History Browser

A slide show presentation of Native American dress from the 16th to mid-18th century.

These French soldiers wear a style of clothing common through much of Western Europe in the early seventeenth century. Note the musket rest carried by the man at left, and the pike carried by the man in the background. Mid-19th century engraving after a drawing by Alfred de Marbot.

Introduction by W.A.B. Douglas, Director Directorate of History, Program Chairman. Articles in a variety of languages including: English, German, French, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, Russian, Greek.

This history on our Aboriginal Peoples and their contribution to Canada’s rich military heritage is the latest in a series of books prepared by the Director of History and Heritage commemorating especial military experience. Authors : P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Ph.D., R. Scott Sheffield, Ph.D., John Moses, Maxime Gohier

A list of the most important military engagements, both inside and outside Canada, that had an effect on the country.

St. Croix Island, site of Samuel de Champlain and Pierre de Mont’s first settlement in the summer of 1604.

With origins in the Wars of Religion of the early seventeenth century, an all white flag symbolized France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was flown over military outposts and from ships' masts throughout the existence of the colony of New France.

In June 1604, the French expedition under the Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain started building a trade post and settlement on an island they named Sainte-Croix, the choice being dictated by security concerns. It turned out to be an unfortunate choice, some 35 out the 79 men there perishing from scurvy in the winter of 1604-1605. There were also tense relations with Indians further south so that, in the late summer, Sainte-Croix was abandoned and the French went to built a fortified ‘Habitation’ at Port-Royal (now Annapolis-Royal, Nova Scotia).

The first permanent French colony was in Acadia. It had good relations with the local Amerindians, but suffered from struggles with England.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the European wars that had touched the eastern coasts of North and South America left the Pacific untroubled. From the European point of view, the region was largely unexplored, despite being bordered by Spanish colonies.