Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River; the city is midway between Toronto and Montreal, Quebec. The Thousand Islands tourist region is nearby to the east. Kingston is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because of the many heritage buildings constructed using local limestone. Growing European exploration in the 17th century and the desire for the Europeans to establish a presence close to local Native occupants to control trade led to the founding of a French trading post and military fort at a site known as "Cataraqui" in 1673; this outpost, called Fort Cataraqui, Fort Frontenac, became a focus for settlement. Cataraqui would be renamed Kingston after the British took possession of the fort and Loyalists began settling the region in the 1780s. Kingston was named the first capital of the United Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. While its time as a capital city was short, the community has remained an important military installation.
Kingston was the county seat of Frontenac County until 1998. Kingston is now a separate municipality from the County of Frontenac. A number of origins of "Cataraqui", Kingston's original name, have been postulated. One is it is derived from the Iroquois word that means "the place where one hides"; the name may be derivations of Native words that mean "impregnable", "muddy river", "place of retreat", "clay bank rising out of the water", "where the rivers and lake meet", or "rocks standing in water". Cataraqui was referred to as "the King's Town" or "King's Town" by 1787 in honour of King George III; the name was shortened to "Kingston" in 1788. Cataraqui today refers to an area around the intersection of Princess Street and Sydenham Road, where a village which took that name was located. Cataraqui is the name of a municipal electoral district. Archaeological evidence suggests. Evidence of Late Woodland Period early Iroquois occupation exists; the first more permanent encampments by aboriginal people in the Kingston area began about 500 AD.
The group that first occupied the area before the arrival of the French was the Wyandot people, who were displaced by Iroquoian groups. At the time the French arrived in the Kingston area, Five Nations Iroquois had settled along the north shore of Lake Ontario. Although the area around the south end of the Cataraqui River was visited by Iroquois and other groups, Iroquois settlement at this location only began after the French established their outpost. By 1700, the north shore Iroquois had moved south, the area once occupied by the Iroquois became occupied by the Mississaugas who had moved south from the Lake Huron and Lake Simcoe regions. European commercial and military influence and activities centred on the fur trade developed and increased in North America in the 17th century. Fur trappers and traders were spreading out from their centres of operation in New France. French explorer Samuel de Champlain visited the Kingston area in 1615. To establish a presence on Lake Ontario for the purpose of controlling the fur trade with local indigenous people, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France established Fort Cataraqui to be called Fort Frontenac, at a location known as Cataraqui in 1673.
The fort served as a trading post and military base, attracted indigenous and European settlement. In 1674, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was appointed commandant of the fort. From this base, de La Salle explored south as far as the Gulf of Mexico; the fort was experienced periods of abandonment. The Iroquois siege of 1688 led to many deaths, after which the French destroyed the fort, but would rebuild it; the British destroyed the fort during the Battle of Fort Frontenac in 1758 and its ruins remained abandoned until the British took possession and reconstructed it in 1783. The fort was renamed Tête-de-Pont Barracks in 1787, it is still being used by the military. It was renamed Fort Frontenac in 1939. Reconstructed parts of the original fort can be seen today at the western end of the La Salle Causeway. In 1783, Frederick Haldimand, governor of the Province of Quebec directed Deputy Surveyor-General John Collins to lay out a settlement for displaced British colonists, or "Loyalists", who were fleeing north because of the American Revolutionary War and "minutely examine the situation and site of the Post occupied by the French, the land and country adjacent".
Haldimand had considered the site as a possible location to settle loyal Mohawks. The survey would determine whether Cataraqui was suitable as a navy base since nearby Carleton Island on which a British navy base was located had been ceded to the Americans after the war. Holland's report about the old French post mentioned "every part surpassed the favorable idea I had formed of it", that it had "advantageous Situations" and that "the harbour is in every respect Good and most conveniently situated to command Lake Ontario". Major John Ross, commanding officer of the King's Royal Regiment of New York at Oswego rebuilt Fort Frontenac in 1783; as commander, he played a significant role in establishing the Cataraqui settlement. To facilitate settlement, the British Crown entered into an agreement with the Mississaugas in October 1783 to purchase land east of the Bay of Quinte. Known as the Crawford Purchase, this agreement enabled se
Wellington Street (Ottawa)
Wellington Street is a major street in Ottawa, Canada. The street is notable for being the main street of the Parliamentary Precinct of the Parliament of Canada, it is one of the first two streets laid out in Bytown in 1826. The street runs from Booth Street to the Rideau Canal where it connects with Rideau Street and delimits the northern border of the downtown core, it is named after the Duke of Wellington, in recognition of his role in the creation of the Rideau Canal, therefore of Ottawa. Starting at its easternmost point, Wellington forms the northern edge of Confederation Square, south of which runs Elgin Street. West of Confederation Square, Parliament Hill can be found on its north side, while the Langevin Block, home of the Prime Minister's Office and of the Privy Council Office, the former American embassy and the Wellington Building can be found to the south. West of the intersection with Bank Street, are located the Confederation Building and the Justice Building, while the headquarters of the Bank of Canada can be found opposite the Hill.
