I collect stories of odd ethic migrations and encounters in Canada. Among them, I'm particularly fond of these:
After the Falklands War, a thousand Patagonian Welsh (fluent in both Spanish and Welsh) immigrated to Newfoundland, which had Welsh colonists in the 1620s. Another pocket of Patagonian Welsh settled in Saskatchewan in 1902.
Early French settlers in Canada where approached by Native People wanting to trade. Attempts to learn their language became confused when one of the French, born in Gascony, realized that the natives were speaking to them in Basque, which they assumed was the proper language for trading with Europeans.
Several Metis families in the West and Northwest Territories can trace their ancestry to the hundreds of Polynesians who entered the fur trade in the early 19th century.
Between 1878 an 1887, the Republic of New Iceland was recognized by the Canadian Government as the legitimate governing and legal power in four district of the Northwest Territories, Mikleyjarbygd, Fljótsbygd, Árnesbygd, and Vídirnesbygd. It's elected Thing, or governing council, made up of the four reeves and an elected thingstjóri, or governor, were modeled on Iceland's 10th Century Republic. The Republic was subsequently incorporated into Manitoba.
At least north of the 49th we say it with pride and not terror ;)
ReplyDeleteI collect stories of odd ethic migrations and encounters in Canada. Among them, I'm particularly fond of these:
ReplyDeleteAfter the Falklands War, a thousand Patagonian Welsh (fluent in both Spanish and Welsh) immigrated to Newfoundland, which had Welsh colonists in the 1620s. Another pocket of Patagonian Welsh settled in Saskatchewan in 1902.
Early French settlers in Canada where approached by Native People wanting to trade. Attempts to learn their language became confused when one of the French, born in Gascony, realized that the natives were speaking to them in Basque, which they assumed was the proper language for trading with Europeans.
Several Metis families in the West and Northwest Territories can trace their ancestry to the hundreds of Polynesians who entered the fur trade in the early 19th century.
Between 1878 an 1887, the Republic of New Iceland was recognized by the Canadian Government as the legitimate governing and legal power in four district of the Northwest Territories, Mikleyjarbygd, Fljótsbygd, Árnesbygd, and Vídirnesbygd. It's elected Thing, or governing council, made up of the four reeves and an elected thingstjóri, or governor, were modeled on Iceland's 10th Century Republic. The Republic was subsequently incorporated into Manitoba.