Champlain

Samuel de Champlain sailed for the French, crossing the ocean some thirty times, and is considered the father of New France and the first governor of North America. He had a different world view than some of his time. He had seen the mistreatment of native peoples in the Caribbean by Europeans, and chose to act differently. In his interactions as a leader of Frenchmen, he treated tribes from a nation-to-nation perspective, with respect. 

In doing so, he smoothed the way for settlement.

He was also an explorer, mapping out large parts of the eastern part of the continent. An astrolabe, a navigation tool of his time, is seen here.

He would make treaties and alliances with indigenous peoples that would allow French settlement, and the legacy he left behind is a big one. His name remains on the map all over the country.

Because the French made alliances with indigenous peoples, that also came with joining their allies against their enemies. Thus began a period called the Post-Contact Wars.

This reproduction of an indigenous club can be touched. A lethal weapon when swung at an enemy.

The Post-Contact Wars came to an end with the passing of the Great Peace of Montreal Treaty, in which disputes were settled through diplomacy.

The era of New France had begun.

The new colony was slow to grow, consisting mostly of men.

800 women, known to history as les Filles du Roi, or daughters of the King, would change that, crossing the ocean, finding husbands, and starting families. 

Household goods and furniture of New France is found here.

Change

A millennium ago, Norsemen made their way into North America, with at least one established settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, but plenty of evidence that they were elsewhere in the continent. 

Wood chips and metal slag from L'Anse aux Meadows is part of what they left behind.

There is also trace evidence of them through the Arctic, items that found their way into the hands of indigenous people over time.

The Vikings would leave after a number of years, and for several hundred more years, the continent was left in the hands of indigenous peoples. But the fall of Constantinople, with its resulting impact on the movement of trade goods from Asia, along with a collapse of the coastal fisheries, spurred Europeans to look west across the ocean.

Initial explorers reported an abundance of resources, especially for fishing. These are some of the tools of fishing boats of that era.

As Europeans began to come more and more across the ocean, they had more encounters with the residents.

England and France, which had a long standing rivalry, would both send explorers actively across the Atlantic to begin to establish colonies and settlements.

This is a model of the San Juan, a galleon that sank in Red Bay in the 1500s.

Both France and England were interested in the resources of the New World, as well as the possibility of the elusive Northwest Passage. Men like Jacques Cartier sailed for France.

While Martin Frobisher sailed for England, moving into northern waters and thinking that he had found gold. He was mistaken.

Change

 Pottery making began to make its presence known in what is now Canada three thousand years ago.

Here we have tools of people from the Arctic.

Nuvumiutaq is the name that has been given to an Inuit man that lived 800 years ago on Baffin Island. This is the collaboration of the Museum and the community of Arctic Bay. The remains of a hunter were found, excavated, and studied, along with his belongings. After scans were made, full scale physical reproductions of the man and those possessions were made before all were returned to the community for burial. In consultation with the community, he was made to look like he would have looked, and here he stands.

1500 years ago, First Peoples were getting more and more into agriculture. Three crops- corn, squash, and beans- were prevalent for them.

Change was coming. A thousand years ago the first Europeans made their way into the New World. They were Norse sailors, also called Vikings.

Faces

 I left off with the discovery of the remains of a family, along with a wealth of beads, four thousand years removed from our time in the community of shishalh in British Columbia. The remains  and beads were excavated, studied, and ultimately scanned before being returned to the community for reburial. These days, artifacts tend to be returned to the community after being reproduced and studied, which is the better way of doing things. From the scans, digital recreations were made of the faces of the four people. But they're not just images- they move, blink, and breathe, as if these people are staring back at the visitor through the mists of time. 

An accompanying video goes over the discovery and research, as well as commentary from the people who live there today and speak about their connections to these distant ancestors.

Across the lane, another artifact, but much newer, made in 2015. Mi'kmaq elder Todd Labrador crafted this large birchbark canoe in the techniques of his ancestors, including symbolism on its surface.