Beyond Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court of Canada is situated west of the Justice building, opposite St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church; the East and West Memorial Buildings can be seen next standing east and west of Lyon Street and linked by the Memorial Arch. West of the Supreme Court is the National Library and Archives of Canada main building, with the Garden of the Provinces across the street. Between the Supreme Court and the National Library is a large open area, today a mix of parkland and large parking lots; until the 1970s, this was home to a cluster of temporary buildings, erected in the Second World War to provide much-needed office space. In the 1970s, there was a plan to build both a home for the National Gallery. A design competition was held for the National Gallery, but in the end, the government cancelled both projects. Wellington Street continues west past the Portage Bridge, north of the eastern half of the Lebreton Flats, becomes the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway after crossing Booth Street at the Canadian War Museum.
West of the O-Train Bayview station, a separate segment is known as Wellington Street West, passes through the Hintonburg and Island Park neighbourhoods before becoming Richmond Road at Island Park Drive. Both sections of Wellington are four-lane historic urban arterial roads with a speed limit of 50 km/h, although the flow is even slower than that due to high pedestrian traffic. A number of proposals have been made to change the street's name, some as recent as 2010. From Bronson Avenue until Rideau Street, Wellington is known as Ottawa Road #34. From Western Avenue to Somerset Street, Wellington is known as Ottawa Road #36. Wellington Street from Bay Street to the Rideau Canal showing the prominent structures located along it. See Downtown Ottawa for a map of the entire area. "City of Ottawa map showing Wellington Street downtown". Accessed 15 November 2006 West Wellington Community Association, accessed 15 November 2006 List of Ottawa roads
Archives of Ontario
The Archives of Ontario are the archives for the province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1903 as the Bureau of Archives, the archives are now under the responsibility of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services; the main offices of the archive are located at York University in Toronto. The Bureau of Archives, as it was known, was first located in the Ontario Legislative Building, under the leadership of Alexander Fraser, a prominent Scottish-born Toronto journalist and militia officer who held the position of Provincial Archivist from 1903 to 1935. During his tenure, Fraser remained a prolific author and amongst other things prepared annual reports for publication describing progress in making records available to the public, presenting the full texts of major document collections, he summarized his vision for the scope and work of the Archives in a paper he presented to the American Historical Association at Buffalo in 1911. In it he described the popularity of the Archives annual report volumes amongst historians and members of the public.
It is ironic that the publications issued over the course of Fraser's career to fulfill the Archives mandate are blocked from Internet access by Crown copyright. In the Depression era, the Archives was put on a precarious footing by Premier Mitch Hepburn's desire to close it down as a cost-cutting measure. Fraser was targeted for retirement and his assistant James J. Talman became acting head while tasked with heading the Legislative Library. Talman was able to save the Archives by agreeing to move its office and collections to basement vaults. Talman took new employment as Chief Librarian at the University of Western Ontario, where he started an archives collection that became the Regional History Division at UWO. Fraser's private papers as Provincial Archivist found their first home there; the Ontario Archives was not returned to a solid footing until the late 1940s under Helen McClung. The Archives moved to the Canadiana Building on the University of Toronto campus in 1951, at which time it was known as the Department of Public Records and Archives.
During the period the Archives was located there, staff archivists, including Edwin Guillet, became well known for their research work in support of the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board - which placed historical site plaques throughout the province - and for preparation of historical surveys of many regions of the province that were published as part of a series of volumes describing the work of conservation authorities in Ontario - restricted from Internet access by Crown copyright. The Archives relocated to 77 Grenville Street in 1972 and its name was changed to the Archives of Ontario; the reading room at the Grenville building closed on March 26, 2009 as part of the move to new facilities in North York. The official groundbreaking ceremony for the new Archives of Ontario building on the York University grounds, which houses the York University Research Tower, was on April 30, 2007; the groundbreaking was attended by former Minister of Government Services Gerry Phillips and former York University President and Vice-Chancellor Lorna Marsden.
