August-September 2017

August-September 2017

Features

Working Like a Beaver

The legendary industriousness of Canada’s national animal was once seen by Europeans as a model for an ideal society. by Rachel Poliquin. 

Grenfell Mission Heroines

Nurses working in the isolated outports of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Quebec did it all. by Heidi Coomds-Thorne. See more photos

The Queen's Land

The colourful stories behind the royal names embedded in Canada's geography. by Carolyn Harris.

Dieppe

Seventy-five years after the disastrous raid on the French port of Dieppe, the real purpose of the operation revealed.by David O'Keefe.

On the cover

This portrait of an unidentified Allied soldier was taken following the Dieppe Raid on August 19, 1942. The photo comes from the ullstein bild picture library in Berlin via Getty Images.

Departments

Editor’s Note

Pages from the past

The Packet

No need for a national identity. Thinking about the future. Respectful reconciliation. Indigenous art hits home. Bison question. Chiselled features. Viola who?

Currents

Drawing the line with Aislin. The Bren Gun Girl. Married to the past with history-themed weddings.

From the archives

The Summer 1967 issue of The Beaver told of paddlers in Canada's centennial year. Read the article

Trading Post

Trade axes were highly prized during the fur trade.

Roots

Using DNA to test conjectures about your family history. Read the article

Books

Excerpt from Catharine Parr Traill's The Female Immigrant's Guide. Reviews: End game. Paternalistic legacy. Balanced attack. Liberal immigration. Interpretive quagmire. More books: Susanna Moodie, small museums, gold rush queen. Read them all

Christopher Moore

Indigenous historians offer insights.

Destinations

A pirate and a pilot made Newfoundland and Labrador's Harbour Grace famous.

Annual Report

Celebrating diversity. Plus, our annual Honour Roll of valued donors.

Album

A ferry carried oil drilling equipment across the Peace River in northwest Alberta.