Check out the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, B.C., the Huronia Museum’s HuronOuendat Village near Midland, Ont., Batoche National Historic Site in Saskatchewan or find a spot that’s near you.