The building was opened to the public on April 2, 2009 and is expected to be the site of the Archives for at least the next thirty-five years. In addition to preserving the records of the Ontario government, the Archives has from the outset sought records of private individuals and organizations that reflect Ontario's history. In the words of Alexander Fraser, "The Province has been so long neglected that when I undertook to organize the department I decided that the most valuable service I could render to the public was to acquire, to collect, safely preserve whatever material I could find, believing the day would soon come when the value of such material would be realized and the necessary office assistance provided to enable me to make the accumulated archives conveniently accessible to the public." Notable private records include the fonds of Eaton's, Conn Smythe, Moriyama and Teshima Architects. The head of the Archives has been known as the Archivist of Ontario since 1923, prior to that they were known as the Provincial Archivist.
Official website
Detroit
Detroit is the largest and most populous city in the U. S. state of Michigan, the largest United States city on the United States–Canada border, the seat of Wayne County. The municipality of Detroit had a 2017 estimated population of 673,104, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the United States; the metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music and as a repository for art and design. Detroit is a major port located on the Detroit River, one of the four major straits that connect the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway; the Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hubs in the United States. The City of Detroit anchors the second-largest regional economy in the Midwest, behind Chicago and ahead of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, the 13th-largest in the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest international crossing in North America.
Detroit is best known as the center of the U. S. automobile industry, the "Big Three" auto manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler are all headquartered in Metro Detroit. In 1701, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, the future city of Detroit. During the 19th century, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region. With expansion of the auto industry in the early 20th century, the city and its suburbs experienced rapid growth, by the 1940s, the city had become the fourth-largest in the country. However, due to industrial restructuring, the loss of jobs in the auto industry, rapid suburbanization, Detroit lost considerable population from the late 20th century to the present. Since reaching a peak of 1.85 million at the 1950 census, Detroit's population has declined by more than 60 percent. In 2013, Detroit became the largest U. S. city to file for bankruptcy, which it exited in December 2014, when the city government regained control of Detroit's finances.
Detroit's diverse culture has had both local and international influence in music, with the city giving rise to the genres of Motown and techno, playing an important role in the development of jazz, hip-hop and punk music. The erstwhile rapid growth of Detroit left a globally unique stock of architectural monuments and historic places, since the 2000s conservation efforts managed to save many architectural pieces and allowed several large-scale revitalizations, including the restoration of several historic theatres and entertainment venues, high-rise renovations, new sports stadiums, a riverfront revitalization project. More the population of Downtown Detroit, Midtown Detroit, various other neighborhoods has increased. An popular tourist destination, Detroit receives 19 million visitors per year. In 2015, Detroit was named a "City of Design" by UNESCO, the first U. S. city to receive that designation. Paleo-Indian people inhabited areas near Detroit as early as 11,000 years ago including the culture referred to as the Mound-builders.
In the 17th century, the region was inhabited by Huron, Odawa and Iroquois peoples. The first Europeans did not penetrate into the region and reach the straits of Detroit until French missionaries and traders worked their way around the League of the Iroquois, with whom they were at war, other Iroquoian tribes in the 1630s; the north side of Lake Erie was held by the Huron and Neutral peoples until the 1650s, when the Iroquois pushed both and the Erie people away from the lake and its beaver-rich feeder streams in the Beaver Wars of 1649–1655. By the 1670s, the war-weakened Iroquois laid claim to as far south as the Ohio River valley in northern Kentucky as hunting grounds, had absorbed many other Iroquoian peoples after defeating them in war. For the next hundred years no British, colonist, or French action was contemplated without consultation with, or consideration of the Iroquois' response; when the French and Indian War evicted the Kingdom of France from Canada, it removed one barrier to British colonists migrating west.
British negotiations with the Iroquois would both prove critical and lead to a Crown policy limiting the west of the Alleghenies settlements below the Great Lakes, which gave many American would-be migrants a casus belli for supporting the American Revolution. The 1778 raids and resultant 1779 decisive Sullivan Expedition reopened the Ohio Country to westward emigration, which began immediately, by 1800 white settlers were pouring westwards; the city was named by French colonists, referring to the Detroit River, linking Lake Huron and Lake Erie. On July 24, 1701, the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, along with more than a hundred other settlers began constructing a small fort on the north bank of the Detroit River. Cadillac would name the settlement Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, after Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, Minister of Marine under Louis XIV. France offered free land to colonists to attract families to Detroit. By 1773, the population of Detroit was 1,400. By 1778, its population was up to 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in the Province of Quebec.
The region's economy was based on the lucrative fur trade, in which nume
Bytown
Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Canada's capital city. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855; the founding was marked by a sod turning, a letter from Governor General Dalhousie which authorized Lieutenant Colonel John By to divide up the town into lots. Bytown came about as a result of the construction of the Rideau Canal and grew due to the Ottawa River timber trade. Bytown's first mayor was John Scott, elected in 1847. Bytown was located where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River and consisted of two parts centered around the canal, Upper Town and Lower Town. Upper Town, situated to the west of the canal, was situated in the area of the current downtown and Parliament Hill. Lower Town was on the east side of the canal where today's Byward Market and general area of Lower Town still exists; the two areas of town were connected over the Rideau Canal by the Sappers Bridge, constructed in 1827.
The town took its name from John By who, as a Colonel in the British Royal Engineers, was instrumental in the construction of the canal. The name "Bytown" came about, somewhat as a "jocular reference" during a small dinner party of some officers, it appears on official correspondence dated 1828. Joseph Bouchette in the summer of 1828 wrote: The streets are laid out with much regularity, of a liberal width that will hereafter contribute to the convenience and elegance of the place; the number of houses now built is about 150. On the elevated banks of the Bay, the Hospital, an extensive stone building, three Barracks stand conspicuous. Colonel By laid out the streets of Bytown, a pattern that exists today. Wellington Street, Rideau Street and Sparks Street were some of the earliest streets in use. Sappers Bridge connected Sparks Street to Rideau Street at that time. Nicholas Sparks owned Bytown's land west of the canal, except for the lands north of Wellington, which were considered "Ordnance" lands.
The area east of Bank Street to the canal was acquired by the military and not used for houses for around two decades, after which it was returned to him. The Ottawa River timber trade spurred the growth of Bytown, it saw an influx of immigrants, entrepreneurs hoping to profit from the squared timber that would be floated down the Ottawa River to Quebec. Bytown had seen some trouble in the early days, first with the Shiners' War in 1835 to 1845, the Stony Monday Riot in 1849; some early buildings that still stand had been erected in Bytown. In 1826, Thomas McKay was contracted to build the commissariat building, now the Bytown Museum. McKay built Rideau Hall, parts of the Union Bridge connecting LeBreton Flats to Hull. Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica was built early on in the developing town; the University of Ottawa had its 1846 origins as a college, it received its present location in 1856. Though administration of Bytown had been conducted by civil authorities since 1828, the town did not become incorporated until much later.
Various attempts at incorporation had been initiated since 1845. The Ordnance Department had held lands in the town's core, lands, the property of Nicholas Sparks; these lands were considered by many to be blocking economic progress as well as being held for speculative reasons only. When Ordnance returned the lands to Sparks through the Vesting Act, the major obstacle to incorporation was removed. Bytown was incorporated on July 28, 1847, sanctioned by both the Legislative Assembly and the Governor, but this was disallowed by the Queen due to the perceived threat to Ordnance. An act of the Legislative Assembly further facilitated the incorporation of municipalities, on January 1, 1850, Bytown was incorporated. Richmond Landing was a small settlement started in 1809 with Jehiel Collins' store, which preceded Bytown in present-day Ottawa, it was located just south of Victoria Island east of the present-day Portage Bridge in present-day Lebreton Flats. Wright's Town, just across the Ottawa River near the Chaudiere Falls, had been founded by this time.
Collins built a log cabin and store on the south shore of the Ottawa River, near the Chaudière Falls area. The property was acquired by Caleb T. Bellows, an assistant in the store. Collins is credited as the first settler of, and by 1819, the little settlement at the landing got. The settlement was named Bellows Landing until the fall of 1818, when a group of settlers responsible for the creation of a new road to Richmond, Ontario stayed there; the road became Richmond Richmond Landing acquired its name. Sergeant Hill, had directed the creation of Richmond Road, Ottawa's first thoroughfare, a road which contained tree stumps, whose origin began at a portage trail bypassing the Chaudière Falls. Richmond Landing was an area for those heading to and from Richmond could dock and receive correspondence and supplies from the outside world. A tavern constructed in 1819, whose existence had been shown since Bytown's earliest maps, was excavated prior to the construction of the Canadian War Museum whose east side covers it.
Early maps show the locations of buildings, a Governmental store, constructed later. A buildings had been requested by early settlers to hol
Kingston Mills
Kingston Mills, located 7 kilometres north of downtown Kingston, Ontario, is the southern-most lockstation and one of 24 lockstations of the Rideau Canal system. Kingston Mills is a component of the Rideau Canal National Historic Site, along with the rest of the Rideau Canal, is a World Heritage Site; the site is operated by Parks Canada. Kingston Mills developed because of a series of falls on the Cataraqui River. In 1784, a grist mill and saw mill were built by the British government on the falls to serve the residents of the growing Loyalist settlement at Cataraqui, now Kingston. Under orders from Major John Ross, in charge of the Cataraqui settlement, Lieutenant David Brass of Butler's Rangers built a road to the falls from Cataraqui; this was the first road built in Upper Canada. "King's Mill", the area's original name, became a major location for settlers to bring produce. Several mills were built over the years. After the War of 1812 Kingston's naval base on Point Frederick was deemed vulnerable to American attack.
Since Kingston Mills was considered to be better protected from attack because of its inland position, land was acquired and surveyed at Kingston Mills for a naval stores depot with accompanying fortifications. The depot was never built, since British priorities changed from improving Kingston's naval infrastructure to building military fortifications around Kingston. Beginning in 1827, the site was cleared to begin building locks for the Rideau Canal; the locks would enable boats to bypass the falls. Four locks were constructed. A defensive blockhouse was constructed beginning in 1832, it housed militia and British regular troops from 1838 to 1841. It is one of four situated along the Rideau Canal; the blockhouse has been restored to the condition. In 1853 a wooden railway bridge was built by the Grand Trunk Railroad over the lower locks; the Canadian National Railway replaced this bridge with a steel bridge in 1929. Since 1909, several bridges over the canal along Kingston Mills Road have been constructed and replaced.
The last bridge, a steel swing bridge, was built in 1988. In 1914 a hydroelectric power generating station was built; the generating station is still in operation. Other structures that were built at Kingston Mills include storage barns, railway buildings, living quarters, the lockstation office, once a store house; the only buildings still existing, other than the generating station and the blockhouse, are the lockstation office and the original lockmaster's house, now a visitor centre known as Lockmaster Anglin's Visitor Centre. Kingston Mills was designated a National Historic Site in 1925, a World Heritage Site in 2007. In 2009, four women were found dead in a car underwater at Kingston Mills, it was determined. Family members of the deceased were convicted; the Rideau Canal, of which Kingston Mills is a part, is a recreational waterway, catering to pleasure craft. Boaters may travel between Ottawa. Boat tours along the canal are provided. Kingston Mills offers a location for picnicking, swimming and rock climbing during the warm months.
A rock climbing location has been developed at the southwest end of the locks. Many routes have been set including ones for top roping, lead climbing, trad climbing, bouldering. Notes Bibliography Rideau Canal Waterway - Kingston Mills Locks 46-49 Rock Climbing Routes in Kingston Mills Parks Canada - Rideau Canal - Kingston Mills Lockstation A Rideau Panorama Canada's Historic Places - The Lockmaster's House Ontario Guide - Kingston Mills Rideau Canal Locks, Ontario Canada
Canada
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border, its capital is Ottawa, its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra, its population is urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons. Various indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century and French expeditions explored, settled, along the Atlantic coast.
As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces; this began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with Elizabeth II as its queen and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the federal cabinet and head of government; the country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, education.
It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. A developed country, Canada has the sixteenth-highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the twelfth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index, its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".
In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona. From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth"; the government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using'Dominion' in the Statutes of Canada in 1951. In 1982, the passage of the Canada Act, bringing the Constitution of Canada under Canadian control, referred only to Canada, that year the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The term Dominion was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal had replaced dominion. Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Métis, the last being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers; the term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982. The first inhabitants of North America are hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago; the Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Canadian indigenous societies included permanent settlements, complex societal hierarchies, trading networks; some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.
The indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000
