An Ode to the Original Americans

Photo taken on January 3, 2005, Monday, at Maple Green Elementary in Surrey, British Columbia: Feeling like a Mohican worshipping the North-American Winter sun...

{to my Charlotte, who loves Wild Wild West books}

I dedicate this imagery to the First Nation Peoples, otherwise known as the Native American Indians, who, along with other tribal and minority groups like the Inuk people of Canada's Nunavut and Northwest Territories, are the original inhabitants of the entire Americas.

The "white" Canadians and Americans many of us came to know are, in fact, the descendants of the European conquerors and migrants who settled in North America several centuries ago.

Sharing a Letter I Sent to a Late Friend

Friday, January 16, 2004

Dear Jas (Latina),
You were asking me about the history of Canada, and if it used to be under France. Guess what, I made a research and unintentionally I was able to write an article about it; so I’m answering your little question with the article below. Sorry, I couldn’t suppress the writer in me.

The Village People of North America
The name of the second-largest country in the world, Canada, originated from the Huron word kanata, which in English means “village.” It was given by the French explorer Jacques Cartier, who discovered this North American country in the 1500s.

Various First Nation (Native American) peoples originally inhabited the lands now comprising Canada, which, beginning in the late 15th century, the English and the French explored. The French established the first permanent settlement, but they gradually lost it to the English. In 1931, however, Canada gained its independent status. The colonialization was the reason the majority of Canadians are of British descent; except, strikingly, for Québeckers, who are mostly of French origin, for Québec was the territory where the first French immigrants settled.

If the Philippines is geographically divided into 17 regions and the United States into 50 states plus seven territories, Canada (capital: Ottawa, in Ontario) is comprised by ten provinces and three territories, namely,

Alberta (Edmonton), British Columbia (Victoria), Manitoba (Winnipeg), New Brunswick (Fredericton), Newfoundland & Labrador (St. John’s), Nova Scotia (Halifax), Ontario (Toronto), Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown), Québec (Québec City), Saskatchewan (Regina), Northwest Territories (Yellowknife), Nunavut (Iqaluit), and Yukon Territory (Whitehorse).

Then Village People, whose hits included “YMCA,” “In the Navy,” and “Macho Man,” recorded its first, self-titled album in 1977...

Oops, sorry, I suddenly lost my train of thoughts. >:-p

Anyway, here’s a bonus bit of trivia: Did you know that Canada’s national animals are the beaver (Castor canadensis), a mammal; and the common loon (Gavia immer), a bird?

your pesky friend eLf

"Every Indian outbreak that I have ever known has resulted from broken promises and broken treaties by the government."—William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody