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The Battle of Queenston Heights was fought during the War of 1812 on 13 October 1812. One of the most famous battles of the war, the Battle of Queenston Heights was the struggle for a portion of the Niagara escarpment overlooking Queenston, where more than 1,000 American soldiers crossed into Upper Canada. Part of the American force reached the top, circled the British artillery position and forced the British from the Heights. General Isaac Brock, one of the most respected British military leaders of his day, was killed leading a counter-attack. Mohawk chiefs John Norton and John Brant and about 80 Haudenosaunee and Delaware warriors held back the Americans for hours — long enough for reinforcements to arrive so that the British could retain the crucial outpost.

First Nations and Métis peoples played a significant role in Canada in the War of 1812. The conflict forced various Indigenous peoples to overcome longstanding differences and unite against a common enemy. It also strained alliances, such as those in the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Confederacy in which some branches were allied with American forces. Most First Nations strategically allied themselves with Great Britain during the war, seeing the British as the lesser of two colonial evils and the group most interested in maintaining traditional territories and trade.

​The 100th anniversary of Confederation in 1967 coincided with a period of self-definition and national assertion that consolidated national literary institutions and produced works that explored national identity.

In 1939, Canada found itself at war for the second time in a generation. As in the First World War (1914-18), thousands of Indigenous soldiers and nurses volunteered for the war effort at home and abroad, serving with distinction in the Canadian army, navy, and air force. At least 4,250 First Nations soldiers enlisted in the Canadian military in the Second World War, with thousands more Métis, Inuit, and non-Status Indian soldiers serving without official recognition of their Indigenous identity.

William Claus, government official, militia officer, military figure in the War of 1812 (b at Williamsburg, near present-day Amsterdam, NY, 8 Sep 1765; d at Niagara, Ont, 11 Nov 1826).

The term a dish with one spoon refers to a concept developed by the Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region and northeastern North America. It was used to describe how land can be shared to the mutual benefit of all its inhabitants. According to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the concept originated many hundreds of years ago and contributed greatly to the creation of the “Great League of Peace” — the Iroquois Confederacy made up of the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk nations. The Anishinaabeg (the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Mississauga, Saulteaux and Algonquin nations) refer to “a dish with one spoon” or “our dish” as “Gdoo – naaganinaa.”

Oliver Milton Martin, Kanyen'kehà:ka (Mohawk) army officer, air force pilot, teacher, principal, magistrate (born 9 April 1893, in Ohsweken, Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, ON; died 18 December 1957 in Toronto, ON). Martin served in the Canadian Army during both world wars. During the First World War, he fought on the Western Front as a commissioned officer and later trained as an observer and pilot. During the Second World War, Martin commanded home defence brigades in Canada. He reached the rank of brigadier, the highest rank attained by an Indigenous soldier to that point. After the war, he worked in education and was the first Indigenous person appointed as a provincial magistrate in Ontario.

​Women’s movements (or, feminist movements) of the 19th and early-20th century — often referred to as first-wave feminism — included campaigns in support of temperance, women’s suffrage, pacifism, as well as labour and health rights.

Mount Royal is a short mountain with a wide base covering ten square kilometres. It is close to the geographic centre of the Island of Montreal. Mount Royal is Montreal’s defining physical feature and a protected site; it was designated a Historic and Natural District by the government of Quebec in 2005. By law, new buildings in Montreal may not be taller than Mount Royal. The mountain occupies a central position, not only in the urban landscape of the city of Montreal, but also in its history, culture and society.

In Canada, the term Indigenous peoples (or Aboriginal peoples) refers to First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. These are the original inhabitants of the land that is now Canada. In the 2021 census by Statistics Canada, over 1.8 million people in Canada identified as Indigenous, making up 5 per cent of the national population. Though severely threatened — and in certain cases extinguished — by colonial forces, Indigenous culture, language and social systems have shaped the development of Canada and continue to grow and thrive despite extreme adversity.

​The word "dictionary" typically refers to a book that lists the words of a language alphabetically, and shows the spelling and meaning of each along with other information (e.g., pronunciation, examples of use, derived forms, origin and history) deemed relevant by the dictionary editors (lexicographers).

His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria and governor general of Canada from 1911 to 1916 (born 1 May 1850 in London, United Kingdom; died 16 January 1942 in Surrey, United Kingdom). As governor general, Connaught was involved in military recruitment and philanthropy in Canada during the First World War. He also established the Connaught Cup for marksmanship in the RCMP and made extensive renovations to Rideau Hall. His daughter, Princess Patricia, was the first honorary colonel-in-chief of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

Between 16 January and 25 March 2013, six Cree youths and their guide walked 1,600 km from Whapmagoostui First Nation, the northernmost Cree village in Quebec on Hudson Bay, to Parliament Hill in Ottawa in support of the Idle No More movement. They called the trek “The Journey of Nishiyuu,” which is Cree for “people.” Known as the Nishiyuu Walkers, the group attracted national media attention and inspired Indigenous youth to be the force of change in their lives and communities. (See also Indigenous Women Activists in Canada and Indigenous Political Organization and Activism in Canada.)

First Nation is one of three groupings of Indigenous people in Canada, the other two being Métis and Inuit. Unlike Métis and Inuit, most First Nations hold reserve lands. Members of a First Nation may live both on and off these reserves. While the term First Nation can describe a large ethnic grouping (e.g. the Cree Nation), in other cases it is synonymous with the term band. The term band was originally chosen by the federal government and used in the Indian Act. The word band describes smaller communities. Many First Nations prefer the term First Nation over band.

The Battle of Queenston Heights National Historic Site commemorates a battle fought on 13 October 1812, when the British army and Canadian militia, assisted by First Nations allies, defeated an invading American army on the Niagara Escarpment overlooking the village of Queenston.

Jon (William) Ballantyne. Pianist, composer, b Prince Albert, Sask, 8 Oct 1963.

In the early 1600s, Catholic nuns and priests established the first residential schools in Canada. In 1883, these schools began to receive funding from the federal government. That year, the Government of Canada officially authorized the creation of the residential school system. The main goal of the system was to assimilate Indigenous children into white, Christian society. (See also Inuit Experiences at Residential School and Métis Experiences at Residential School .)

(This article is a plain-language summary of residential schools in Canada. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry Residential Schools in Canada.)