CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION TO CANADIAN IDENTITY

Social Studies

Historical Overview First nations and Inuit 

First Nation and Inuit come from coast to coast, used and continued to use a variety of art forms, or media to represent aspects of their cultures and beliefs. Some of these are traditional and some are modern.

Traditional Art Forms:

West coast people use wood to make masks and totem poles.

Inuit carve stone, antler and bone.

Other First Nation Art Forms Innu use beadwork and painted patterns

to decorate clothing. Anishinabe make petroforms, which are

boulders that are arranged on the ground in various shapes of animals.

Maliseet and Mikmaq paint, etch and embroider on birchbark. Some work with porcupine quills and make wampum belts from shells.

IMPORTANT TERMS Ethnicity – referring to groups of people

based on customs, characteristics, language, etc.

Inuksuk – A stone structure Inuit built to resemble a human, to symbol to others good hunting or fishing spot, or to show where supplies were stored.

 Petroglyphs – Ojibwa carvings used to teach, could be as old as 1000 years.

Petroglyph

MEDIA forms of communication including oral &

written words, pictures, and sounds. Examples:

newspapers magazines PostersCDsfilms video DVD

USES OF ART New France

Many of the earliest works completed during the 1500s and 1600s were painted by priests. The paintings were used to decorate the churches and spread the word of Christianity.

British North AmericaPortraits – pictures of families, friends, or

themselvesTopography – pictures to show

landscape like hills, lakes etc) these types of drawings were often used to help the military in planning.

Documentary – paintings of the things that people saw in the everyday lives.  

Canada’s Natural Beauty Canada's natural beauty has always

been a subject for artists. Many paintings include images of rivers, lakes, and oceans as well as the people who used them for work and play.

Nunavut

Northwest Territories

Yukon

British Columbia

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

Prince Edward Island

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

Newfoundland

Labrador

New People, New Paintings Immigrant Artwork: As more and more immigrants arrived in

the 1800's new artists appeared, adding to the diversity in Canadian art.

Photography improved after the 1850's providing many more images of life through the Canadian landscape.

Example :Cornelius Krieghoff who painted both

landscapes and people in the European style, which told a story through painting.

His painted stories provide a great deal of information about the way of life in Canada in the mid 1800's.

The 20th Century Nationalism – a pride and devotion to one’s country.

A sense of nationalism, developed in the early 1900's. It is shown in the works of Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven.

  Group of Seven – a group of Canadian landscape painters

in the 1920’s. 

Members: ( not to be memorized) Tom Thomson, J. E. H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, A.J. (Alfred Joseph) Casson, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston and Franklin Carmichae

At first people did not like the Group of Seven. It was too different from the style of art they were used to.

The Group of Seven showed their emotions of the land in their paintings while previous artists just showed accurate representations of a particular landscape.

Despite this initial resistance, these artists gradually became more world famous.

Tom Thomson

Modern Canada Artists Examples of painters, sculptors, architects, and

other visual artists:Maud LewisShawn SkierAlan SyliboyKenojuak AshevakDavid BlackwoodJack HumphreyDenise ComeauDouglas CardinalShirley BearAlex Colville

ASSIGNMENT Pick one modern Canadian artist and

complete a one page biography. Biography must include:

Sample of the artist’s work Paper size : 8 1/2 by 11 inches

MUSIC Musical Genres – types of music

Stereotypes – unfair application of a trait or behavior to an entire group of people.

Ironic –coincidental or contradictory of what is expected

Musical Reflection of Canadian Identity

Pride in Canada:

The song "This Land is your Land" was adopted in 1955 by the Canadian group "The Travellers".

There was much debate about how the original song was written by an American and many Canadians consider this song to reflect our Canadian Identity.

Anne Murray is one Canadian artist who remained in Canada during her career. Many believe if you do not move out of Canada you will not be successful. She proved all the critics wrong and became world famous singing many songs about her country.

Provincial And Regional Identity

Canadian Identity is influenced by the diversity of the country and its people. A sense of loyalty to community, province or region is part of identity for many Canadians. 

Many songs written in Canada have discussed and described the features of our country.

Check out the seven located on page 11 in your text and answer the questions below:What aspects of Canadian identity do the songs

reflect?Is this sense of identity more provincial or national?

Musical Stereotypes The cultures to which you belong may influence your

taste in music. Other influences may be your peer group and your personal tastes. So even though you and your friends may like similar kinds of music, there will be differences.

It would be wrong to assume that all teenagers like the same kind of music. It would also be wrong to think that where you live in the country would not have some influence on your choices in music.

Example: There is a revival of Celtic music in the Maritimes but do all

Canadians want to listen to Celtic music?........A fair answer would be NO.

CRTC

CRTC – (Canadian Radio Communication Commission)Designed to protect and promote Canadian

CultureEnsures Canadians get access to Canadian

Content Pledges certain amounts of time of each day

must contain Canadian content