A Different Way of Fighting In the 18th instalment of ‘Nations of Canada,’ Greg Koabel describes the confusion that resulted when French and Indigenous fighters jointly assaulted an Iroquois village in 1615. Greg Koabel 14 Mar 2024 · 28 min read
Looking Back at the ‘Unmarked Graves’ Social Panic of 2021 A new book tries to explain how millions of Canadians became convinced that the bodies of 215 ‘missing’ Indigenous children had been discovered in British Columbia. Tom Flanagan / Chris Champion 1 Mar 2024 · 12 min read
Make Way for the Jesuits In the 17th instalment of ‘Nations of Canada,’ Greg Koabel describes how The Society of Jesus became a powerful player in the colonization of North America. Greg Koabel 30 Jan 2024 · 24 min read
Australia Day: A Contentious Celebration The founding of Australia is still worthy of commemoration. Adrian Nguyen 24 Jan 2024 · 10 min read
The Laurentian Coalition Takes Root In the 16th instalment of ‘Nations of Canada,’ historian Greg Koabel describes how Samuel de Champlain overcame a decade of frustration by finally establishing a successful French fur-trading monopoly. Greg Koabel 12 Jan 2024 · 25 min read
Sailing Into Canada’s Great ‘Northern Sea’ In the fifteenth instalment of his series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes Henry Hudson’s tragic 1610-11 voyage to the saltwater bay that now bears his name. Greg Koabel 11 Dec 2023 · 31 min read
United Against the Iroquois In the fourteenth instalment of his series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes Champlain’s military alliance with France’s new Innu, Algonquin, and Wendat trading partners. Greg Koabel 13 Nov 2023 · 23 min read
Joseph Boyden Isn’t Indigenous. But his Historical Fiction Is Still Worth Reading The author’s widely celebrated 2013 novel, ‘The Orenda,’ helped educate Canadians about their country’s colonial roots. It shouldn’t be cast into literary oblivion just because Boyden misrepresented his ancestry. Andy Lamey 11 Nov 2023 · 34 min read
Champlain Goes to War In the thirteenth instalment of our series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes the crucial battlefield alliance that French explorers forged with Indigenous allies in 1609. Greg Koabel 19 Oct 2023 · 26 min read
Champlain Gives It Another Go In the twelfth instalment of an ongoing Quillette series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes France’s halting efforts to create a permanent Canadian settlement in the early 1600s. Greg Koabel 27 Sep 2023 · 29 min read
A Cartographer for the Ages In the eleventh instalment of his series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes how Samuel de Champlain fundamentally redirected France’s transatlantic colonial project Greg Koabel 9 Sep 2023 · 22 min read
A Voice from the Heart Legal equality and the politics of disappointment. Andrew Gleeson 11 Aug 2023 · 14 min read
Not a Genocide Terrible things happened at many of Canada’s Residential Schools. But describing these institutions as instruments of mass murder is inaccurate. Ian Gentles 2 Aug 2023 · 34 min read
Celebrating the Legacy of Canada’s First Prime Minister Far from being an ‘architect of genocide,’ John A. Macdonald championed policies that were humane by 19th-century standards Greg Piasetzki 1 Jul 2023 · 11 min read
Up the St. Lawrence In the fifth instalment of an ongoing Quillette series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes Jacques Cartier’s first encounters with the Mi’kmaq and Iroquois. Greg Koabel 6 Jun 2023 · 23 min read
