New Brunswick Heritage Online Newsletter: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Canada's History : 10 Books to Teach Aboriginal History

Inspired by Dr. Timothy Winegard's presentation about teaching Aboriginal history at the University of Winnipeg’s Summer Teaching Institute in July 2014.

Grade school:

Lydia’s Dabcovich’s The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale,
Forrest Carter’s The Education of Little Tree,

High school:

Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road,
Guy St. Denis’ Tecumseh’s Bones,
J.R Miller’s Skyscrapers Hide the Heavens: A History of Indian-White Relations in Canada, 4th edition,
Waiser and Stonechild’s Loyal Till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion,
Timothy C. Winegard’s For King and Kanata: Canadian Indians and the First World War,
Charles C. Mann’s 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus and 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created,
Thomas King’s The inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History: September Newsletter

It’s September already! As you head back to your classrooms, be sure to check out the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History (GUMICH) project, based at the University of Victoria. Welcome to the latest edition of the new GUMICH Gazette, a thrice-yearly newsletter to help keep educators up to date on news and tips for teaching with historical mysteries.

In the News: Video Game Leads to Geology Knowledge

By Mia Clarke,

The Telegraph Journal, September 22, 2014

Joan Pearce can hardly believe she’s extolling the virtues of a video game. But the 74-year-old retired teacher has seen how Minecraft has piqued the interest of young people in rocks, minerals and the environment around them.

Although she’s been retired for 20 years, she’s been visiting classrooms again lately as the head of Stonehammer Geopark’s education committee.The committee’s goal is to educate students about Stonehammer by incorporating local material into the established curriculum. Last year, Stonehammer officials reached 800 students in 17 schools and they’re hoping to reach even more this year.

Pearce said she was often surprised at how much students knew about geology.“When I asked the students a question about geology, I wasn’t really expecting anybody to have the answer, but someone usually did and I’d say ‘Oh, how do you know that?’” The answer was always the same – they knew it from playing Minecraft.

Minecraft is a video game that allows players to gather and mine resources and use those items to craft tools and other things necessary for survival. Along the way, players learn about soil, rocks, minerals and ore.

Sports Car Racing in Atlantic Canada

The Sept. 30, 2014 meeting of the NB Historical Society will feature guest Prof. David Charters of UNB Fredericton, who will speak on “Atlantic Canada’s Chequered Past: Sports Car Racing in the Region Since the 1960s.”

The talk takes place in the Mary Oland Theatre of the NB Museum, Market Square, Saint John. Starting time: 7:30 pm. All are welcome.

New Brunswick Historical Society Newsletter Highlights:

All Hallows’ Eve at The Loyalist House (October 30)
May 11, 2014: Launching The Refurbished Dining Room At Loyalist House...

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

In the News: Historic Building Overlooked and Undervalued

By Kelsey Pye,

The Telegraph Journal, September 9, 2014

The Little Red School House along the Saint John waterfront has been sitting in the same location for years. The building, painted red with white accents, stands unnoticed by many in the city. People walk past it on their way to the boardwalk, or aim a passing glance in its direction while standing in line for Beavertails.

But the Little Red School House is an important part of Saint John’s history.The building was constructed in the 1870s in Pleasant Villa, near Gagetown. It has had many uses over the years, but it was originally used as a small school.

Local historian Harold Wright said the building was given to the city to operate as a museum decades ago.

“It was a gift, or at least a long-term loan, from the New Brunswick Society of Retired Teachers to operate as a schoolhouse museum,” said Wright.

The discovery of one of Franklin’s lost ships has big implications for Canada’s efforts to establish its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.

By Ken McGoogan

What does it mean? Why does it matter? Couldn’t that search money have been better spent in some other fashion? These are some of the questions turning up as a result of the discovery of one of the long-lost Franklin ships.

Those two vessels, the Erebus and the Terror, disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, under the captaincy of Sir John Franklin, never to be seen again. The search for  Franklin and his missing ships, most intensive in the 1850s, opened up the complex archipelago that is the Canadian Arctic.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

CHIN News - September, 2014

The Virtual Museum of Canada is Moving Soon

As it was announced in the Economic Action Plan 2014, the Canadian Museum of History will soon be responsible for the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC). The official transfer is scheduled to proceed on September 30, 2014.

Collections Without Borders: Health Check Tool for Digital Content Creators

While cultural institutions continue to develop an array of digital content and products, they often do so without giving enough consideration to the ongoing efforts and resources required to ensure their long-term viability.

Choosing the Right Social Media for Your Institution

In this ongoing series, CHIN examines the different ways museums can promote their activities online. This month, we look at microblogs and their use in the heritage sector.